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History / OriginalityGot a question about 1982-1992 Camaro or Firebird history? Have a question about original parts, options, RPO codes, when something was available, or how to document your car? Those questions, answers, and much more!
Other posters on here have shared that they are not the original owners of their third gens and have searched up the original owners to ask questions about the car new. I have thought of doing the same, but I would not want the original owner to then know where his/her car is and be hounding me to get it back. I'm content to finally have one, and it's not worth the risk and subsequent irritation of the original owner hammering me to buy it back.
I have said on TGO before that I did not own a third gen back in the day, so seeing these period-era pics and hearing various stories is great! Keep 'em coming!
I am the fourth owner of my car. the first 2 had it for a year each from 1988 - 1990. The third owner bought it in 1990 and kept it since so in my head its almost like I am the second owner.... I spoke with 2 out of the 3 and (1 and 3) and they didnt ask for it back but did tell me they loved the car and treated it well.
See now there's another side to that view & that's of the original owner. I sold my car in 1989 after enjoying (abusing) it for 2 years and when I went looking a little over a year ago & found it, I was lucky enough to find an owner, that after 14 years, agreed to sell it back to me. I did pay a premium for the car at the time, but am very happy to have it today.
A red 305/auto 86 Z28 is a relatively easy car to replace - unless it's the one you owned new. If you do happen to find the original owner - you never know what they might pay for the car.
You are correct, and I hope I did not offend. I should have used more tact. In fact, after I posted my last post, I scrolled back up and read the account of you reacquiring your car, and enjoyed it. Long day, synapses misfiring, I guess. My view stems from the fact that it took me so long to get one of my own (and bought it without consulting my CFO/wife - the whole "sometimes it's better to ask forgiveness than permission" angle) that I fear not being able to get another. I know the auto 305s are absolutely nothing special, but it's mine, and I love it.
Can't blame you for not wanting to take the chance.
In my case, the original owner is in his 80s, and sold it because he could not get in and out of it anymore. So he had no desire to buy it back when I spoke with him, but he was happy to know that someone bought and was taking great care of it.
It's not as old as many others, but this is in late fall 1995. The CE Vette was my Dad's new LT4... still had the window sticker on it. I have others to post from the 80's of my Dad's thirdgens that he owned when they were nearly new, i'll post those soon.
You are correct, and I hope I did not offend. I should have used more tact. In fact, after I posted my last post, I scrolled back up and read the account of you reacquiring your car, and enjoyed it. Long day, synapses misfiring, I guess. My view stems from the fact that it took me so long to get one of my own (and bought it without consulting my CFO/wife - the whole "sometimes it's better to ask forgiveness than permission" angle) that I fear not being able to get another. I know the auto 305s are absolutely nothing special, but it's mine, and I love it.
No worries, I wasn't offended at all - you've got to go much further with me to do that!
Seriously, the point I was making was that you may find the original, or an earlier owner may want the car badly, and will pay well for that chance. When I bought mine back, I feel I paid double what it's street value was, but those extra dollars were less important to me than regaining the car. Hey, even the owner of Papa Johns Pizza paid $250,000 for the return of his 71 Z-28 so you never know who you may find on the other end of your car!
As far as the wife goes, I came from the same kind of household and decided long ago that it would never be any of "our" money that went to my car hobby. I started buying & selling parts and then cars - If I bought an intake for $20 and sold it for $50 I had $30 in CAR money. I kept a separate account and kept the money in that, never borrowing from "our" money to buy anything. Yes there were times I had to pass on deals, and there were also times where the car account paid unexpected expenses of "ours". In the end, my hobby never cost my family any money - follow that formula, and there's nothing she can say.
As far as the wife goes, I came from the same kind of household and decided long ago that it would never be any of "our" money that went to my car hobby. I started buying & selling parts and then cars - If I bought an intake for $20 and sold it for $50 I had $30 in CAR money. I kept a separate account and kept the money in that, never borrowing from "our" money to buy anything. Yes there were times I had to pass on deals, and there were also times where the car account paid unexpected expenses of "ours". In the end, my hobby never cost my family any money - follow that formula, and there's nothing she can say.
As far as the wife goes, I came from the same kind of household and decided long ago that it would never be any of "our" money that went to my car hobby. I started buying & selling parts and then cars - If I bought an intake for $20 and sold it for $50 I had $30 in CAR money. I kept a separate account and kept the money in that, never borrowing from "our" money to buy anything. Yes there were times I had to pass on deals, and there were also times where the car account paid unexpected expenses of "ours". In the end, my hobby never cost my family any money - follow that formula, and there's nothing she can say.
I probably should have used this method, I would definitely have better toys today.
Entered marriage 25 years ago with some vehicular assets and one joint bank account for everything. I always get approved, but I still feel like I have to present a proposal for funding to my Secretary of the Treasury whenever my baby needs tires or a clutch.
69 Camaro, 4 speed, 73 -350 monticarlo engine, moms Ford Grenada in back
My 84 Trans am in 1986 ... had 12K miles when I bought it.
My 78 Trans in 1984 w/then future wife.
69 Camaro in 1982/83 (wish I still had them all)
Still have the wife tho !!
Hey Purely, am digging the "ROADHANDLER RADIAL GT" tires, I believe they were a Sears brand and had a set on my '73 Grand Prix. I guess you burned off the Eagles and had to get two Roadhandlers for the rear.
