I have a few older cars a 71 chevelle SS and a 1968 L-79 Corvette, and Just sold a 1970 Chevelle SS that I restored and none of these cars have the Low production Number as the 1987 Iroc Z vert setting in my Driveway. I just bought it and after doing a little research THEY ONLY MADE 744 units. Blew my mind, then checked prices around ebay, auto trader, NADA, ect and these cars at this time bring in low numbers, which really surprised me. How about looking into your crystal ball and sharing your thoughts on where these cars are going to go as far as value, say in about 10 to 15 years, my guess would be way up.

In my opinion the discussion is more about buyers and not the cars. Having had and restored a few cars and then sold them it came down to the age of the buyer. I mean the buyers age and disposable income. The older the car then usually the older buyer, one who has established financial status, older kids, etc.

It's something about recapturing the cars of our youth and what buyers longed for back when they were unable to buy one but wanted one none the less. They now have the means to do just that. Of course there are exceptions to this.

Being relatively new to these cars myself it appears that allot of these 82-92 F's are still being driven daily, so I think that keeps the prices low. Also with the continued production of these cars into the 4 th generation, they(the 4ths) are still a viable alternative if not a more attractive purchase. Whereas your 70 Chevelle was a far different, if not much better car than the 75 Chevelle, even in S3 Laguna form. There's a case to be made about the 4th gens being a better car( not from a styling standpoint in my opinion).

Of course we could have had this discussion back in 1980 when I was first driving and we would have pointed to a clean '71 454 Chevelle on a used car lot that nobody wanted for $1500, because it was just a 9 year old car. But now, a totally different animal for sure.

In the end it is just a crystal ball prediction and I wouldn't bet a dollar on it either way. I'm always surprised to see a clean, low production 3rd gen sell for less than $3K and I'm equally shocked to see one sell for more than $10K. I think both are anomalies at this point. And that these cars are still young and undiscovered in the world of collectability.

One thing I do know is that, as tempting as it is, I don't own one for it's resale value but rather because I like it.

Yes after restoring several classics it is a buyers choice, as some cars are more attractive to buyers then others, 70-72 chevelles, 68-72 bumper vettes, ect.... and I have to agree these iroc verts are very attractive cars, what really got me is the production #'s, 744 that is a very low #, I like to buy and restore nice looking cars that I like, but I also like to invest my money wisely, that is the reason for the post, I sold a 99 ss camaro, and they to me are more like a luxury sports car, such as the 2000 vette setting in my garage, these 3rd gen cars to me have a more muscle car feel. The only category I would say would hurt them is the power area, this 305 carbed one I picked up is a real dog!!! but that can be addressed very easy and with not too much expense involved with getting to the level of my taste. My Cristal ball says yes, in 20 years you won't be able to touch $$$$$ one of the other above cars I mentioned and I think these cars in nice condition or restored will bring back the investment put into them. Thanks for your thoughts on the subject. Steve

Yep, that's me!

I had an 84 Berlinetta once that I was fortunate to own. Sold it for 69 Camaro, which I unfortunately totaled and didn't feel like messing with to try to fix. .
Want to do it again. I like the 87 vert w/ 5 speed, just love a stick

Itsjustme, where in florida are you located, have a buddy that has a sweet 69 he is selling! Yes I really like the 5 speed also, if I keep this 87 that is something that is a must have, even before powering up the engineLove to shift those gears!

Supply and demand buddy, do some research and you will find what you are seeking. I purchased an Iroc for $850 and sold her for 6g's a few months later. Of course they will go up in value because a bunch end up in the bone yard and they are getting scarcer as we speak.

Also check e-bay, some cars are going for some high dollars.

I'm in Jacksonville. I'm really looking for an 87, but another 69.... Maybe. Most of those are out of my price range if they are in decent shape.
I'm getting $3k for my truck. It's now sold and just waiting on the rest of the money. I can't spend more than another 2k at most. From the ads I've seen I can get a decent 87 w/plain 305 and a 5 spd for that or less if I can find one that I don't have catch a plane to go look at!! Plenty in Northeast and Mid west it seems.

Converting an auto to manual, that's a lot of work. Good luck with that.

