Autoform Firebirds Lot#1

Auto Forms was a company based out of Elkhart, Indiana that performed convertible conversions on Firebirds. It is believed the conversions began in 1983 and were performed through early 1986 with just a few thousand converted total for all 4 years. We have recently discovered that Autoform was sanctioned by GM and as such did conversions on both Firebirds and Camaros. The conversions were performed at two different facilities: one in Elkhart, Indiana and the other in Shawnee, Oklahoma. The conversion took about two weeks and cost an estimated $5500. Auto Forms worked directly with participating Pontiac dealers and did not accept customers off the street. New cars were drop shipped to one of the facilities and then delivered to the dealer for delivery to the customer. Year by year production is also not known but its believed that about 600 total cars were built between 1983 and 1986 including both Firebirds and Camaros.
The conversion used an extended rear decklid that extended through the rear seating area to the front seats. The decklid was formed with two bullet shaped bulges that sat immediately behind each seat that provided both support for the head rest but also served to enhance the euro style race car look. The decklid was comprised of a 2-layer fiberglass laminate and opened up and back from the front so the top could be retracted for stowage. The rear portion of the decklid functioned as a trunk lid swinging open an external chromed hinges support by the struts re-used from the original glass hatch. The design maintained the size and space of the original trunk.
The top itself was an unusual design. The base piece was also a 2-layer fiberglass laminate which was less prone to warping than other single layer designs of the time. The hardtop roof was reinforced with heavy gauge steel brackets for extra support. For visual appeal the outer portion of the roof was covered with a convertible top material. Using a but of ingenuity the Autoform engineers used the upholstery from the removed back seat to create a headliner for the top. The rear window in the top was plastic.
Interestingly, and unlike most convertible systems we are all familiar with, this design incorporated no automatic mechanism for raising and lowering the top. Its all done by hand. The hardtop swings up and down on a spring loaded steel arm that is part of a steel reinforcement cage that's installed vertically in the car behind the seats. The cage provided the necessary rigidity for the rest of the car that was lost when the top was removed. The cage welds into the vehicle at the door pillars and floor pan and is covered by a neat fiberglass cap.
To further improve structural integrity sub-frame connectors were welded in and an X-member was added that bolted to the lift pads under the car. Bolting, rather than welding, it in allowed for transmission or exhaust work to be performed. After being lowered the top was stowed down inside a plastic tub installed in the rear seat area. The tub included access holes so you could get to the rear shocks.
The upper body also received some visual accents to improve the overall cosmetic value of the package. The top of the windshield received a chrome plated steel reinforcement header attached with countersunk torx head screws. A fiberglass finishing rail was attached at the door pillars running back to the rear end of the fender and attached to the inside of the body with hidden screws.
For weatherproofing internal drains were built into the rear deck/trunk cover system to channel water out the back end of the car. Factory weatherstripping was retained wherever possible. The fiberglass panels came in stock Firebird colors: black, beige and red. Below is the original address of the company. Please note they have been out of business for many years.

Known addresses:

Autoform Corp
PO Box 2118
Elkhart, IN 46515

GM Auto Form
PO Box 359
Bremen, IN

I was recently contacted by an individual that purchased a converted 1983 Z-28 new from AutoForm and they were able to provide me with a few names from the original company: VP - Mike Gibler, Production Supervisor - Charles Kohlman, Customer Supervisor - Tina Plecther and Supervisor - Brad Sherman.

If you own one of these Firebirds or have information about one please
contact the webmaster1@firebirdgallery.com (remove the "1" when sending us an e-mail)
so we can document it here.

Original Autoform Brochure Pages 1 - 6 for the 1984 Autoform Firebird Convertible. Images are large in the event someone wants to print them so the file size is large on some of them as well. Pics courtesy Jeremiah Cherwein

How the Brochure Folded Up It's 1 page tall and 3 pages wide. The right side page would fold over the middle page, then the left side would fold on top of that. The "back side" (the side that would be somewhat out when it's all folded up) started with page 1, then page 3, then page 6. The "front side" starts with page 2 then has pages 4 and 5. When it's all folded up page 1 is on the front and page 3 is on the back.