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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!
Thought I would share a couple of pictures of some of my past 3rd gens.
#1 1982 Recaro T/A taken just before I sold it in 1989 @ 58K miles
#2 1987 Trans am Taken the same year when I first got it @ 22K miles
#3 1987 Iroc taken in 1993 it had 35K miles at the time.
Yep, I had 1978 WS6 Trans am wheels on the 1982. :roll eyes:
No clue if any of the cars are still around 20+ years later.
Anybody else?
Last edited by F-body-fan; 10-13-2015 at 05:56 AM.
Reason: listed a wrong date
The wheels came off a 78 that I sold when I bought the 82. The 82 had aftermarket wheels on it when I got it that I didn't like all that much, so I swapped them between the two cars & then sold the 78. Many years later the 78 re-surfaced & I bought it back. Ironically the car stayed very original except it took me awhile to find a nice set of correct wheels for it, & it was my own fault they were missing.
Originally Posted by 1988CamaroSC
87 ta is a beauty!
That was my first "newer" really nice car. I was looking at other pictures & things & I found I actually bought the car in 1989, so it was only 2 years old at the time of that picture. Hard to believe that was 26 years ago already. I sold that car in 1992 & bought the 87 Iroc that I still have today.
Last edited by F-body-fan; 10-13-2015 at 05:52 AM.
I like that look - far better than the stock wheels!
My 87 IROC - picked the car up on a Thursday, this picture was taken that Saturday.
Second pic was sometime later that summer in Rhode Island with my future brother-in-law riding shotgun.
Last picture is my now Ex-Wife but at the time GF (80's big hair) when the car was almost a year old (guessing) down on Cape Cod.
Cool pictures! This sounds a bit odd as these are car pictures & awesome ones at that, But I always like looking at everything in the background that just screams the age of the photo's IE: the wagon in the neighbors driveway
Cool pictures! This sounds a bit odd as these are car pictures & awesome ones at that, But I always like looking at everything in the background that just screams the age of the photo's IE: the wagon in the neighbors driveway
I'm the same way....notice the high tops with the velcro straps on PurelyPMD's Ex. Great pics guys, missing the 80's.
I'm noticing we all had the oem Eagle GT's. Soon after to be replaced with the GT +4 what ever the heck that meant....
@Bob88GTA, who swiped your center caps?
Also noticing the scented Christmas tree on the mirror. Was that Vanillaroma???
Those were my favorite. used to keep one under my seat in some of my cars.
I'm noticing we all had the oem Eagle GT's. Soon after to be replaced with the GT +4 what ever the heck that meant....
@Bob88GTA, who swiped your center caps?
Also noticing the scented Christmas tree on the mirror. Was that Vanillaroma???
Those were my favorite. used to keep one under my seat in some of my cars.
I really liked the GT's. I bought a brand new set (with the road hazard) on a Saturday morning, went out on Saturday night screwing off, went around a 90* curve, lost control and slid sideways, rolled them over till they scuffed the lettering and flat spotted all of them. Went back to Goodyear Monday and they replaced them free of charge...said they "failed to grip as advertised"!!!
Vanillaroma indeed! I still use em, just not hanging from the mirror!
As for the center caps..she went to L.A. and they got swiped. Shortly after that pic was taken we bought new ones.
Notice in #2 - neither of us are wearing seat belts.
It's a wonder any of us lived through that period without gov't mandated seat belt usage.
I also notice the bras on these cars. People were putting bras on everything back then! They sure looked cool though...until you removed them and found your paint had been rubbed off by the bra flapping in the wind.
Vanillaroma indeed! I still use em, just not hanging from the mirror!
They still make those??? ! I used to buy them at a local self service car wash. They had them in a dispenser bolted to the wall that was sorta like an old cigarette vending machine. That was in the late 80's possibly early 90's I had no idea they still made those. I can still smell them in my memory though. I used to just cut the top of the bag open & lay them under the seat. Lasted a while that way. Brings back a lot of memories.
