clutch84

An 84 T/A has basically fallen into my lap from a family friend, they will sell it to me for very cheap- it does need a lot of work, but the body is clean and rot free and it's all complete with the L69 + 5-speed, and so I am very, very tempted to get it to work on along with my 84 Fiero.
I just keep doubting whether or not it would be AS fun as some other options, and as I am in college and on a restaurant worker budget (<$5k) I keep going between this beautiful T/A and a Miata, as I can only have one other car with my Fiero and daily taking up considerable space as-is. Being a slicktop, the Miata's convertible is really attractive as I love having the wind in my hair and being able to be in the environment I'm in, (primarily in the countryside twisties or the highway), so how much of a difference do the T-tops or a convertible option really make?
And the biggest (and most subjective part) is, how fun is a 3rd gen really to drive? Would there be enough difference between my 80 hp Fiero and it for it to be worth it? Or especially would it be fun enough to make it an option over the Miata?
The nice thing is that I am very experienced with wrenching on 80s GM from my Fiero, and from that also know that parts are insanely cheap - it would likely cost as much for an entry-level NA/B Miata in this market as to get the T/A driving somewhat reliably. (Generally not looking to mod besides handling or small performance upgrades.)

TLDR: In your opinion as a 3rd gen owner, how fun is a 3rd gen to drive, especially in spirited driving? And for a college student with limited budget and space, but with a Fiero and significant experience working on 80s GM, in terms of pure enjoyment, would you choose a 3rd gen over a Miata?


The 84 T/A, been sitting for 7 years.

L69 with 5-speed trans

QwkTrip

iTrader: (22)

Miata hands down is the better car. Like many times better. Not even a question about it. Personally I will never be seen in one but the truth is the truth, it is the better car.

An '84 Trans Am is a turd. Only choose it if you have dreams of having one.

live4formula

I have a garage full of cars and I love each one for different reasons. I have a 1958 Impala 2 door sport coupe, 400-4spd / 1967 Malibu, 283-4 speed / 1968 Corvette Convertible, 350-4 speed-side pipes / 1969 Buick Skylark, 350-auto (18,000 original miles) / 1986 Jaguar XJS, 350-auto / 1989 Firebird Formula, 305TPI-5 speed / 1989 Trans Am GTA convertible, 5.7L TPI-auto(19,000 original miles) / 2003 Mercedes SL55AMG (supercharged 5.7L - 492 HP).

My favorite to drive is my 89 Formula 5 speed, hands down.

Komet

These cars are really fun if you've got serious cash to throw at whatever they need. You're looking at some substantial revival work to even hit the road in the T/A, and I would imagine you'd be underwhelmed by how mostly wasted the running gear is when you get there. Speaking from experience, a person in your situation wants a car with a minimum amount of required downtime.

It depends on what sort of wrenching you want to do, as well. Do you want to dive into shocks, springs, swaybars, bolt on mods, that kind of stuff? Go for the miata, because you can start there. The T/A will need all of that as well, but you'll be replacing brake lines, vacuum hoses, all the mechanical and electrical things that have seized and died, exhaust leaks, all fluids, etc for quite some time before you get to the mods. If that doesn't turn you off, that does look like a pretty straight T/A.

midias

The Miata is a good car except the generations with bottom end issues, nice and reliable and probably at least a decade newer than that firebird. That being said I would rather have the firebird and if I was going for a small import RX7, AE86 or S2000 would be my only choices. My TA is super fun to drive, handles like a champ makes plenty of power and has been more reliable than expected