I will keep an eye out for you, the conversation is no big deal, I have a lift in my shop, makes it much much easier!!!

OK, thanks.
I was going to do the switch in my truck, but I don't have the facilities and didn't want to spend over 3K that I was going to have to pay for a tranny and the work to do it. It's a 1969 CST-10, a solid 350 with a little cam and head work done. Had a turbo400 trans and about a 3:63 or so rear and was turning over 4k cruising down the interstate. Wanted a 5spd w/an overdrive so I could go 80-90 without so many RPMs. Body was getting there, piece at a time.

I have a feeling the verts are going to go uo in value soon. I have seen several vert Firebird parts cars sell on e-bay for $3K. 91 and 92 Firebird verts are starting to get near 98 LS1 cars now. Not to mention a lot of these cars are ending up in boneyards at a rapid pace.

I also believe that the value of these cars will go up sometime in the near future. But mostly it's going to be the highly optioned and rare cars. My dad and I learned our lesson earlier this year after we restored a 1989 IROC-Z that had very little options. It was a hardtop car with a 305/700R4, no power windows, etc. Didn't pull as much $ as we had hoped from it. So now we won't buy anything to fix up unless it's somewhat of a rare car or is highly optioned, like the car we just bought which is a 1990 IROC-Z hardtop, 305/5spd G92 car. And the vert is still in my possession, which in '91 there was 3,203 vert Z28's made, but only a few hundred were in Ultra Metallic Blue, and even less with leather interior. So it's more of a game of finding something that people are going to want, than something that is just going to be "nice". Get an optioned car and you're set...that's my philosophy anyways.

I think that the 3rd gens are heading the way of the late 2nd gens. I am seeing more and more late 70's cars going for mid teens in the last year, while they lingered in the $5-6k range for a long time. I would imagine that any Z28, TA, vert, pacecar, or low production combo would be worth keeping. I am looking for an early 3rd gen Z28 in decent shape, and have been amazed that so few are left. Keep in mind that hundreds of thousands of these cars were sold new, and PLENTY of people remember them fondly, myself included.This is good, as the pool of people who are likely to desire another chance with these cars is large. Most of the original owners are 40ish, like me. They now have good jobs, are settled, and have income to pursue what they want. I think that this would be a good time to buy a decent car, before they all get scrapped, and before prices take off. Just the oldtimer's take on them. Thanks.

Hey, try 663 for the 92 TA's and by numbers it just seem like these cars were made for some special VIP person. To tell you the truth, if you look at how many people there are in this country and than look at the number of verts produced it really makes you feel speical. I know I feel special.

+1 I feel special everytime I turn the key

I think that in time they will go up. If you look around and see what is out there for convertibles, you will find that there really aren't too many that came with a V8 and rear wheel drive since 1972. That is how I ended up with the RS I own. Other than the Mustang, Firebird, Camaro and Vette. I think as the prices for the pre 72 stuff keeps going up and getting to the point that the only people that will own them are collectors, you will see the Vert and T-Top prices go up. 10 years ago you couldn't give away a 74 Maverick. I saw one go for $6000 a couple of weeks ago. Even big old ugly 70's Cougar convertible prices are starting to climb so I think that as all of these get bought up, the next convertibles in line to appreciate will be the 3rd gen.

THere are several factors that will ultimately determine the colectability of 3rd gens... Or for any car for that matter.

1) Attractive, most ugly cars even if they were fast like the Gremlin X don't seem to pull the punch like the more attractive cars. I doubt there are more than a handful of people who would think that the 3rd gens were anything except attractive. Even in 1981 when the 3rd gens had their debut, there were articles about Auto Shows that read, "there was the new Chevy Camaro and the new Pontiac firebird and they made the rest of the new cars look like another car." They are definately attractive, possibly the most attracitve cars in the 80's.

2) Convertibles, There is no doubt that a convertible is typically worth at least twice its hard top counterpart. Historically speaking if you are to own a model the Convertible is the one to own...