EDIT: I guess I don't pay close enough attention to things. I thought vanilliaroma was brand specific, I googled it & see its a common sent available from many mfgs.
Last edited by F-body-fan; 10-13-2015 at 09:07 PM.
I really liked the GT's. I bought a brand new set (with the road hazard) on a Saturday morning, went out on Saturday night screwing off, went around a 90* curve, lost control and slid sideways, rolled them over till they scuffed the lettering and flat spotted all of them. Went back to Goodyear Monday and they replaced them free of charge...said they "failed to grip as advertised"!!!
I've got a set of those Bob if you're interested in doing a vintage look on the car. I'll text you a pic in an hour or two.
They still make those??? ! I used to buy them at a local self service car wash. They had them in a dispenser bolted to the wall that was sorta like an old cigarette vending machine. That was in the late 80's possibly early 90's I had no idea they still made those. I can still smell them in my memory though. I used to just cut the top of the bag open & lay them under the seat. Lasted a while that way. Brings back a lot of memories.
EDIT: I guess I don't pay close enough attention to things. I thought vanilliaroma was brand specific, I googled it & see its a common sent available from many mfgs.
I wish Vin searching like carfax was a little more powerful. I still have registration paperwork for many of the cars I have owned. It would be interesting to run the Vin's & see where they are, or if they have been decommissioned to a salvage yard by now.
There was a few times I was going to run carfax on some of my own cars just for grins, but at $40 each, that's not worth the entertainment.
I have always been surprised however that companies like carfax can charge the pulic a fee, but the info comes from a state run service that we all pay for through vehicle registration & taxes. Never understood that.....
I wish Vin searching like carfax was a little more powerful. I still have registration paperwork for many of the cars I have owned. It would be interesting to run the Vin's & see where they are, or if they have been decommissioned to a salvage yard by now.
There was a few times I was going to run carfax on some of my own cars just for grins, but at $40 each, that's not worth the entertainment.
I have always been surprised however that companies like carfax can charge the pulic a fee, but the info comes from a state run service that we all pay for through vehicle registration & taxes. Never understood that.....
That is a great story! I was at the Stephan's center that year when he picked it up. Never saw the car of course, but was in the neighborhood
I have a 1978 Trans am I bought with a similar story. It was actually owned by a friend that had it in high school & I found it 20 years later. Just dumb luck though, no vin search.
I made a thread on that story about 10 years ago on a Pontiac forum that I am willing to bet PurelyPMD is a member of.
It's a wonder any of us lived through that period without gov't mandated seat belt usage.
I also notice the bras on these cars. People were putting bras on everything back then! They sure looked cool though...until you removed them and found your paint had been rubbed off by the bra flapping in the wind.
They look terrible, I dont even know why would anyone put that on his car unless he drives on really bad roads. They may look acceptable if they were clear or body colored.
I sometimes see VW with some kind of hood front edge bra, I dont get it.
I had a few of them, The one that is on my black 87 in my first post was a LeBra, it fit really tight & never harmed the paint. Yes, they were an 80's-90's thing, but I liked them. I wouldn't put one on my car today, but I thought they looked great in the day. There were some off brands out there that looked & fit really bad, no doubt.
I had a Wolf Brand on my 85 as shown above; tight fit and nice cotton backing. I used it for trips and removed during rain and to wash. I never had a problem. In fact I still have it for my 88.
Colgan Custom Bras made me a Carbon Fiber look bra for my 88. It was pricey, but wow, what a look and fit!
Yeah, an 80's-90's thing, but I liked them too.
I had a few of them, The one that is on my black 87 in my first post was a LeBra, it fit really tight & never harmed the paint. Yes, they were an 80's-90's thing, but I liked them. I wouldn't put one on my car today, but I thought they looked great in the day. There were some off brands out there that looked & fit really bad, no doubt.
