For Wayne and Deb Hall of Overland Park, Kansas, fast Pontiacs have been a part of their relationship since day one. When the two met back in high school, Wayne’s daily driver was a ’74 Pontiac Firebird with a 455ci big block under the hood, and the car had clearly made a lasting impression.

“As a teenager, I wasn’t really looking for anything wild – just some cool looking wheels,” Wayne recalls. “I’ve always been a Pontiac fan, so when the opportunity to buy that car came up, I jumped on it. It was really just supposed to be basic transportation, but I tinkered on it when I could. Back in those days it was about putting big tires underneath it, jacking the rear end up in the air, throwing on some headers, and seeing how far you could push it before the law stopped you for a noise violation!”

The car was unfortunately written off in an accident a few years later, but by then it had secured a permanent role in the couple’s story. “We had our first date in that Firebird, and we both absolutely loved that car,” Deb tells us. “Over the years we talked about getting another one and restoring it when we could.”

Some time later, after their children were grown, the Halls embarked on a ground-up restoration of a ’69 Firebird – a build which included a 383 cubic inch small-block V8, a modern Tremec five-speed transmission, and suspension components from Detroit Speed & Engineering. “That was kind of my introduction to DSE,” says Wayne. “We gave it that low, sort of autocross-style stance.”

After that build was completed, the they soon began to weigh their options for another restoration candidate. For Deb, the choice was obvious. “That ’74 was so important to us,” she says. “So not long after we finished that first-gen, we started looking for a second-gen as a fun project. Something to relive our teenage days in!”

They found this ‘71 through an online listing at a dealership in Michigan and had the car shipped out to Kansas shortly thereafter. Described as a solid driver at that point, the Halls drove the car essentially as it was for the first summer they owned it before diving into the project.

“We had to torn down and media blasted, and we discovered that it was basically more rust than metal,” Wayne says with a laugh. “So we started replacing everything that was too far gone. And we knew that Detroit Speed stuff was going to be part of this build, too – I loved the pro-touring look, and that overall approach to restomodding.” The game plan also called for LS power, a modern gearbox, a and healthy dose of carbon fiber. But not long after the tear down began, life got in the way. “At that point we were focusing a lot of our time on our company, and we had also just sold our house. So the car – and all of the parts that we had for it – went into storage.”

The Halls sold their business a few years later, but Wayne tells us that they still lacked a suitable workshop for the amount of wrenching that was needed in order to get the Pontiac back on the road. “That’s when we decided to reach out to Detroit Speed to see if they could take on the project.”

DSE agreed to take on the build after completing other projects that were already in the queue, and in the summer of 2019, their phase of the restoration got underway. “We had some ideas for the build, and we worked with the folks at Detroit Speed to bring that into focus,” Deb explains.

“They asked us to have a rendering created of what we wanted the finished car to look like – that way they could get a better sense of where we wanted to go with it, and make sure we were all on the same page.” Several refinements were made to the design throughout the brainstorming process, and they eventually landed on a game plan that encompassed the must-have elements of the Halls’ vision as well as some suggestions offered by the DSE team.

“I knew the color I wanted, this midnight blue that was really similar to Wayne’s ’74,” she continues. “And I had envisioned blacked-out trim, and we worked together with DSE on things like the wheels, accent colors, and sort of thing. But after we got everything figured out, we had to make a few more tweaks once they’d had a chance to uncrate some of the carbon fiber body components.”

While the fit and finish of the panels themselves were up to snuff, DSE discovered some irregularities in the carbon weave. They suggested that fully painting those components – rather than creating exposed carbon fiber stripes as they had originally planned – would ultimately produce better results. The Halls agreed.

“So we decided to switch gears and go with charcoal stripes instead,” Deb says. “And that led to a bigger midnight blue and charcoal color theme for the car.”

Completed this past summer, the ‘Bird now gets its motivation from a 550hp LS7 crate motor with custom fabricated valve covers, remote-mounted coil packs, and a Holley accessory bracket system that help to clean up the look, while the powder coating on the air conditioning compressor and intake tubing – along with custom-painted fuel rails – bring visual continuity into the engine bay. The LS is hooked up to a Tremec six-speed manual gearbox with custom DSE shifter, which in turn sends the power to the pavement through a Truetrac limited-slip rear differential.

To modernize its handling capability, Detroit Speed outfitted the F-body with a DSE Hydroformed Front Subframe, Quadralink rear suspension system, mini-tubs, subframe connectors, and adjustable JRI coilovers are equipped at all four corners.

The Pontiac’s interior has also been treated to upgrades that enhance both form and function. Classic Instruments gauges and an Alcantara-trimmed Momo steering wheel add to the sport-oriented vibe, and the Ididit tilt steering column adds some welcomed adjustability. Matching front and rear Recaro sport seats are also on hand to keep all occupants firmly planted during performance maneuvers, and a roll cage was installed to improve safety, bolster chassis rigidity, and provide a suitable attachment point for the Schroth racing harnesses.

Although there’s plenty of track-ready equipment in the cabin, the team made sure not to neglect the creature comforts. Custom carbon fiber and leather upholstered door panels are matched up with charcoal gray carpeting to keep the theme consistent, while a custom sliding center console, Cerakote knobs and switchgear, and a Kenwood premium audio system add an element of luxury to the equation.

The exterior, meanwhile, truly showcases Detroit Speed’s attention to detail. The team’s measured approach yielded a distinctive look that reveals an array of cool details upon closer inspection. The lustrous PPG Tanzanite Blue Metallic paint and charcoal stripes immediately catch one’s eye, but it’s the bespoke touches like the recessed door handles, custom-fabricated headlight bezels, fender vents, and rear spoiler, and the custom 3D-printed fog light and turn signal indicators that truly set this Firebird apart from the crowd. “We termed it ‘simple elegance,’” says Wayne. “Just a really clean, subtle look that’s high-quality without looking too flashy.”

While the Halls have plans to bring the ‘71 out to plenty of car shows and cruises this summer, they’ve already made of point of putting this revitalized machine’s performance prowess to the test. “I had a blast with it out on the track at Carolina Motorsports Park last month,” Deb notes. “We spent the better part of the day lapping the road course. That allowed me to really get to know the car, and get a good feel for how it handles.”

Wayne chuckles knowingly. It’s the kind of laugh that clearly comes from more than four decades of experience. “Yeah – now she knows that she can take a cloverleaf highway interchange at about ninety miles an hour!”