3) Power... from 82 & 83 power was not there, GM was scraping the bottom of the emissions barrel and power was not in their head at the start. The book "Cars you love to hate" calls on the 4 cyl F-body from 82-86 to be in that category. Not until 1985 was the F-body blessed wth any kind of power, for the first time HP went above 200 since the 1981 model. Then in 1987 when the 350 returned from its 5 year vacation did the F-body begin to shine. Even so much that the articles from 87-92 are much more prevelant than articles from 82-86.

4) Numbers, people claim that there were too many 3rd gens made. I think they smoke a lot of crack personally and really have not sence of history and do not do homework. When you compare cars of yesteryear and look at the values of those cars in comparison to the total number built there is little or no point in the arguement. There were about 2 MILLION Mustangs built between 1964.5 and 1966, look at those values, there was almost as many 1957 chevies built in one year as there were Firebirds built between 1982 and 1992. Then you break out the special cars like the 1987 Camaro Convertibles, The Firehawk, Firebird convertibles and you find that for the most part they are low production models all under 1000 units.

5) What are people asking? get on AutoTrader.com and punch in a 3rd gen F-body and I cant believe what people are asking, I am truely excited, as this will ultimately push up the value of our cars, whether it is artificial or not it will increase the values. Psychologically speaking it will make cheeper cars more attractive and sales will be faster, as the prices go up people HAVE to pay more because people are asking more.

John

Very true okfoz. The production numbers on these cars are really pretty low. In 92 for example, they made around 27,000 total Firebirds in all configurations. Take my 79, that year they made 217,000 total cars in all configurations. Pretty low numbers if you ask me and a lot of these cars have been scrapped over the years. People really mistreated them. Good examples are really getting harder to find.

Well said okfoz

I have been seriously thinking about selling my 2000 vette and keeping this 87 z28 vert. I look at it this way, my vette is doing nothing but going down in price everyday, the 87 vert is going up. I also have a 68 vette I am restoring now for sale, and if I sold the 2000 I would keep the 68 vette, this way I would be on the up side in both cases. If I ever wanted another late model vette I could always buy one and I am sure I would probably get a pretty good deal on it in a couple of years. What do ya think? Good idea.....

Good decision on your part. As nice as a 2000 Vette is, they are still as common as a Mustang. You see them everywhere. The 68 is definately a keeper as is the Vert. I actually get people saying that they have never seen a Firebird like mine. I would much rather drive something you don't see on every street corner. Bank the money and have fun on the resto.

i would say if you wait until the kids who were younger during the 80's & 90's grow up and have the money to buy the ones that are left in really good condition the value of the cars will go way up, so just keep holdin on to it for a while

back in the mid seventies you could get 60's muscle cars for practically nothing, nobody wanted them. now look at it.

I happen to be one of those "kids" from the late 80's early 90's. I can still remember in 1991 as a junior in high school seeing the 85-91 trans am's and gta's running around town. DAMN they were beautiful!! No way I could afford one! I owned a beat up 1978 Z28 T-top car and it was a blast, but the 3rd gens just looked so good! I also happen to love convertibles. I have been having a blast restoring old Buicks and Cougars (not the "ugly" 70's, but the beautiul 1969's!) It is now in my early 30's that I can afford to blow some extra cash on the cars I fell in love with at the age of 17. Compared to the late 60's cars I have been restoring lately, these cars are a bargain! Most of the guys my age love the 60's cars like everyone else, but we also love the late 80's early 90's cars of our "glory" days. And soon we will all be having the "midlife crisis" our fathers had, but instead of running out and buying a 1966 GTO, we will be searching for something a little newer! My dream car was a 1991 trans am convertible green/tan! The guy down the street bought one brand new and I still remember staring at it sitting in his driveway. Well, now I have one! I am just getting ahead of the game and buying it now, before everyone else remembers how cool they were!

Well Said bjf1992!!!
I just started collecting the relative rare late 80's early 90's cars b/c like you I always loved them in high school but couldn't afford 'em. I used to lay awake at night reading articles on the 92 Firehawks and dreaming that one day things would work out so I could purchase one. The rare cars (i.e. the 1LE's, convertibles, etc) are still cheap when compared to similar type cars only a decade or so older. As a child of the 80's and 90's it is only a matter of time before many of us can afford our former dream car (my realistic dream car was an '89 Forumla 350.) Instead of the Formula I snagged a ratty 'ol 5.0 mustang.

