The 1976 Pontiac Firebird received integrated front and rear bumpers, streamlining the basic form to be more angular and aggressive. The gamble to keep marketing muscle after it had effectively disappeared was paying off and Firebird recorded 110,775 sales, only three years after it was nearly canceled. This would be the last year of the 455-cid V-8, and 1976 saw the first version of the package made famous by Smokey and the Bandit.

Prices climbed again and the base 1976 Firebird started at $3905, attracting 21,106 buyers. The luxury Esprit started at $4161 (22,252 sold). The Formula cost $4565 (20,613 sold) and featured a striking yellow-over-black paint job, full-length console, white letter tires, and steel hood with twin scoops. The Trans Am was priced from $4987 and constituted half of all Firebird sales. Base engine was the 400 V-8 and 37,015 buyers ordered that, while 7099 chose the 455 V-8.

Another 1628 buyers chose the black and gold Trans Am Limited Edition with the 400 V-8 and 319 enthusiasts picked the 455 V-8 with a 4-speed. Top of the collectible heap were the 533 buyers who chose the Limited T-Top with a 400 V-8 and the exclusive 110 who ordered the T-Top with a 455 V-8 and a 4-speed.

On the engine front, the base V-8 was a 160-bhp 350-cid V-8 or the 165-bhp 4-barrel 350. The 400-cid V-8 developed 170 bhp with a 2-barrel carburetor and 185 bhp with a 4-barrel. The 200-bhp 455-cid V-8 cost an extra $125 but bore no relation to the vaunted SD-455 of years past.

Standard equipment on the 1976 Trans Am included bucket seats, rally gauges with clock and tach, engine-turned dashboard, honeycomb mag wheels, front and rear spoilers, front and rear wheel opening flares, functional extractor on the front fenders, dual exhaust, shaker hood, and heavy duty 4-speed or automatic transmission.