1970 Formula 400 Carousel Red on black (std) interior "no drivetrain option" car (same base drivetrain as GTO) 1:411 1970 Firebird Formulas originally sold in Canada
I was going from memory;
I had a clear recollection that the 305 was a Chevrolet exclusive engine in 1977, and first came to the Firebird in 1978.
Sure enough, it was introduced (according to a couple sites) in 1976 - wikipedia and another chevrolet-history site both suggest that they were used in 1976 models, but if that was the case, then they would have been introduced halfway into the 1976 model year.
Model years are typically September of the prior calendar year through to June or July of the model's calendar year.
EG1: The 1976 model year was September 1975 through July 1976.
EG2: The 1977 model year was September 1976 through July 1977.
If an engine was introduced in 1976, the first full model year of useage would have been the 1977 model year;
GM was at the time in the habit of permitting their divisions one full model year of exclusivity for new drivetrain parts.
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1970 Formula 400 Carousel Red on black (std) interior "no drivetrain option" car (same base drivetrain as GTO) 1:411 1970 Firebird Formulas originally sold in Canada
Yup the 305 was available first in 1976 LeMans so the car shown has been repowered or the Old Autos gurus have misprinted 350 as 305.
I'm going with misprint because who would put a 305 in place of a 350 when 350s are everywhere, heck there's one under my bench in the garage from an Oshawa LeMans.