If you have been into cars from an early age, some have certainly left a lasting impression upon you. I’m sure you can recall a car or two from your youth that still think about today. For me, one of those is a Springfield Green ’72 Formula 455. I was 11 years old or so when I first saw the car and its light metallic green hue immediately grabbed me. I’m sure the aggressive dual-scooped Formula hood and brawny 455 H.O. beneath it certainly helped!
This ‘72 Formula 455 H.O. was in Omaha area for a number of years. It’s one that I dreamed of owning from a young age.
The H.O. Formula was owned at the time by fellow-Pontiac-enthusiast and Omaha resident, Mike Chamberlin. His sister lived near us, and Mike borrowed her garage to work on it. One evening my dad and I saw Mike’s other Firebird—a Sterling Silver ’75 Trans Am—parked in her driveway and the Formula in the garage. We stopped to talk, and I can still recall how the Formula’s small taillights, rear spoiler, and chromed rear bumper stood out. Mike explained that he recently purchased it and had pulled the 455 H.O. for detailing.
For 1972, Pontiac made WU3 Ram Air and K65 Unitized Ignition required options whenever the LS5 455 H.O. engine was selected. Impressively rated at 300 hp, the round-port 455 was installed into just 276 Formulas that model year.
Over the next few years, I saw the H.O. Formula at the various Pontiac events in the Omaha area that Mike took it to and always admired it. In the mid-1990s, Mike found another Pontiac that he wanted and decided to sell the Formula. I remember when he placed an ad for it POCI’s Smoke Signals magazine. I was in high school at the time and so badly wished I could afford the Formula, but I had just bought my ’76 Trans Am, and didn’t have the money or space.
This is the advertisement that Mike placed in the January 1997 issue of POCI’s Smoke Signals magazine.
The car sold quickly, and I remember being disappointed when Mike told me that it went south to Georgia. That not only dashed my hopes of ever owning it, but also meant that I’d likely never see it again. The August 1998 issue of High Performance Pontiac magazine arrived in our mailbox, I was surprised to read in the event coverage of the 1997 Trans Am Nationals in Dayton, Ohio that the H.O. Formula received the Editor’s Choice award and a photo of it appeared in the article.
I immediately recognized the H.O. Formula when I saw this photo in the August 1998 issue of High Performance Pontiac magazine. It was awarded Editor's Choice at the Trans Am National in 1997.
I thought about that Springfield Green ’72 H.O. Formula countless times as the decades passed hoping it would pop up again someday, but it seemingly disappeared. I was recently talking with my dad about that car, and he shared his recollections of the first time he’d saw it. “It was a few years before Mike owned it,” he says. “I was driving my ’79 Trans Am, so it had to be in the mid-1980s. The Formula was driving down Center Street and its green paint, scooped hood, and rear spoiler jumped out. As it passed by, I saw a “455 H.O.” decal on the rear spoiler. That really got my attention!”
The Formula was equipped with Y99 Handling Package which delivered Trans Am-level springs and shocks as well as 15 x 7-inch wheels and F60-15 tires. Rally II and Honeycombs were available at extra cost.
My dad chased the Formula for several blocks. “I couldn’t see who was driving, so I figured I’d follow the car until it stopped and then ask about buying it. When it pulled into a small apartment complex, I could see that a younger woman was driving it. I didn’t want to walk up and scare her, so I kept going. I figured that she lived there and that I’d stop some other day. Unfortunately, she must’ve been visiting someone because I never saw the Formula there again.”
A couple of years later, my dad happened across the green Formula for the second time. “It was parked in the lot of the local Kitty Clover potato chip plant,” he says. “It was in the corner by itself, and it really stood out. I remember that it had 14 x 7-inch Rally II wheels and white-lettered tires at the time. I saw it there only once. It wasn’t long after that we saw it parked in Mike’s sister’s garage. I knew right away it was the same car. Mike said he’d just bought it and was going through the drivetrain and removing the aftermarket air conditioning that someone had installed on it.”
The elongated honeycomb grill texture was specific to the 1972 model year. I have always found its appearance aesthetically pleasing with the oval-shaped grill openings.
Hearing my dad’s recollections rekindled my interest in that H.O. Formula. Whatever happen to it? Where was it originally delivered? And how did Mike come to own it? I reached out to Mike and asked for its backstory. Unfortunately, he didn’t know much, but did share with me several of the photos accompanying this story. Mike suggested that I contact Steve Smith—another local-area Pontiac hobbyist—who likely would know more. Steve shared with me that his friend, Rod Carlson had found the Formula on a used car lot in Omaha in the early-1980s. He was even with Rod the day he bought it. Steve then connected me with Rod.
