84 1LE

iTrader: (9)

The article sure has the yr range way off, but the guy in the vid is a character.Seems to know quite a bit about 3rd gens.Super clean berli too!

https://autos.yahoo.com/remember-sta...221959300.html

Drew

iTrader: (58)

It's funny how people latch onto some marketing jargon from 1984 and it spreads like wild fire across the internet. It's as bad as 1LE mythology, or any other rumor that gets repeated until it's accepted as fact. It's no different if I started posting videos about the "Streetfighter Firebird Formula" and people started calling Firebird Formulas "Streetfighters". Did some GM marketing ****** or magazine writer call it a "Streetfighter" at some point? You betcha, is it part of the model description? Hell naw.

I like how they keep saying the digital dash Berlinettas were ahead of their time. The dash looks dated like ColecoVision. Like all the rest of the digital speedometer cars from the 80's and 90's they look dated as hell now, and about as advanced as a TI-81 back then.

John in RI

iTrader: (167)

Back in 91 my Father told me about a "Starship Camaro" that someone at his work was selling. This was 'back in the day' when the internet didn't exist & I didn't know what the hell he was talkin' about so I went to check the car out with him.

After opening the door I was a bit shocked to see the interior layout; while everyone-&-their-brother had a Coupe or Z28; I had never seen the inside of a digital Berlinetta till that day.( Push-button,........ EVERYTHING ! ) As we were looking it over I instantly noticed the digital dash - one of the first cars I ever saw a factory digital dash installed in. It was a pretty 'cool' car with a dash & controls like nothing I had ever seen before; a decent Grey body with an upgraded charcoal interior, V8/Auto with T-Tops and 75K on the clock. The old-man got in and started it up and started playing with the lights showing me how the controls adjusted so you could reach them without leaving the steering wheel and how the Radio rotated from driver to Passenger side. ( pretty neat ! ) The high-beam "flash-to-pass" was the first electrical marvel that I found; high beams will 'flash' without the headlights being active. I noticed the 4-wheel disc brakes and said, "would be nice if this thing had POSI". He dropped it in gear and both tires started spinning. ( I was sold ). He shut the car off and the headlights died - at least we thought they died. First car I ever saw that turn off it's own headlights. We also thought we screwed-up the dome light somehow 'cause when the car shut off, the dome came on by itself ?!? As we were wondering why they came on,... they shut off automatically. (COOL !) When he turned the key again I noticed that the radio volume had been reduced, the first time I ever experienced automatic volume control on a factory radio.

Very few of the special features that were build into a digital Berlinetta had ever made it into another Thirdgen. (Later year Digital Dash GTA used some of the digital HVAC features, 86+ Firebirds used the electric Speedo system, etc... ) However; most of those electrical advances pioneered in the Berlinetta made it into many later year GMs after the Berlinetta first introduced them to the public at large. ( volume control Radio, timed courtesy lighting, auto-off headlights, flash-to-pass, Steering Wheel Controls, etc...... ) Because of this, the accolade that the 84 Berlinetta was "ahead of it's time " was repeated over and over ( for good reason ) in reviews and automotive literature into the 90's. The "Starship" moniker was used in GM advertising because during development the lead designer based his designs on aeronautic cockpits and ergonomics, so GM used the "Starship Camaro" in much of it's early marketing to highlight those efforts.

The Berlinetta in that video is one super-clean car ! I'm not a fan of the color ( and T-Tops RULE ! ) but everything else screams: " Back to the 80's ! "




P.S. The Berlinetta was first sold as a second gen starting in 79,... seems like the writer just wasn't clear when the ThirdGen body style began.

ksr

I like this stuff. The press mostly hated digital dashes and I never really understood why. The first car that I was ever in that had one was my brother-in-law's new 1984 Corvette and it was really cool back then. I have the digital in my GTA. I think that the analog Firebird gauges are really better the instruments, but the digital looks cool and always attracts attention. GM did some good work with this stuff but was mostly attacked by a press that I don't think was ready to be dragged into the future. The touch screen in the 1988 Reatta and the better, color one in the 1990 Toronado where really some pretty nice stuff for their day. It is ironic that touch screens were so attacked in the Reatta and Toronado. I remember the complaints about them - confusing, distracting, lack of tactile feel - then you fast forward a quarter century and it's where all cars have gone.

alan91z28

i honestly really loved the 80s... obviously why i have so many thirdgens... i would love to find a digital dash camaro or trans am... although now i only am looking for additional verts / t-tops and also need to be 5 speed... that has made it tough to find

ksr

The 1980s may not have been the best decade for quality, especially the early 80s. But I think for GM anyway, it was largely a great decade for style.

