Goumba T

First car:

'88 V6 Firebird, nice shape with T-Tops; my father had bought it while I was away for the summer senior year of H.S. Met its unfortunate end @ 61K miles when mother took it to work and rear ended a new Buick. At 19 I was heartbroken.

Looking on and off for the next 5 years (I'll admit I was picky about paint and it HAD to be a Firebird, preferably a red 88). Found a 91 red t-top car, but several things worked against it. It looked hopeless until I came across a 91 red convert suffering from GM cheapo paint syndrome on the spoiler but otherwise good. Unfortunately that one didn't work out. Thought I'd never find a damned Firebird.

A week later I found my '90 White hard top T/A (45K miles and clean) out in Plainview, LI and never looked back. And didn't have a hard time getting it like the previous few. I left a deposit, told her husband I'd just like a mechanic to look -- no problem. Apparently the woman had a few people who when they test drove it they drove not to well (one was driving extremely wrecklessly), and I had impressed her to the point where until I came back she was telling everyone that called the car was no longer for sale. I just waited till I was on the Northern State after I bought it to open it up.

The mechanic said "you have a nice toy here". My bank had a branch down the street from the seller, I had a huge wad of cash in hand before I could even tell her "gimme the keys".

Bonuses included: brand new Goodyear Eagle TAs; a nice CD deck and new speakers all around; newly fixed, ice cold A/C; clean all around; not a spec of rust ANYWHERE on the body (or under).

bigals87z28

Goumba... where in Queens do you live?

Goumba T

Howard Beach... y?

89TA383M5

Got my TA over 2 years ago. I wanted 2 cars since I was born. One of them is a 70 Chevell SS 454 Stick, Black with White Racing stripes. The second wich I was looking for when I turned 16 was a 89 Trans Am Black with Black Interior, LB9 T5 with T-tops. Saw it in a neighborhood by my new job. It was raining out and I didnt see a price just a FOR SALE sign. I wasnt going to stop but my friend told me to stop so I stopped and took a look at it. It was everything I wanted except it was a peice of crap. It had a Earl Shy paint job (looked like crap), Interior was really really dirty but not torn. The rims were dull and the clear coat was bad. Started it and it sounded alright. Had 87K on it and the guy said it ran good and it had an oil change every 3K. Bought it for $2,900 and took it home and noticed the suspention was probable original and the clutch was GONE. Drove bad from no power. Put it on a lift and looked at the bottom, a little rust underneath nothing bad. Leaked oil and had vacuum leaks. Then I started working on it and believe me it took a lot of work to get it to were it is now. Worked for a car detail place so I cleaned the interior and tried buffing it (made it look better but it didnt have any clear coat). Took the whole intake off, new TPI gaskets, Accel 19lb. injectors, Fpr, Full tune up, took smog pump off and cats when installed headers, chip, Throttle Body Bipass, 160 Therm, Eibach Springs, Shocks, Struts, Trans mount, Rear diff fluid, and new clutch. This is all in a month or 2 and then realized that the rings were gone because I changed the oil then the oil smelled like gas 2 weeks later. Blew out the third gear syncro and then took it to the track a couple of weeks ago and ran a 14.7 @ 95mph in the 1/4 without good traction, a little spinning. I have got a couple little things that I left out like Flowmaster and MSd box. I saved a little and bought a beater and bought a new 383 all beafed up, picking that up 11-2 and my friend is starting on a paint job. Not bad for a 18 year old that went to school and had 2 part time jobs huh guys? And I did everything myself and I didnt really know much when I started on my car.