I feel the same, liked them in the 80's but wouldn't use one today. I had a black LeBra and a gray LeBra that matched the gray ground effects on my '82 z28. I thought I was pretty cool.
Windows down & T-tops out in the winter. You obviously pulled it out of storage just to take the picture. I have a picture somewhere just like yours of my 87 Iroc, backed it out of the garage just to look at it & took some picts.
I'll have to look for those. I don't think I ever saw wheels like that. Hidden lug nuts too, ahead of their time for 1989.
Just as an added thought. It would be really cool to reproduce vintage photo's with todays surroundings. Go back to the original spot the photo was taken, & snap another picture using the original photo as a guide. Would be interesting to see that changes in the background. Especially if anyone still has the same cars. Probably impossible to make them exactly the same without the same camera/lens, but would still be neat to look at.
I'll be bringing mine back to that same spot at some point to take another picture. Different fence there, now white but the house is still blue. My Dad got the first ride in that car but unfortunately passed away one week after I bought it back & didn't get that ride again. We still own the house.
Here's my 87 iroc getting pulled out of the garage in the middle of winter in 1992 or 1993. Still have the car, (in my avitar) completely unchanged except I removed the louvers & window tint about 10 years ago. this was at my moms house. I could retake this picture as well, except the car is in storage with other cars in front of it. Need to get it out soon. Haven't driven it in a couple years......
This thread is awesome, I second the idea of the people replicating the photos in the same spots, would be cool to see the same car, in the same place years later.
Being only 19 I really wonder where my 86 was 5-10 years before I was born. I wonder what streets it was driving on, what cars it raced, what PO hacked it up so bad and mistreated it. It's crazy to think I've been driving this car every day for 3 years now and know every little thing about it but 10 years before I was even born someone purchased it brand new and was having the time of their life with it.
the one I miss greatly. if I would ever find an 85 or 85 (or even 87) in great shape, black with silver interior I would consider a trade. it would have to be low mile and perfect
the one I miss greatly. if I would ever find an 85 or 85 (or even 87) in great shape, black with silver interior I would consider a trade. it would have to be low mile and perfect
Do you have any old paper work on the car? Maybe run a car fax? Who knows maybe its still around in someones garage eluding father time?
Do you have any old paper work on the car? Maybe run a car fax? Who knows maybe its still around in someones garage eluding father time?
I have the license plate number obviously and my 76 year old father has signed paper work to do a vin search for it. once that then I can do the car fax research. Last I saw it some lady owned it and did not keep care of it. Not sure what she did with it. I am betting its junked.
I'm guessing carfax would show if a vehicle has been junked? Or at least it should if the salvage yard does the correct paper work. Who knows how often that happens though.
I have not been able to come up with any old pics of my '82 Z28 until tonight. My college roommate pictured on the far right sent this pic to me from back in 1988. The picture has deteriorated in the past 27 years but you can still make out the car in the background. It's too bad we can't see more of the car and less of those sweaters, lol. Thought I'd share.
the few I can find of my 86 TA. I was the first around to take off the red stripe.... before the GTAs even had spy shots.... I wanted the monochrome look and refused to take delivery unless they took that thing off
and no.. those are not dings in the dash... thats the photo
I have a video of driving my new 1992 Formula out of the dealer's garage the day I picked it up, but I can't figure out how to get it off a VHS tape and into the hardrive as a .MPEG or whatever you call it.
Here is a picture of my much thinner self at Mosport just east of Toronto in about June of 1992:
Being only 19 I really wonder where my 86 was 5-10 years before I was born. I wonder what streets it was driving on, what cars it raced, what PO hacked it up so bad and mistreated it. It's crazy to think I've been driving this car every day for 3 years now and know every little thing about it but 10 years before I was even born someone purchased it brand new and was having the time of their life with it.
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!
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.
10-12-2015, 09:07 PM
