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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!
Hi all,
I have searched for about three hours and this is the only place that I think someone could lend a hand. If you could steer me straight, I would greatly appreciate it. I am purchasing a 1985 Pontiac Trans Am tomorrow. I am being told that it is all original except for the radip and I was believing it until I stumbled onto a couple of listings for the same car or a very similar car in the same state. I am buying this as an investment / toy but now do not know if it is indeed all original, believe me I'm paying a low all original price or a very high screwed around with price in my opinion.
When looking at other Trans Am's of the era, I got very confused by the seats. The seats to me do not look original and they may be out of a firebird???? But if the car could have come with these seats, all is good. I'll post a pic of the actual car and then the other car I was comparing it to. I will also post links to the two different sites that I found with very similar cars that had me starting to question things. I do not have the RPO codes and cannot decipher what I should look for when reviewing the car before transferring tomorrow. AR9 / trim codes has me confused. Any help would be very very much appreciated.
I'm just curious if I am buying a hacked up car being pawned off just because of low miles. The two past links I found are below.
Again, If you help, I'd be willing to hook you up with a gift card for your favorite restaurant. I have a good bit of cash riding on this.
Also, When did a vin search it came up as passed between ohio and PA. I caught the lady saying that it came from a trans am guy and he had sale the automatics to keep his standards which has me wondering if he robbed one interior for another. The mileage on the transfer is 22050 in ohio twice and then the same when it came to Pa.
I'm no expert, but have owned two 1985 Trans Ams. My thoughts are that both the seats and the door panels of he car in the top picture are off a camaro. The interior of the car with red interior is correct in terms of not the style of seats and the door panels. The door panels might have pockets might have map pockets, or might not. My first 85 had pockets, my current one does not. Hope this helps a bit!
Hi all,
I have searched for about three hours and this is the only place that I think someone could lend a hand. If you could steer me straight, I would greatly appreciate it. I am purchasing a 1985 Pontiac Trans Am tomorrow. I am being told that it is all original except for the radip and I was believing it until I stumbled onto a couple of listings for the same car or a very similar car in the same state. I am buying this as an investment / toy but now do not know if it is indeed all original, believe me I'm paying a low all original price or a very high screwed around with price in my opinion.
When looking at other Trans Am's of the era, I got very confused by the seats. The seats to me do not look original and they may be out of a firebird???? But if the car could have come with these seats, all is good. I'll post a pic of the actual car and then the other car I was comparing it to. I will also post links to the two different sites that I found with very similar cars that had me starting to question things. I do not have the RPO codes and cannot decipher what I should look for when reviewing the car before transferring tomorrow. AR9 / trim codes has me confused. Any help would be very very much appreciated.
I'm just curious if I am buying a hacked up car being pawned off just because of low miles. The two past links I found are below.
Again, If you help, I'd be willing to hook you up with a gift card for your favorite restaurant. I have a good bit of cash riding on this.
Those (first pictured) seats and door panels were part of the Trans Am without the option code B20. B20 added the "luxury trim" which included the (second pictured) bucket seats with adjustable headrests, "deluxe" door trim, etc.
You might check for the SPID on the inside wall of the center console to be sure it doesn't have B20, but if it did then someone changed quite a bit of parts to "downgrade" it.
Ok, I kinda get what you are saying. I don't get inside wall of center console though. I may just be naive. I'm paying 13K for the car which is fine as long as all the codes match up. Havent got the chance to do all that research though. The carpet to me looked way to new to be stock. All and all, I'll probably go through with it.
Just a matter of how much should I care about it. I talked myself into it by the fact that you cannot by a daily driver with 22k miles for $13k these days. So , if I get it and it wont hold value , I'll just run it and enjoy my drive to work everyday.
It just eats me up to do that to that nice of a car, but, my mind / pocketbook has to be happy I guess.
Is the car you're looking at the one you linked? If so, one issue is the car is advertised as the 5.0 HO along with having the 5.0 HO stickers on the rocker panels, yet the 8th digit of the VIN is H and that means the LG4 engine. The L69 would have been the HO engine with an 8th VIN digit of G. So something is incorrect about this car.
The seats could be original to the car as, again, it was available on the Trans AM. That said, you don't see those style seats on the Trans Am too often as it appears many got the B20 option with the better seats and adjustable headrests.
