The True Story Behind the Pontiac Trans Am’s Iconic Hood Bird

Even though Pontiac was discontinued 16 years ago and it has been a century since the brand was founded, the Firebird Trans Am remains an iconic pony car. One of its most famous features is the optional hood graphic, widely known as the ‘screaming chicken’ or ‘rising phoenix,’ though Pontiac officially called it the Trans Am Hood Decal. The original 1967 Firebird featured a small bird emblem with wings down and beak closed, inspired by Hopi Native American jewelry. Pontiac head of design Bill Porter later expanded this into a dramatic phoenix graphic with gold feathers and big wings, drawing inspiration from colorful Tiffany vases he collected.

While developing the 1970 model, Porter stuck his design onto a full-sized clay model. In a 2024 interview with Original MotorCar, Porter shared that GM design boss Bill Mitchell spotted the graphic and initially hated it. Years later, GM designer John Schinella found Porter’s design, improved it, and pitched it to Mitchell again. Knowing Mitchell owned a black motorcycle with gold graphics, Schinella put a gold decal on the hood of a black Trans Am, successfully winning Mitchell’s approval.

The decal debuted as a $55 option on the 1973 Firebird Trans Am and became a massive hit. Initially measuring 45.5 inches wide and 44.5 inches long, the bird grew to 47 inches wide by 55 inches tall in 1978, with its head repositioned to face the passenger side instead of the driver. This larger version became standard on all 1979 Trans Am models, excluding the 10th Anniversary edition. The design grew slightly again for 1980 models and inspired unique versions for turbocharged models.

The graphic became so popular in the late 1970s that Ford even copied the idea with a large golden snake graphic on the Mustang King Cobra. The third-generation Firebird launched in 1982 featured a smaller version of the graphic before Pontiac dropped it entirely for the 1988 model.