89TA383M5

The reason I decided to get the 383 was I always wanted this car and I wanted to run low 12's and be able to go sideways as hell all the way down the street. That and as I got into my Junior year at school the rich kid's parents bought them new LS1 F-body's and then people had new Cobra's like 98 and 03 Cobras and there all one year ahead of me. They also started a stupid car club called the Cool Car Club. www.coolcarclub.com They go to the drag strip and get money for performance parts from their parents and have shops build them were I paid for everything and did all the work. They never really thought about me having a fast car and they never have brought up the fact I was the only person that graduated the past 2 years that worked on his car. They started with new or almost bran new cars were I bought mine and figured out that it had been in an accident (core support bent, fender doesnt line up with front clip, and crappy paint job) and had to do a lot of work to it till it is nice and so I can put it away and drive it as my nice car. I just realized I got way off subject but If you want go to there site and you can get a good laugh. Its 4AM and a little tired so sorry for getting off subject but I hope you enjoyed the story.

crewdawg16

My T/A is a family-owned car, my grampa originally bought it fully loaded in '86 for my grandma. I had always loved the car, and after my grand parents passed away and my aunt inherited the car, my parents thought it would be the perfect 17th birthday gift, at my expense of course. It had 66,000 miles on it in '98. After about a year, I rear-ended another car at about 10mph and got the car fixed. Then I left for the Air Force, my Uncle had the car for a while, now I have it again. Still have the manual with the miles at delivery written on it: 8 .

grngryoutmyway

iTrader: (1)

I got my first one when i was 16 I spent probably 8 months looking for it (yes pretty much every day!) and then I finally found a 1 owner 92 Camaro with 28,000K miles. Drove up to North Caronlina to look at it bought it, paint was a little shaky (not so good repaint, hailstorm damage) but no one but me ever noticed! Ended up wrecking it and totalling it 2 years later.

Next car- Looked for about 6 months, me and my dad both about every day. This was when they were just stopping production so everyone with a nice low milage car wanted to trade it for a house. So finally I found a one owner 92 Camaro JUST like my last one accept in Green/Grey Metallic instead of Purple Haze. 38k miles, and never left the garage in the winter. Only problem was it was in Northern Ohio. Spent about 2 weeks talking to the owners, they didnt really wanna sell it but they just had a baby and it needed to go. Finally one weekend in the end of October me and my dad were just fed up and decided to make the 1000 mile trip to "go look at it" I wasnt really crazy about this but really wanted a car. So we drove up in the freezing cold spend the night in the van and then the next morning went to look at it. Got the the peoples house and it was sitting in the driveway. It was almost perfect, it had A small scratch, no door dings or anything. Drove it, bought it. The lady cried when we bought it, I felt sooo terrible. But it was mine! drove back an took a few hour long naps on the way home. Rough trip but I finally made it! Titled it a year ago and 2 weeks today. And she got wash and wax for her birthday.

Andy Fanshawe

iTrader: (1)

Wow! 1000 miles. Our country isn't even 1000 miles wide or long! I complain when I have to drive 100 miles! Now that is devotion. You have my admiration.
Have you got any photos of your car?

Andy.

bigals87z28

bah ya lazy brit! ahah just kidding..

89rsragtop

I was out shopping for a fun car I have owned in the past a 64 Chevelle convertible, 69 firebird, 69 camaro, 74 el camino, 77 vette ,81 Z28 (new). When you are bitten by the convertible bug you don't get over it. So in 1997 I went looking for a first gen camaro convertible or a 69 Chevelle convertible. Every thing I looked at was either rotted away or way over priced. One day on my way to work I saw my 89 vert on a used car lot. It had a pushed in driver's door and needed valve seals. I bought the car and had the seals done. I found a door on a 87 Z28 a guy I met had in his backyard. I then sent the car out to a body shop to be stripped and repainted. It has been an ongoing project ever since. I have made many improvments and much resto.I drive the car almost daily and plan on keeping it forever. If you wish to see it check out the owner's rides section under 89rsragtop.
P.S.You guys need to stop worrying about your age. I'll be 48 next friday. I also have a S70 Volvo to prove it. HA HA I might have them bury me in my Camaro.

grngryoutmyway

iTrader: (1)

Well after looking so long I guess it seemed worth it. I was intent on buying the car unless something was majorly wrong with it, and I love the color. Actually I wanted to go to Chicago to get a Z28 with similar miles on it, but my dad talked me out of it (should have gone tho). Heres one pic of it, I posted a bunch not long after I got the car, i'll see if I can find the tread and post a link.

grngryoutmyway

iTrader: (1)

Here ya go https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=171436 I had already changed; the wheels to the 16 in, the grill, seats, and exaust. It was bone stock when I got it tho.

shipfitter_sjd

I found mine on eBay. I lost the auction, the "winner" backed out of the deal and when i was approached about buying it, I offered significantly less than my last highest bid. It was accepted and a deal was struck.

