Richard’s Ride Extra: Rockford Files Tribute Firebird Thrills Fans

If you have a particular interest or hobby, you will probably find others who share that interest when you scan social media. 

That's what happened to me once I became active on Facebook. I found others who are fans of Pontiac Firebirds and The Rockford Files pretty easily. One of them is Chicagoan Jim Suva, whose Star Cars blog publishes stories about a lot of different TV and movie cars. But, his favorite is Jim Rockford's Firebird.

So much so, he has his own Rockford Files tribute Pontiac Firebird. It's a 1977 Esprit model, in a similar gold color to the ones used in the 1974-80 NBC series starring James Garner. Similar cars were used in Rockford TV movies which aired on CBS for several years starting in 1994, when Garner reprised the role.

Suva's Firebird was used in a PBS Pioneers of Television episode about TV detectives, in scenes meant to recreate the feel of the Firebird's role in the show (Suva's car is seen starting at about 4:24 in the video).

Click the video player at the top to hear Suva talk about his car, shown recently in Chicago at the 27th Annual Indian Uprising All-Pontiac show. He often visits car shows with a whole Rockford Files display, which fans appreciate and often take advantage of a chance to snap a photo next to the big guy!

Here are some other cars shown at the 27th Annual Indian Uprising:

BONUS VIDEO - Author Robert Howe Discusses Working On The Rockford Files | Richard Piet Show