clutch84

My previous experience with my 84 Fiero (which I'm still working on) I would imagine would be very similar to this, as it had sat for 2 decades and I've had to replace most things you can think of, and while it is enjoyable to have fixed your own car and figured it out by yourself, it was crushing when at multiple points my repairs didn't work or it was just sitting in the driveway, I would like for it to be up as much as possible but I am willing to put time and work into it. If possible, it would be good to avoid the heartbreak of just having it sit and not being able to drive it, I figure 7 years hopefully wouldn't need the same amount of work to get it driving again. I'm not looking to mod very much at all, probably more on the T/A than the Miata though, which I would keep stock.
Due to it's age I'm figuring the T/A could use new shocks and sway bars, as well as likely some bushings. Budget is around <$5k, so I'm hoping that will be enough for whatever. The Miatas have a really steep entrance cost (for me), so that's throwing me off a bit along with my lack of experience, but they look like really fun cars. I also enjoy having an open-air experience and don't really have a car with one, so not having t-tops is throwing me off a bit on the T/A.
Honestly the reason I'm asking the question is because I've been trying to figure out whether putting all of this effort, time, and money into the T/A will get me something that I would enjoy the most afterwards, and at the moment at least I only have one shot at it, so I'm really not sure between it and a Miata.

QwkTrip

iTrader: (22)

I had multiple cars when I was young and quickly figured out that it stretched me too thin (money) and I couldn't make any of them what I wanted. I downsized to one toy and that allowed me to make a better car that I enjoyed more. I always had another reliable vehicle for everyday living.

K_trip

I have a 1985 IROC-Z (L69 5-speed) as well as '01 Miata ... both are fun to drive but for different reasons. Both are well kept and look great, but neither is a true performance car. Other Miata owners will give me a thumbs up, it's kind of a click. The car is easy to throw around, but the interior is a very tight fit for just about everyone. Stock Miata 0-60mph will more than a second quicker than a stock L69, just saying. I run into lots of folks wanting to talk about the IROC-Z not just other Camaro owners, which is kind of fun. It's a bigger car but it handles fine and it's a heck of a lot more comfortable, especially with a passenger.

If it's just a matter of which would be more fun and I had to pick one... it would be my IROC-Z over my Miata - hands down. Fixing up that TA will take time and money. I bet a Miata would cost less overall, plus save you a lot of time. Like everything else, it all depends on what you want.

1989karr

You posted this on facebook to oright?


It kinda looks like it was in a flood up top the bumper and there is a ton of condensation on the inside.

I say buy it, air it out fast and get her started and have fun

ksr

I've been driving Firebirds since my brother-in-law's in 1982. Bought my first new one, a Formula, in 1990. Bought a 2nd '90 Formula in 2003. Bought my current '88 GTA in 2018.

Honestly, nostalgic element aside, I think they're damn fun cars to drive. 34 years old or not, my GTA will still slice up a curvy road really well. These cars have great chassis. You might feel some hopping in the rear if you're not on a smooth road, but they do handle extremely well. I love the driving position. Some people hate sitting so low, but I think it's very comfortable.

I never had to put work in my cars. I bought a new one first. The second one I bought was 13 years old, but it never needed any work. Any my '88 bought four years ago just needed some brake work since the pad and brake lines that came with it had just deteriorated. I suppose if I was always dealing with breakdowns, it might be less fun. What's do people say? Your best day owning a classic car is the day you buy it and the day you sell it? My best day with my GTA is every day I get behind the wheel.

It could depend on the year and engine choice. Mine Firebirds were decently quick in their day, but slow by today's standards. But the TPI engine still puts out enough HP and torque that it still moves well enough. It won't win any races, but it's quick enough that you're not struggling to get into traffic.. And with the low seating position, it feels faster than it is.

The number of positive reactions and thumbs up you get from other drivers is also pretty cool. And for all the comments about quality, the later 3rd gens were acutally pretty reliable. The three that I've owned have been driven 330K miles combined, of that, about 242K of those miles were driven by me. I've never had them break down or strand me. Never had to make a bunch of trips to the shop for some nagging issue, For me, they were 100% reliable. Now an '84, you might have some issues with. It took GM a while to work the bugs out of the 3rd gens. But as it needs a lot of work anyway, you can make that car reliable.

RedLeader289

iTrader: (2)

Do yourself a favor.