I live in Maine and the car was in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. There are not many 3rd gen convertibles up here and rust is definitely an issue. I wanted a ragtop and knew that I would have to travel to get a decent one. So in March of this year, the day after the war started, my son and i flew down to Florida (a Friday) and drove it 1600+ miles home arriving here in Bath at 4PM on Sunday with absolutely no problems.

This car is a creampuff and has treated me well. The owner picked me up at the airport, had the car serviced, washed and waxed and ready for the road......I paid him upon arrival. A small deposit was wired to him once we agreed to the deal.

My experience on ebay has been a happy one! The experience of owning a sweet 3rd gen convertible has also been a happy one.

Other F-bodies in my past:

1983 Trans Am
1980 Trans Am Indy pace car
1976 Trans Am
1967 Camaro RS

GTA4ME

I got mine from my dad in 2000. He bought it from a car dealership in NY in 1992.

alanq64

Here's a list of the f-bodies I've owned.

1. 1967 Camaro RS 327 w/ 4 speed and manual everything. haha
2. 1977 Camaro with a hohum 305.
3. 1984 Trans Am, 305 HO, 4 wheel discs, 3.73 posi, 5 speed and power everything. I liked watching the flapper in the scoop open when I mashed the throttle.
4. 1977 Camaro Type LT, 350 with power everything. Even had a seperate defroster on the package tray.
5. 1986 Camaro Z28. Started out with a 305 tpi but threw the rod. Then I built a 355 that would pass everything but a gas station. Put in a TCI 700R4 and $3500 in the motor alone. The ex wasn't happy.ha
6. Currently own a 1986 Trans Am. Non T-Top (Bonus). Other than the pop-up headlights (seriously contemplating switching front ends with a camaro....GASPS from the firebird crowd) I'm happy with the package. 305 TPI w/ 700R4, Australian 9 bolt w/ 3.45 posi, 4 wheel discs, an original (heavy assed) aero wing, Perf Suspension, 16's and a few mods here and there....all extrenal (for now). It does need a new paintjob though. It still has the original Van Nuys water based base/clearcoat.

Daishi

I found mine under the protection of some guys car port. He got in an accident and couldn't complete his project, So I took it over. Luckly all the hard stuff was already done

$1500 not bad eh

SBlackfoot

To whomever fixed the title... THANK YOU! That had been driving me nuts for months now.

mikesz1984

I have owned two f-bodies, one being an 1986 camaro which i bought off of a police officer. It was bone stock except for the 305 and auto overdrive transmission that was in it. I owned it for 4 years before i got tired of it, I then put a 327 in it, the transmission lasted about 40 minutes, i then had to pull the tranny and have it rebuilt, I drove it 2 years like that. Last year i got tired of the car again, it had developed a serious case of cancer so I started looking for a z28 with t-tops, the only one that i could find in decent shape ( I live in the snow belt up here in Canada) had been in a front end accident, well after alot of haggling with the old owner i walked away with the car. In the last year i have just about completely redone the car, putting my 327 and the rebuilt tranny in it, and I am looking forward to being able to drive it next summer finally.

CamBody

Right now I'm in the process of modding out my 1984 RS/z28? Camaro. Actually I really don't know whether she's a RS or a z28 b/c all the decals and markers were removed before I found her, so I safely assume she's an RS. She's my first-ever car, and I must admit a good, sound choice!

One day I was searching through the classifieds section in one of those neighborhood mags you get in the mail. I was intently searching for a third gen, as I liked the bodystyle, and GM products. There was this pic of a Cam, sitting in a towing company's lot, with an asking price of $800 OBO. I scraped together some funds and went to take a look. Her body was in excellent shape, interior was decent, but she didn't run. She definitely needed some TLC, to say the least. I knew what I was in for, but since my funds were limited, I had no choice but to settle for a "mech special". I offered them $500, and they took it without hesitation. They even towed it to my pad for free. I immediately finished the rebuild of my 327 block and cherry-picked the blown 305 out, saving it for later. I've been in love ever since, and still continue to get giddy every time I start my engine .