I am personally not a fan of the Verts, I much prefer T-tops, but that is just me. The Verts just dont look enough like camaros

I do think these cars are going up in value for the nice ones, I am trying to buy my first F-body on a pizza hut budget, and it aint easy. Im getting there though, and I wonder if it will be worth more if/when I sell it than it is now.

Granted, the one I'm thinking about buying wont have matching numbers, heck, its an 86 350 (not factory) with a four speed manual (also not factory)


Anyway, Ya, These cars are increasing in value, if they are nice, but the ones that have lived hard lives are never going to be worth much, not like the chargers where a stripped down charger SHELL is worth more than the car sold for stock.

I agree with you, I think the hard top cars & T-top are MUCH better looking, however there is a coolness factor that goes with owning a Vert which way exceeds the coolness of a hard top.

John

Well everyone is entitled to his/her opinion. But I find the convertibles to be downright beautiful! Add to that rare and desireable and you have a combination that will be worth $$ in the future. However only time will tell. I have an old mustang monthly magazine from 1990. It had an article on the future values of the 'stangs. They predicted that by 2005 the Shelby's would be worth "big" money ~$50,000 or so...... try more like ~$150,000+. On some models they weren't even close to predicting right. Predicting the future is almost impossible. I for one am going to drive the hell out of mine and probably keep it mostly stock because I want to. If it is worth something in 15 years cool! If not....cool!! I really don't care.

Well said. I was one of them as well. My first car was a 90 rs 305 tbi and auto. It was a peice of crap. But I loved it and had fun with it. I drove that in highschool. Shortly after highschool I traded it because the frame was a little tweaked and it was really rusted. And I didn't want to trough a lot of power at it. I tried a few other cars but came back to my 3rd gen Camaros. I have owned a total of 5 so far. And curently own two Camaros I allways dreamed about in highschool. My 87 IROC-Z with it being FULLY loaded. And my recent one, a 89 RS convertible. Check my cardomain page. The IROC is going back to stock. And it's in pretty decent shape. Except for the motor and tranny went out on me. The RS runs great. But it needs a lot of cosmetic stuff. Adam :-)

i have a 86 two seat berlineta vert. it gets more lookers at shows than my 68 vert. i think that it hase more value than the 68

i fell in love with the 89 formula firebird at a police auction when i was 16. then a year and a half later i bought a 92 firebird conv. And just yesterday i bought an 89 formula!

i also did not buy the car to sell it for a profit. I bought the car because noooo one else had one. and so far in the last 2 years ive personally seen 1 other firebird conv on the road. thats it... I bought it because it was sexy looking and unique.

So, reading what all of you had to say tells me I should keep my 87 - at least for a while. It is an IROC convertible, built (according to the "CCI" RPO code) in the Norwood factory (as opposed to ASC conversion). I purcheased this car from an elderly woman who owned it since 1989.

Ditto. The only other Firebird vert in my area that I have seen is an incredibly whipped 91 or 92 T/A Vert, green with tan top. It has been a while since I have even seen it and based on what it looked like the last time I saw it she is probably not running anymore. I even get comments like "I have never seen one of these".

There's a green GTA convertible that I see during the summer in between jobs a lot. It's got a messed up top, but the paint looks to be good condition. I can only hope the guy/girl that owns it knows what they have, so they keep it original!

Speedy & bjf1992,

I feel the same as you guys. To be honest though, I dont care if are cars reach some amazing value or not. I bought the car because I love third-gen camaros and I more than likely will never sell my vert.

But to answer the question, I am pretty sure they will eventually have some type of collector value.

Jay

So, reading what all of you had to say tells me I should keep my 87 - at least for a while. It is an IROC convertible, built (according to the "CCI" RPO code) in the Norwood factory (as opposed to ASC conversion). I purcheased this car from an elderly woman who owned it since 1989.[/quote]

Someone stated earlier that the Convertibles did not get the CC1 option. I some how reember some of the early Convertibles did in fact still get the CC1 T-top option on the SPID sheet, however the 3 in the VIN denotes it as a Convertible.

