This Firebird was introduced in 1978 as the Hot Bird in the Flying Colors series in black and with Blackwalls, (bw). It was available in the Thundershift Roarin' Raceway. In 1979 it was gold-plated as part of the Golden Machines 6-Pack. In 1980 it was changed to brown in the basic line for a short run and then changed again to blue. In 1982 it was changed to black again and joined the Hot Ones series. Named Captain America for 1979 The Heroes series. Several paint and tampo variations followed from "glitter black" to metalflake blue. There are also SEVERAL tampo variations over the years.
The original Hot Bird was made in Hong Kong, Malaysia and China. In 2006 a completely new casting was made and produced in both Malaysia and Thailand. This new casting was used from 2006 on. Although very similar to the original, the dimensions of the car differ. The first noticable difference is the size of the shaker scoop on the hood. The new version's shaker is slightly longer than the old. Also, both bases are different. A few other differences are the detail of the rear tail lights and the hood bird tampo. One constant similarity of both models through the years is they have both ALWAYS been all diecast. This Firebird also appeared in Burt Reynold's popular feature film "Smokey And The Bandit."