*** Bless Third Gen's!

my84firebird

You should use the VIN decoder on this site, it will solve your mystery.......

CamBody

Well, I had done that before, at the beginning of this year, when I first discovered ThirdGen. Here were my results:

Made in: United States
Manufacturer: General Motors
Make: Chevrolet
Restraint System: Manual belts
Carline Series: Sport Coupe, Z28
Body Type: 2 door coupe
Engine Code: 305 ci V8 LG4 (1982-1984)
4 is the CHECK DIGIT.
Model Year: 1984
Assembly Plant: Van Nuys
Production Sequence: 238586

Does this mean it's a sport coupe z28, or that it is one of them? That confused me the first time I decoded it. Sorry, I'm just beginning my enthusiastship in Third Gens and cars in general, so I am only starting to understand all the stuff involved here. Well, at least I'm honest about that fact, rather than trying to pretend I know it all already.


:hail: to all those who stand before me in the line of ThirdGen ownership!!! *lucky ^%$%$*

Dark Man C

I bought my 1989 Trans Am GTA from a guy in the Auto Trader back in August 2003.It had 150k miles on it and had a spun bearing.The car was in very good condition when purchased.
The car is gunmetal grey,grey leather seats,ttops,pw,pl,cc,
tinted windows,digital dash (I did a swap from analog to digital).
Would not have a Trans Am unless it was a GTA!!!.....

http://members.sounddomain.com/seelo
http://members.sounddomain.com/sirpayda

These are my 2 street sweepin' machines

my84firebird

I'm pretty sure it means 1 of the 2 b/c a buddy of mine decoded his GTA and it came up Formula/Trans Am which are obviously 2 different trim lines.

Do you still have you RPO list? It's usually under your centre console lid or in the rear cargo storage area. You could type all those in, maybe there's an RPO for the Z28 package......

Slick86

My friend needed insurance money so i bought thte car for $500. Hehe

Matt_Ky

When my son turned 16, we started looking for a 3rdGen Camaro. Openminded but had 1987, 1989 or 1992 5.7L in mind. Ok so, 5, 6, 7+ months go by. Nada! Searching the local newspaper, picking up local magazines, etc.
I was on my way to work one morning, stop to get gas and grabbed a couple of car sale magazines I rarely look at because they were usually full of used car lot ads but did contain some private individual ads. This happened to be the day the magazines are delivered to the C-stores.
Flipping thru the pages (while driving down the interstate), I noticed a 1991 RS with 26,xxx original miles (this was 1999).
When I got to work the first thing I did was call the owner. Please be home. He was. I ask if I could come over right after work and see/test drive the car. He agreed. Turns out, he was the original owner, retired city police officer, 50'ish, and only his wife drove the car to work about 7 miles round trip. The RS felt brand new. Driven only in the summer since they lived on top of a very steep hill and his wife parked the car in the garage every winter (explains low mileage). No one had ever sat in the back seat and he said he had sat in the passenger sit only two times since they purchased the car. I offered way below what he was asking. Sold. After paying him I asked him why he accepted a much lower price. He said, you know, I told my wife, the first person that makes a reasonable offer, it is gone. I do not want to deal with a bunch of teenagers and tire kickers. Besides, she is dying to get new SUV.

Now, I am looking for another 3rdGen Camaro!
For me.

This thread is fun reading!
Later,
Chris

Rotek

I was driving down the road with my mom, I've been in the market for a car for about 7 months now.. Been driving my mom's 2001 Hyndai Sante Fe Anyways we were driving when I saw a firebird formula sitting at a gas station with $1500 on the window.. I was like alright spiffy deal.. So I pull in and walk up the owner walks out from the shop of the gas station and was like " yeh I have the title to it, runs like a beast wanna drive?" I'm like hell yeah.. So I hop in turn the key and it just purrs... I'm like whoah.... huge difference fomr a 2.4 v6 korean SUV.... anyways..
I happened to have $1500 in the bank.. it needed some interior work and a new tshifter and has some vibration too it but for the price and a solid body it's a great deal so.. I'm just working on it as we speak one of these days if I ever get ahold of a digi cam i'll throw some pics up IN a way it just fell on my lap.. wasn't even thinking about a 3rd gen.. I was probably going to end up with a honda or something ...