Hey Purely, am digging the "ROADHANDLER RADIAL GT" tires, I believe they were a Sears brand and had a set on my '73 Grand Prix. I guess you burned off the Eagles and had to get two Roadhandlers for the rear.
LOL the Roadhandlers were on the car when I bought it, the Eagle ST's went on shortly thereafter. I've always had a thing for those big white outline tires and have had several vintage sets on several of my cars.
LOL the Roadhandlers were on the car when I bought it, the Eagle ST's went on shortly thereafter. I've always had a thing for those big white outline tires and have had several vintage sets on several of my cars.
First pic is my 84 Trans Am in 1994. 305 HO 5-speed with a few bolt-ons and SLP "TOTL" exhaust. Second picture is the 84 with my new 95 TA. Last picture was taken in 1998 when my 84 TA met it's demise thanks to a guy in a Grand Cherokee making an illegal turn across traffic in front of me.
First pic is new in 1986. Base Firebird with T-Tops. Second pic 1989 with Cragar gold center wheels in 1989. Ran a supertrap muffler around then too. Still have the car 30 years later.
Not sure how "vintage" my pics are considering they were all taken between 1994 and 1999. yes, I had a "few" thirdgens in my past.
This was my first car.Owned it one year. Picture taken in 1994. 1987 Sport Coupe that could hang with stock 5.0 foxbodys! lot of great memories in that car. Unfortunately, a drunk driver took it all away from me one night.
Second car I owned was a 1987 Trans am. Picture taken in 1995. I loved the digital dash in this car. This car was only with me for about 9 months! I hit black ice and slid off the road and rolled it over. I was fortunate enough to have two thirdgens while in highschool. The girls liked them!!
Fast forward a couple years to 1997. I picked up this gem while home on leave one day. 1991 Z28 350 car, C&C ttop car. had 30K miles on it.
I couldnt stand black so I painted it silver.
then, changed the wheels, a few times.
That car lasted me 2 years until it burnt to a crisp due to what I think was a faulty remote starter kit. I was done with 3rd gens at this point and ended up picking up a mint 15K mile 1997 WS6 T/A. Car was amazing but I just didnt feel right and ended up selling it exactly 1 year to the day that I bought it. Gues what I replaced it with??? Yep, you guessed it, another thirdgen!!!! I bought this 91Z28 305tpi/5spd from my best friend.
This car went through a LOT of changes and upgrades and over the course of 10 years. First thing I did was repaint it silver, like my last one
I had to part this car out in 2011 due to rot. I was without a thirdgen for almost 5 years and it killed me so I just picked up my 6th Fbody and 5th thirdgen!!
I cant get away from these...or this community! I have a lot more pictures of my first few cars that I'll have to get into photobucket.
Here are my original '89 Formula LB9-MM5, My current '89 Formula LB9-MM5 and My current collection of '89 Formula, '03 SL55 AMG, '69 Skylark with 16k original miles.
Last edited by live4formula; 03-14-2016 at 06:15 AM.
Here are my original '89 Formula LB9-MM5, My current '89 Formula LB9-MM5 and My current collection of '89 Formula, '03 SL55 AMG, '69 Skylark with 16k original miles.
Cannot seem to get pictures to upload. Selected from my photos and clicked insert. Any ideas?
if from our photo albums on TGO... open the pick as large as you can... right click and select "copy image location" then paste that link in this thread... use "[IMG]" before the link and "[/img]" after the link... without the quotation marks... it will work and show them loud and proud!
No worries, I wasn't offended at all - you've got to go much further with me to do that!
Seriously, the point I was making was that you may find the original, or an earlier owner may want the car badly, and will pay well for that chance. When I bought mine back, I feel I paid double what it's street value was, but those extra dollars were less important to me than regaining the car. Hey, even the owner of Papa Johns Pizza paid $250,000 for the return of his 71 Z-28 so you never know who you may find on the other end of your car!
As far as the wife goes, I came from the same kind of household and decided long ago that it would never be any of "our" money that went to my car hobby. I started buying & selling parts and then cars - If I bought an intake for $20 and sold it for $50 I had $30 in CAR money. I kept a separate account and kept the money in that, never borrowing from "our" money to buy anything. Yes there were times I had to pass on deals, and there were also times where the car account paid unexpected expenses of "ours". In the end, my hobby never cost my family any money - follow that formula, and there's nothing she can say.
I was SO on the fence when I bought my '91 between the teal and the Arctic White that I ended up with.
I was so infatuated by that color it was a no brainer. I was the first one in my town to have that color and it turned heads everywhere i went. I remember it wasn't available on the Z28 until 92 for some stupid reason.
if from our photo albums on TGO... open the pick as large as you can... right click and select "copy image location" then paste that link in this thread... use "[IMG]" before the link and "[/img]" after the link... without the quotation marks... it will work and show them loud and proud!
Thanks for the tip. I was able to copy and paste from the enlarged pic. Now they are definitely "loud and proud".
I always wondered how that was done. I should edit my opening post
I found a few more pictures from 1991-1995 I'll scan & post up later. I found a couple of picts of camaros I forgot I had. Seemed like most of them were 87's not sure why.....
02-03-2016, 06:55 PM
it will work and show them loud and proud! 