THer is no doubt that 3rd gens will have value, I know there is a few doubers out there, but I know from experience that they are appreciating. THe cars to get are: Convertibles, T-top cars, anything with a TPI V8. Obvously the Firehawk and TTA have already started to see some collector status, as have the 1LE cars.

John

Verts are beautiful compared to a t-top car. Jim's is awesome and in this area very unique and rare. I have seen the green vert he was talking about and all you can say when you see it is...........Poor Car! Him and I talk about the red (wow) factor. Take 2 same cars, one red, one white and your eye is drawn to the red one. But Jim's vert (which is white) blows my car away in sexiness and wow factor in my (and others) opinions. All I can say is you vert boys are lucky as hell and I can't wait to own one myself.

I love that pic Mike!!!!!!

thanks, its in front of the Skyway Bridge in tampa, fl

I used to live in Brandon and St Pete years ago. Always liked that area.

for a car to become a collectible it must be good looking and rare.

3d gen iroc/z28 verts r probably the best looking convertibles ever made,

20 years old and still turns heads more than a proshces even ferraris,

it is a very stylish car ,and it will always be cool to show up in one,

and because they are rare i think in 10 to 15 years they will jump

30K to 50k $ ,

look at ebay these days any clean iroc vert with low milage will

not go fot less than 10K, 2 years ago it wasnt worht 5k .

i think it is a very good long term investment .

not really sure how you have done your research, but a Ferrari gets a lot of attention. I agree they are great looking and the 3rd Gen in my opinion really holds up better than the 2nd or 4th gen for style. Of course thats the era I grew up in so I have my bias.

Along that line the late 60's cars have got to be some of the most sought after cars because of their style & Power. The mid 70's in my opinion really saw a decline in good style, in the 80's there was only a few cars that I still find to be attractive, the F-body obvously, Ferrari's The G-body GM cars like the Gran National/Regal, Monte Carlo, Olds 442/Cutlas, Pontiac Grand Prix. The 79-85 Riviera also has a following and many people still seek after that body style. The Ford Mustang was homely from 1973 thru 2004. Dodge did not really have any cars that were way cool and had to have style until the early 90's. REally All in all the 3rd gen F-body is a great looking car that few cars really rival its style and appearance.

John

I wasn't even old enough to know what a car is when the '80's were happenin', and yet the 3rd gen is still my favorite American sports car/muscle car. I'm 19 yrs old and the majority of my peers are driving around LT1/LS1 Fbodies, or newer Mustangs, and yes a lot have imports as well. But what keeps me from following the crowd? The body lines of our cars, and the sheer attention they get on the road. I don't even care that my car is a slow 305TPI, I'd honestly rather have it than any LS1 SS or WS6 you could throw at me.

I really hope the value of our cars go up incredibly in the near future. I'd love to throw it in people's faces that own LS1 cars who think their car was touched by the hand of God.

I like all third gen cars..verts especially..the camaros look great..but i have to admit i am biased to the gta's ...my vert gta is a sleek looking ride and always turns heads everywhere ..every show ..every time..definitely the best looking 3 rd gens...

a picture is worth a thousand words

My son took that pic a few years back. I show her, but she still GOES!! hehe

oh yea? i lived in Riverview about 9 months ago..

tallahassee would be a much nicer area if it wasnt for fsu

hehe go gators

j/k

i really doubt a convertible 3rd gen will go for 30-50k....ever they are too underpowered, and the convertible conversion is a hack job.. now dont get me wrong, i love the 3rd gen vert styling, but it will never be worth 50k... imo
Too consider the vert as an investment is a waste of your time (except the firehawks and gta's verts) The 3rd gens were too underpowered. You have to modify them to make them as powerful as the 1st 2nd and 4th gens. And then you lose the value because its no longer stock.
So for me, Being that my car already had 109k miles, i fully intend to enjoy my car and combine the power of the 4th gen with the beautiful styling of the 3rd gen vert.

I have lived in Brandon, Seffner, Lithia, and Tampa over the years. Tallahassee is WAY better than any and all of them.