Formula4Speed

I spent several months looking at 3rd gen birds online after my best friend bought a 1991 RS. I wanted a V8, 5 speed with t-tops so after looking at a ton of beat up trans ams I notice a 1990 formula in the paper so I call the guy up and decide to go see it. I would've bought it from him from the second I saw it. After a month I totalled it, $3700 in damages but I decided to fix her up anyway. No salvage title since I never got insurance involved. Long story short I have my baby sitting in my driveway right now.

Larry G Smith

In 1990 I was searching through the Camaro White book for a "Rare' third gen camaro that might possibly be collectible oneday. 1LE's and B4C cop cars seemed fairly rare but the one that caught my eye was the 85 HO IROC. I was at Nelson Ledges in 1984 and actually witnessed the first Prototype IROC race in the 24 Hours of Nelson. (This is actually mentioned in the 85 sales brochure) More about that later as I have considerable memorabilia from that day. Having made the decision all I needed was to find one for sale. Fat chance, it was like looking for a needle in the hay stack.

Fast forward to 1993. I had a very sweet V6 Monte Carlo for sale in the KC Star and was showing it a gentleman that wanted a school driver for his daughter. At the very moment we tryed to start the car the battery went graveyard dead. While we were waiting for the charger to take effect he inquired about what I was going to replace this car with. I told him I had high hopes of finding an 85 IROC HO but still had not seen one yet. He informed me that a buddy of his had one in his barn and it might be for sale. I nearly passed out. A quick phone call confirmed that it was indeed my dream car and yes it was for sale. Time to work on the wife as it exceeded the budget figures considerably.

Six months later it was mine. The gentleman I bought the HO from owned his own bank and collected cars for grins. He had lost interest in the 85 because Chevrolet was only supposed to produce IROC's for a few years. If he only knew that the rarest of IROC's was in his barn I wouldnt have it today. As icing on the cake this banker told me the car was originally a Coca-cola giveaway car that he coereced an unscrupulous salesman into selling to him right off the podium it was sitting on. Money talks.

Someday I would like to put the data together that verifies this car as a promotional vehicle as we really enjoy showing it. It doesnt get out much but when we do. We Dont Go Slow!

MCas7

Mine was destined for a junk yard with a blown (not supercharged) 2.8 under the hood. It was sitting in a dealership parking lot in the back with no plates on it. It had a really straight body and was a nice looking car, so I asked about it. $800 later and I was driving it home. 2 years after that it is carrying a 355 V8 and running 13.7 at the track. Future plans include a roll cage, nitrous, and multiple trips into the 11's.

okfoz

That HO story reminds me of an 86 Trans AM a guy in my neighborhood had, it was a real 86 Trans AM HO car, one of only 26 made... he put in a 355, but I should have snatched it anyway... oh well...

no one would have known if I did not tell them about the 355...

John

MightyReapster

I looked at brand new Camaros in 92 before I went into the USMC. Once I saved enough money, in 93, I bought it. Still have it 178000 miles later, no major problems

Fire"Dutch"Bird

iTrader: (1)

After driving two years in a '79 Malibu Landau Coupe, I wanted a '85 model Corvette.(That was back in 1994)
But they were too expensive or to worn out.
So instead I found a '88 black Firebird Formula for the right price.
The car was bought new in Michigan the owner lived in a small town called Garden Mi.
In 1992 he moved to Phoenix Az. and sold the car there.
In 1993 a Dutch car shop owner bought it and took it to The Netherlands,for over a year he tried to sell it here, without luck.
Bij that time I noticed his ad in a newspaper and bought the car.
I still own it and have no plans to sell it!
It is a very rare car overhere, and altough it's very, very expensive to drive it here, due to very high fuel prices, expensive insurance and very high road taxes, I love to own it!