Cadillac outside of the Allante wasn't much to look at after 1985. But GM's other divisions, particularly Pontiac and Buick, made some great looking cars.

pognoot

An L98 in a Starship Camaro would be a pretty sweet ride.

Big&BadGTA

iTrader: (1)

1980s had the best looking cars, women, and clothing styles. Well, 2 of 3 ain't bad...


Music was unparalleled, too.

ksr

Music? I'd take the '60s, '70s, or even the '90s. There's exceptions, but for me most the '80s were a musical black hole. Every time some radio station has an '80s weekend or something, inevitably that "Oh Mickey" song will be played. Make you want to plug your ears with super glue. When someone says "'80s music," it's the first song that pops into my head. Ugh. And "Thriller." Double ugh.

WildCard600

It probably sucked then, I know it sucks now. My wife's car has a touchscreen "infotainment center" and every time I drive the car I want to put my fist through that thing.

Big&BadGTA

iTrader: (1)

One of these Berlinetta Camaros is on Bring a Trailer right now.

84 1LE

iTrader: (9)

Any link, price?

Big&BadGTA

iTrader: (1)

No reserve, 33k mi, and at $3,500 now:
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/19...olet-camaro-8/

84 1LE

iTrader: (9)

5 days to go, wonder if it'll reach 5k

Drew

iTrader: (58)

I can't begin to imagine how hard it'd be to sell a Berlinetta, or the whack-a-doo riff-raff crowd that having one for sale, would attract.

kentuckyKITT

iTrader: (4)

Well, kind of depends. You see the 80s music I listened to and still do today doesn't involve Tears for Fears or Foreigner. When I think of 80s, I think of King Diamond, Mercyful Fate, Bathory, Celtic Frost,and Krokus for instance. That is 80s to me. You won't hear that on the radio, Okay, you might get Krokus occasionally. There are literally 100s of 80s metal bands and I'm not talking about Guns & Roses, Metallica or any other "politically accepted" mainstream bands, I'm talking bands that got the politicians' panties in a bunch like W.A.S.P., my all-time favorite. I will say that the 80s was the best time for metal hands down and always! You only heard what they "wanted" you to hear on the radio.

John in RI

iTrader: (167)

I'd like to see your song-list !

"I Wanna' Be Somebody " is a regular on my playlist; " WildChild " and "9/5 Nasty" are on there too. ( the whole LIVE Album is awesome.)

I was never much for the theatrics of the 80-90's metal, but there was never anything that rocked harder than TRUE 80's heavy metal. SHOUT OUT TO DOCTOR METAL !! ( his show the METAL ZONE is the longest running metal show on the radio; he died in the Great White / Station nightclub fire but the radio show lives on Saturday nights at midnight: ) While my playlist is almost all old' school 80's stuff, these days SplipKnot, Korn, and COC are getting the most playtime.

84 1LE

iTrader: (9)

Ah Krokus, great band, Stayed awake all night, Eat the rich, Russian Winter, Our Love, Screamin In the Night.
Is Blackie Lawless still alive? Last i read he was living in Japan, but that was decades ago.
Im not just a metal head anymore.My musical tastes have grown, but i still have my 80s records, i mean CDs.

vinny R

Man the more I look at this car the more it draws me in. I know it looks a little cheesy in today's world but what a well preserved car. This is a time capsule for sure, hope it goes to a good home. I wonder how this car ended up at a used car lot in Naples? Estate sale?
Speaking of cheesy 80's music, I could see Thomas Dolby's Blinded Me With Science playing on the stereo of this car!

kentuckyKITT

iTrader: (4)

Oh yea, the Metal Zone! I just saw Korn in February before the virus hit. It was a night to remember and my last concert for who knows how long? I did see King Diamond last November in Louisville for the first time ever front row and nearly had an out of body experience, so I can die happy! I have tickets to Megadeth/Lamb of God in July (hope that happens), but it's looking doubtful.... and wait for it.... I have tickets to Krokus Final Tour stop in Joliet, IL in October, I REALLY HOPE THIS HAPPENS!

I originally was supposed to go see W.A.S.P. this year in Europe, but that all fell through obviously. I don't think Blackie will ever tour the states again and he's not getting any younger!

OrangeBird

iTrader: (1)

Yep , had a killer sound system in the 80s , and the neighbors tolerated it pretty well , right up till I blasted W.A.S.P. 's "Animal #$%^ like a Beast" , and THAT'S when they called the cops