1977 was a very good year for the Pontiac Firebird. A new front end featured quad rectangular headlamps. The new recessed grille had a the familiar "honeycomb" appearance and was fashioned so as to appear more pointed. There was also a new low profile Shaker hood scoop design with an emphasized centerline running the length of the scoop, which was replaced mid-year with another redesigned taller scoop with a de-emphasized center accent line. Also new on the outside were new the Snowflake 15x7 cast aluminum wheels which replaced the heavy poly-cast Honeycomb wheels. These were optional on all Firebirds and standard on the Sky Bird and Special Edition Trans Am.
On the inside there were only minor changes such as a new three spoke steering wheel. The seats had a minor revision in pattern. Optional was the new Lobardy velour upholstery. And in GM's attempt to embrace the metric system, a speedometer that read in both kilometers and miles per hour.
Under the hood were a very wide range of engines. And for the first time, the use of "corporate" engines. The base Firebird received the Buick 231 V6, rated at 105hp. Optional were the Pontiac 301 V8 and the Chevy 350 V8 rated and 135 and 170 hp respectively. Both the base Firebird and Esprit came with a standard 3-speed manual trans and optional on the 301 was a 4-speed or a Turbo Hydra-matic auto trans.
The Esprit also carried the Firebird badge on the sail panel and the Esprit script on the front fenders. There were also vinyl accent striping available based on the color of the body.
Also new was the Sky Bird option that featured a two tone blue exterior matched with blue snowflake wheels.
The Formula featured a V8 and dual scooped hood (non-functional). The Formula could only be had with a V8 under the hood, with the 135hp 301 Pontiac standard. There was also a 350 and two 400 Pontiac V8's as well the Oldsmobile 403 V8. The Formula appearance package (W50) could be had in six different colors and consisted of a large Formula lettering on the bottom of the doors that carried around the entire bottom of the car, and blacked out scoops on the hood.
The Trans Am came standard with the 180 hp 400 Pontiac (403 Olds in CA) Gone was the 455, mainly because Pontiac downsized its full-size line and no longer need the 455. But in the 455's place was the new W72 Pontiac 400 V8 which had 200hp. It featured it the same heads (6X) from the Pontiac 350 V8, which brought up compression and different valve timing, it also had a bigger carb, 800cfm, which added an extra 20hp to 200hp. The Turbo Hydra-matic auto was the only trans for the std. 400 and 403 Olds engine. The W72 400 could also be had with either the auto or M20 4-speed trans.
Building on the success of the black and gold Limited Edition Trans Am of 1976, Pontiac offered the Special Edition package. It came in two different combinations, one without the T-top roof (Y81) and the other with the T-top roof (Y82). The majority of these came with the Hurst T-top roof. The Special Edition package included, Snowflake cast aluminum wheels, gold interior and exterior appointments, special gold pin-stripes and emblems and the hood decal. This package was very popular at the time due to the new front end and the fact that this was the car Bo drove in the movie "Smokey and the Bandit". Pontiac sold over 15,000 Special Edition Trans Ams in 1977. Total production for 1977 set an all time record of 155,735 units with the Trans Am accounting for 40% of production.

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