Greetings from The Netherlands!!

my84firebird

Larry G Smith- how many miles on that sweet ride?????????

:hail:

89rs/sc

bought my 89 r/s in 1999 from a friend of mine who bought it brand new, i got it with 48000 orig. miles car is still in almost perfect condition, white, 305,auto, bose option,black/grey interior,t-tops,pw,pl, i have modified it since i ve had it as you can see by my signature.no rust and no interior wear.....how often do you see a unworn f body interior!

Morley

Ordered my 1985 IROC new from the Rydell Chevrolet in GrandForks N.D. when I was in the AF. It was the first IROC ordered from that dealership and I still own it. Has a new "built" 350 and I just got done painting it, it is a "new" Iroc once again.

curt86iroc

i always wanted a camaro, ever since i was a little kid. when i turned 16, i had to have one. the iroc's were the most appealing to me because of their performance and style. i found an add in the paper for an 86 iroc for 2300. went and drove it and bought my first ride. sadly, it had to be sold after i bought my 90 because the 'rents didnt want another camaro in the driveway. (little bro has 85 z28)

btw, i also found the 90 in the paper. B2L G92 car with 74000 on the clock. like i could pass that up

johnny82vert

my 82 camaro belonged to my neighbor as a converted 89 IROC convertible with everypart except the engine which was pulled from an 86 Z28 (5.0 lg4 5 speed) being from2 89 IROC's.
my neighbor left for school in 1991 and did not return until mid 1997 when he started taking the car apart to restore it and eventually lost interest in 1998 and the car had been sitting under his front porch tree until Nov 2003 when he offered me the car for free with many engine and interior parts. the car was quite worn including the top but after a rebuilt quadrajet, new plugs, oil change, a set of old headers and a nice new 2.5" exhaust with dual outlet flowmaster muffler, used but in good shape power electric trunk assembly and a nice front bumper replacement, the car has come back to life but still many things to do to it yet. one of the interesting features that this car has is the aftermarket rancho struts & shocks with swaybar combo the last owner installed on it along with energy suspention polyutherane bushings all around.
http://www.cardomain.com\id\frostbite80

curtis84ta

I got my car from this asian guy on the street sold it to my for 50 bux canadian.

www.cardomain.com/id/curtis09

my cars site, shows you what exactly it has been through mainly body pictures as its been made back up. no engine pics though well 2 i think. just a 305 5L with 700 r4 tranny. if you goto the site youll find out that i had to fix tranny and new plugs and batt to get her going check it out let me know what you think

Agent13

iTrader: (6)

Camaro: Was looking for an 82-84 Trans Am and just came back from test driving a p.o.s. 83 Recaro Edition when I was informed that a Camaro near me was for sale. Don't know why or how it happened but I ended up buying it.

First 1982 Trans Am (Not in sig): Bought it for $100. (Owners Girlfriend wanted it out of their driveway) 90,300 miles LG4 WS6 Hardtop Red/Black but had a blown head gasket. Kept it for a few months and started to work on it when I had to get rid of it because they kicked me out of where I was keeping it.

Second 1982 Trans Am (in sig): Also bought it for $100.(Owner just wanted to get rid of it) 175,000 miles LU5 WS7 T-top (aftermarket by C&C) originally Red/Black. Sat for 1 year with t-tops off and windows down. Alternator was removed from the car so I re-installed it and it fired right up. Drove it home and have worked on it since.

Mike-92GTA

Short & Sweet: I've always been a "Wide Track" fan since my younger days owning a '67 GTO. But in '97 Girlfriend had '92 GTA (cherry condition - the car that is). I knew the entire history of the car, (pampered to death, low mileage mint condition) made her an offer she could not refuse. She bit (went & bought herself a Lexus). It's still in mint conidition 6 years & 4000 miles later.

