Rear bumper delete

[Dantigan]

I do not like the appearence of the rear bumpers on the first gen f-bodies. In my build for my 69 Firebird I am planning to go completely without a rear bumper and do some metal fab to smooth the rear panel. I have seen a lot of 1st gens that have shortened and even inset the bumpers which look awesome, but for the life of me I can not find any with just the rolled pan and no bumper. Am I missing something is there a reason I should have a bumper. Looking at the structure and the mounting of the bumper I dont think it really adds a tremendous amount of protection, but I am no structural engineer. If anyone knows of any builds without a rear bumper I would love to see them. I would also like any input on why I should keep a rear bumper. Thanks for the input guys.