Open the lid of the center console. On the inside wall will be a black and white sticker with 3 character codes. That's the SPID. However, not all 1985s have the sticker and it could have been removed from previous owners so it may not be there. The SPID will have the options that the car was built with from the factory. If it's not there, there should be a metal tag near the radiator with some of the option codes but it's not as complete as the SPID sticker.
Also, what does B20 mean. This is exactly why I brought this question here. I like think I'm smart until I hear someone who knows what they are actually talking about, and then I shut up and listen closely. Probably why I'm so smart, HAHA.
Thank you all for your help.
From everything you are saying, it sounds like I'm gonna have to call tomorrow and tell her that things are not lining up with what she believe's or has been told. I stumbled into it and thought it would be fun / good investment. Think I am just going to hold my cash until I get the Grand National which is what I really want.
From everthing you are saying, and what I researched, I swear the two links are the same car that someone wrenched on and then added a couple of stickers to make it look "different". Thank you so much for pointing out the vin code thing. The only difference I could find aside from the interior was the 5.0 H.O. stickers, which are just stickers.
Really glad I came here and asked and had you all to help me out.
From everthing you are saying, and what I researched, I swear the two links are the same car that someone wrenched on and then added a couple of stickers to make it look "different". Thank you so much for pointing out the vin code thing. The only difference I could find aside from the interior was the 5.0 H.O. stickers, which are just stickers.
Really glad I came here and asked and had you all to help me out.
So, did you get JT a gift card to his favorite restaurant? Looks like he saved your butt!
They look like different cars. Looks like one is a hard top and one has t-tops. The red interior has manual windows and the gray interior has power windows. The tires are different also. 1 set has solid white letters and the other car has white outlined letters.
They look like different cars. Looks like one is a hard top and one has t-tops. The red interior has manual windows and the gray interior has power windows. The tires are different also. 1 set has solid white letters and the other car has white outlined letters.
I agree that they appear to be different two different cars. In one of the exterior pictures it appears to show a hint of dark red (through the glass) interior seats to suggest one has the red interior.
But if the OP is looking at the car in the first link, there is something wrong because it does not have the HO engine, per the VIN, despite the HO sticker and the ad description claiming the HO engine. It would be a concern to not get the (better) engine that was advertised and also why the stickers aren't original to the car.
Those (first pictured) seats and door panels were part of the Trans Am without the option code B20. B20 added the "luxury trim" which included the (second pictured) bucket seats with adjustable headrests, "deluxe" door trim, etc.
You might check for the SPID on the inside wall of the center console to be sure it doesn't have B20, but if it did then someone changed quite a bit of parts to "downgrade" it.
Here is one of the primary reasons why I love this site. Always get to learn something new! I had no idea that a Trans Am even HAD a base interior package. Every single one i have ever seen online and in person has had the B20 interior. Thanks to JT for the knowledge boost! To OP, this looks like a nice car at a great price, given today's pricing trends. We're you able to find the sticker with the option codes? That would verify which engine. If it has the basic level interior, probably also the base level engine - would seem logical from a spec standpoint. Have the stickers removed with one of those special detailing rubber wheels (like a pencil eraser). Low mileage examples are rare, looks like a good deal to me.
Here is one of the primary reasons why I love this site. Always get to learn something new! I had no idea that a Trans Am even HAD a base interior package. Every single one i have ever seen online and in person has had the B20 interior. Thanks to JT for the knowledge boost! To OP, this looks like a nice car at a great price, given today's pricing trends. We're you able to find the sticker with the option codes? That would verify which engine. If it has the basic level interior, probably also the base level engine - would seem logical from a spec standpoint. Have the stickers removed with one of those special detailing rubber wheels (like a pencil eraser). Low mileage examples are rare, looks like a good deal to me.
I agree with this. A lot of people see the big air cleaner on the engine and automatically assume that since it's not a TPI car, that it means it has the H.O. engine. Those little decals can be easily removed. It looks like a super nice car. Even has the Eagle GT tires. I don't think it looks like a bad buy at all in today's market. And, it's actually kind of cool to see a Trans Am with the base interior. I also wasn't aware that you could even get a TA like that. If anything, once you fill them in on the engine thing, maybe they'll take a little more off the price.
07-16-2021, 07:57 PM