Mike

kretos

well after looking for 3 months for a thirdgen camaro in good shape for 2 grand i was starting to think it was gonna be impossible. then one day i was talking to my gf saying how you never find a good deal, looked at buysell.com and saw it had been put in 20 minutes earlier called and the wife said he wasn't home and i should call back in an hour, well that was a loooooong hour but i talked to him drove out to see it fell in love. 8 other guys showed up to look at it a half hour after me i was the first one there and the last to leave with my car .

acandcc71902

real simple a guy I worked with said he had an 88 firebird thats been sittin in his garage for two years and he needed the room it was taking up. Well 1500 later we took home an 88 Trans Am GTA
5.0 tpi and the rest is history:lala:

onebluemcm

I used online classifieds to find mine - took a while, but I love the end result and it was well worth it. And I really love that my fiance loves the car too (see below).

I live in SW Virginia and decided I'd look within 5 hours of my location. Found my IROC in Dayton OH listed on Autotrader. Was owned my the general manager of a Chevy dealer. This guy had ordered it through this dealer - so it was originally bought there in '88 or '89. He also was in the family that owner the place - some neat history I thought. It was kept in a climate-controlled building and only summer driven - from the looks of it, didn't see much rain either. I'm sure it got the best maintenence care too - if it was the bosses car, I'm thinking the mechanics etc did the best work they could.

So, when I was visiting my parents who live in Michigan, my dad and I drove down to Dayton to get the car. Took it back to Michigan to be stored at the parents place - pop's got a great new garage built so perfect place for storage. This was all in August '03 and my fiance knew nothing of it. Then, when we were home for the holidays I suprised her with it and she loves the car - a HUGE HUGE relief for me - I thought I'd be coming back to Virginia either in a body bag or no longer engaged!!!! But she really likes the car and now we're on the road to having many years of fun with it.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Kevin

benoit454

SHEWW MINE HAS HISTORY
lol here goes

a man from were i lived bought my 86 new and old man it was silver and black accented

he gave it to his son. his son was kinda off or retared lol that what i was told.
he decided he wanted to rattle can er well he did blue w/ white stripe on hood huge white one. and car has red interior. so that went over qell. yuck!!
so it had set in field for long while and then got sold to a guy who has alot of third gens from someweres round here.
he then traded the car to a friend of mine who had a busted rearend in a 300ex honda fourwheeler/atv. my friend had gotten the ex by tradin a set of 12 inch jl w6s and a kadence amp fomr his tempo to guy for the atv then my friend traded the atv w/ busted axle to guy for camaro which at time didnt run.
so he gets messin round cuts pipe off in front of cat and got it runnin. thenr an it out of gas vapor locked it n couldnt get it runnin.
had done some body work to it had alot of dents in pass. 1/4 n some grinded down but not filled spots that were just primed over.
n was junky blue spray paint down sides huge white stripe fomr indent to indent on hood primered pecker tracks all over were just spot here spot there was done.will post pics on another page prolly in body section keep eyes out if u want see.
had everyhtgin rigged n messed up.
had exposed wires that were hot under hood wrapped around the can for the ac stuff,alternator wires spliced,washer/wipers didnt work no heat ac had no gad n unplugged so i ditched it lol.
it was a mess slowly comin around tho.
i bought the car fomr my friend back in nov for 500 he couldnt get it runnin
brought her to me put 5 gallon in her n a battery tried n tried but wouldnt start , noticed the perge valve on intake so bleed air out gas sytem started right up but was flooded aweful. put in new plugs runs just fine.
currently under goin body resto grindin and bondoin the rust spots n dents thens goin get painted n add ons done alreayd have interior almsot half done

so mines got lil story behind it

the original supposed owner was only name on title and had it signed but none of the other 2 before me had signed so has his name on it n supposed to be original owner but i dont know yet will find out soon tho.

Larry G Smith

Hard drive crash has kept me off line. Sorry for the slow reply.
My 85 HO mileage is still at the 16,000 mark. Its getting harder everyday to not drive it more. The Boys are 18,16 and 14 and all want to do some SCCA autocrossing this year.