“I had just got out of the Navy and saw the Formula in the newspaper,” says Rod. “I’m not sure where it originally came from, but the paint was sun baked and the dash was torched. I think it might have been owned by someone in the military, because I recognized the base access sticker. The car probably had about 100,000 miles on it. When I took it for a test drive, it would go like hell to 30 mph and then fall flat on its face. I knew what the car was and that it was repairable. I bought it for $2,000.”
Western Cars was a large used car dealership in Omaha. It often placed large ads each week in the Omaha World Herald. Rod Carlson found the Formula listed in this ad found in the May 24, 1981 printing.
The Formula was originally equipped with the 455 H.O. engine, Turbo-400 automatic transmission, rally gauges with tachometer, and Trans Am-level (Y99) suspension. Despite the aftermarket air conditioning system installed early on, the lack of factory air conditioning also meant that the optional limited-slip differential was equipped with 3.42:1 gearing. “When I bought the car, it had Honeycomb wheels, but I replaced them with Rally IIs because I liked them better. We found that the valve springs were weak, so we replaced them. The 455 H.O. engine ran hard,” Rod explains.
Like many daily-driven Firebirds of the era, Rod shared that the Formula, too, had the typical rust found in the quarter panels behind the rear wheels. “The body was very solid otherwise,” he adds. “In 1983, my friend, Mike Cole repainted the car Springfield Green and I added a black pinstripe. I also had the front seats reupholstered and replaced the sun-beaten dash pad with one from a ’73 Firebird.” In the mid-1980s, Rod wanted to purchase a GTO that he’d found, so he sold the Formula to friend, Kerry Madsen.
The Springfield Green exterior was complemented by standard-level saddle interior. Originally equipped with a standard steering wheel, the color-matching Formula wheel was added later by a subsequent owner.
“I owned the car for a couple of years,” says Kerry. “One day it broke a valve spring, so I pulled the H.O. heads and had them redone. I found someone had installed and aftermarket camshaft, which likely caused its valvetrain issues. I had a factory 744 camshaft on hand, so I installed it because it was closer to the stock 068. It ran really well after that. The Formula was my daily driver, and I was working nights at the Kitty Clover plant. I drove the car one winter and realized that I needed a four-wheel-drive vehicle to get around, so I decided to sell it.”
Mike Chamberlin was familiar with the H.O. Formula and asked Kerry to let him know if he ever decided to sell it. That opportunity came in the late-1980s. “The 1972 Formula 455 is one of the top Firebirds of all time and I was very happy to own it,” says Mike. Beyond general repairs and detailing, he didn’t have to do much to it. “I drove the car all the time and took it to many shows. The furthest away was St. Louis. That was a long trip with lots of gas stops because of the small tank, 455-ci engine, and 3.42 gears. The car always ran well, too. I could dig holes in asphalt parking lots just burning in place. At the drag strip, the 1-2 upshift at full throttle would bark the tires. I made it into the high-13 second range with it,” he adds.
When Mike Chamberlin sold the Formula, it went south to Georgia. A subsequent owner took it to the Trans Am Nationals in 1997. Hobbyist Don Bosak shared with me this photo he snapped of it on the show field at that event.
After owning the Formula for several years, a ’71 GTO convertible caught Mike’s eye. “You know how it is when we look back and regret selling a car. Well, that Formula was one of them. Back then, though, I seemed to always find something else that caught my eye, and with only so much room, something had to go, so I decided to sell the Formula to get the GTO,” he says. The Formula then departed Nebraska in the mid-1990s bound for Georgia with its new owner.
None of the Formula’s previous owners had record of its VIN, which has made tracking it difficult for me. While I was unable to determine its current owner, networking with fellow Firebird enthusiasts in the Georgia area cropped up some valuable information. It seems that the Springfield Green Formula had a few owners during its stay in Georgia. Apparently, at some point during the mid-2000s it was stolen. I understand that its completely-stripped body shell was then recovered from a nearby lake a short time later. We can only assume the body was destroyed.
Another of Don Bosak’s photos taken on the show field at the 1997 Trans Am Nationals.
I was quite dismayed to learn of the Formula’s possible fate. It felt as if a happy memory of my childhood had been ripped away from me. With only 276 H.O.-powered Formulas produced during the strike-shortened, 1972 model year, any example is quite rare, but when you consider how few were painted Springfield Green, it might reduce that potential total to a couple dozen. Despite this H.O. Formula’s whereabouts today and the possibility of its demise, I remain hopeful that it’s still out there, but consider myself fortunate to have fond memories of it!
Do you have any Pontiac memories from your childhood? Share them in the comments below.