The Pontiac Firebird is an American automobile built by Pontiac from the 1967 to the 2002 model years. Designed as a muscle car to compete with the Mercury Cougar and Dodge Challenger, it was introduced February 23, 1967, the same model year as GM's Chevrolet division platform-sharing Camaro.The Firebird, whose most notable variant was the Trans Am, was built in four generations: 1st Gen (1967-1969), 2nd Gen (1970-1981), 3rd Gen (1982-1992), and 4th Gen (1993-2002).