Sit in the firebird (take it off the jack stands first). Try to get the seat adjusted to where you'd want it. Then just make engine noises and shift gears. Toss yourself side to side, heck, play whitesnake on your phone while you do it.

If you have fun doing that then buy the car. If the above experiment was fun then it will be exponentially more so when it's actually in driving condition (provided you have the patience to do the work right, etc.).

OrangeBird

iTrader: (1)

More fun to drive than most of the women I've ever met, that's for sure ........

QwkTrip

iTrader: (22)

That's the direct answer to the question.

LAFireboyd

iTrader: (3)

Having owned three 3rdgens brand new, each has always been great fun to drive, and each recalls different fun times. But if not for the t-tops, I don't think they'd have been so fun. I can't even imagine owning a Camaro or Firebird that didn't have t-tops! And if my first one hadn't had them, I might never have bought a second one, let alone a third one.

In 1982, my 1982 Z28 was a blast to drive. It was 1982! 3rdgens were brand new. Everywhere I went, people would practically trip over themselves or fall out of their cars gawking at the car, especially at drive-ins. A 3rdgen with t-tops-out at a drive-in? Nothing better!

In 1983, I sold my 82 and bought an 83 Z28 HO. It looked nearly identical to my 82 Z, so people didn't know it was a different car unless I told them. But now with more power, it was a star on weekend cruise nights on the south side of Indianapolis, which was sort of a ritual every weekend. Six lanes of stop-and-go traffic, local business parking lots crowded with cars and people watching. An older man with a new TA would always park by my Z28, and people would flock to us. That car was great fun to drive. Drove it across the country in 1984.

My 1987 Formula arrived in January of 1987. Best of the three, without a doubt. 3rdgens weren't new anymore, so the fun of that aspect was gone, but the fun of driving it has never left me. Drove it all over Florida! A Firebird with t-tops-out cruising on Daytona beach, past the docks in Miami when all of the cruise ships were in port, down the keys to Key West, come on. It's been undergoing major upgrades for the last few years. It's almost there. And when it's done...

Of course they're great fun to drive. But the journeys are also a large part of the fun. And t-tops!

Big&BadGTA

iTrader: (1)

I have always felt my 1989 GTA with the 383, was the most fun I ever had with a car. Around 450 horsepower, if it were a 6 Speed manual, it might've been perfect. I think I added around 80,000 miles on the car. So it was driven

nhgator

Rides like **** with no cupholders or A/C.
Has way less horsepower than my F-150 or even the Wife's ecoboost Mustang.
I love it,drive it every chance I can,always get compliments.

Neil350

iTrader: (1)

Stock isn't very fun. You start putting better parts on these cars, they become really fun. Right now mine has the stock L98, but the suspension, brakes and steering have all been redone, lot of after market components. The car handles great and is a blast to drive, even with the stock L98, it'll cruise 70-80MPH on the freeway with ease. Other than the power and shifting gears, I enjoy driving my GTA more than I do my 1LE, but like a lot of folks here, I am also sentimentally attached to F-bodies from when I was a kid.

dmccain

iTrader: (2)

Pretty fun. If the suspension is up to par they handle extremely well. With a pretty much stock 350 in such a light platform they feel pretty good powerwise. I can spin tires to infinity if I want to and speed through curves enough to scare the hell out of most people. That's with an auto, I could imagine how much fun a stick shift is. I drove a stick L69 car once and Ive wanted one every since. Absolute blast.

LiquidBlue

Man, are you sure that thing hasn't been eatin alive by rats? That could be a huge problem. My funnest car to drive is the Formula, cause its cool and has T-Tops, 2nd funnest car to drive is my 4 door 545 because it has a sunroof and a kick *** stereo. My least fun car to drive is my M6 because it has a carbon fiber roof to reduce center of gravity and they cant install sunroof due to that.. That said, they are all fun, but thats the order and why - I try to never buy a car w/o sunroof, ttop or convertible again.

Carlos89

The 5-speed makes all the difference in the experience.