87LG4FORMULA

I just had twins to go with my 2 year old and found myself owning 2 mini vans (Safaris), one with the GT package , when i blew that up i decided i was too young to be so mature and went back to my 16 year old dream. I looked thru the autotrader and found a local 87 formula, the car i wanted in 87 when i was 16. with little research and no real plan i saw a rust free body and a clean interior, very rare in these parts on $3000 cars. This car had been owned and pampered for 12 years by a woman who just wanted to own a firebird. She had named it freddy. well she had inherited another car and needed to sell the bird, after putting all kinds of money into recent brake work a few false sales put her in the mood to lower the price and i bought it out from under another guy who kept calling her to wait on cashing his check. Drives great and looks awesome and i am slowly building my dream car with it. Gm documentation comfirms a true carbeurated formula package so i save a lot of FI $ and get all the WS6 and other formula goodies!

HisDivineShadow

Went to germany to buy mine, then I drove home
A 1991 black GTA!

It's first owner was some woman born in 1966 who had it for two years, then some guy who was born in 1939 had it for ten years but he was getting too old for the car and his wife wanted him to sell it as well and get a mercedes or something

Valkyrii85TA

Ever since I saw "Smokey and the Bandit" when I was about 3 years old, I've wanted a TA. Not a Camaro, not just a Firebird - it had to be a TA. I collected every model, Hot Wheels, or just plain toy Trans Am I could as a child. My little girl dreams were of Pontiacs instead of unicorns or Barbies. ;-P

In '95 some "friends" of my husband's traded him an '85 TA minus the motor, tranny and most of the interior for a ride to Jersey. I was beyond ecstatic. I had my car! It was a total mess, but it was mine!

Unfortunately, these "friends" came back one night and took off with the VIN plate and the steering column because they had stolen an '88 Firebird that they were taking out of state (we had no idea any of this was going on at the time - they were already long gone by the time I realized they'd done it).

We held on to the car for about a year. A local junkyard offered me 200 bucks for it one day, and after much agonizing I took the offer. There was too much to be done and too many problems surrounding the VIN, and we were as poor as poor could be at the time.

Fast forward to 2002.

I go to visit a friend of mine and see this red '85 TA sitting in his driveway. Of course I asked him about it and joked around telling him he should sell her to me. "It's my girlfriends car, we're gonna fix it up" etc etc is the answer I got. I put it out of my mind for the most part, but I never let him forget I wanted it if he should decide to sell it.

Feb '03, he calls me and asks me if I wanted to buy his '78 Celica for 50 bucks. I laughed and said "No, but you can sell me that TA". He said "Nah, not gonna sell that".

The next day, his girlfriend calls me and asks me if I was serious about wanting it. Of course! I was prepared to pay her $1000 for it without even knowing if it ran or not, but she says "$600 if you can get it tomorrow". I was already writing the check.

My husband and I go to get it. We're expecting the worst mechanically, since my friend knew zip about cars. We get it started and it's rough, but it's going. Plug a few vacuum leaks, change the wiper blades, and I'm driving her home in a snowstorm. She was smoking bad, so I already knew I had long days ahead of me.

The body is pretty much perfect, except for the nose and the hood being a little off. Even the paint is 98% perfect. It was worth 600 bucks for that alone.

We haven't done much to her, due to money being tight, but I've got a new engine lined up and hopefully will have it swapped by the end of the month. *crosses fingers* After that, I'll be restoring the interior and then on to paint.

I love this car so much it's silly.

This is her a week after I brought her home:

blurrmedia

My Aunt bought my 1983 new in 1983. After a few years she bought an IROC and gave the '83 to my Grandmother. When she died in 1999, I was given it.

Benm109

Since I was 16, I wanted a car (of course). I wanted an IROC-Z Camaro for a long time. When I was 17, I found a 86 Firebird but it needed a ton of work so I didn't get it. I lost interest in F-Bodies for a long time until I went to college and made friends with a guy who had a 97 Z28 and was selling his previous car, a 91 Camaro RS. Me and my mom test drove it and I fell in love with it. My mom didn't want me to have a fast car but she knew I loved it so she agreed to it and we went and I paid $1600 for it. I am now 18 and it has been 5 months since I bought it. There was a reason I had to wait to get my license when I was 18 and now I know why.