wow, I love all the hypothesising that these pictures can start. I can't imagine that those cars aren't being sent out to ASC for conversions. On the Norwood pics, the changing colors of the trees and 1986 model year cars makes me think it was probably Fall of 1985 rather than 1986. I also found it interesting in the Norwood pictures that the front ground effects were removed from several Camaros for transport, yet the Trans Ams from 85-90 had ground effects that couldn't be removed (as seen in the pictures).... I wonder how they were able to transport the T/As safely with the low front nose yet the felt the need to ship the Camaros with them detached.

If you notice in the Van Nuys pics, the 92 TAs have the front air dam deflectors removed for transport, those things sit low as well.

Very coooooool pix !!!!

On my '71 and '73 Trans Ams they put spacers in between the the lower A-Arm and jounce bumpers to push the front of the car up. They might have done something similar with 3rd-gens.

WOW thise are amazing PICS

IIRC, Camaros are simply lower in general. Especially IROC-Z's.

that's an interesting thought. I wonder why they wouldn't do with the Camaros whatever they did with the Trans Ams. I would think you have more control over quality doing the assembly at the plant rather than allowing dealerships to install them.

Don't feel bad. I did the exact same thing

91 was Daytime RL I believe :P

Hello everyone! I'm glad everybody is enjoying the pics. A big thank you goes out to kizz for posting them for me. As I now have a scanner I need a new computer so I can get the rest of these pics up. Yes this is just the tip of the iceberg as kizz mentioned. The pics that I did not take are; Norwood inside, Norwood outside '86 & '87 with cars. The pics that I did take are Norwood outside, structure only, and all Van Nuys shots. I like the interest of the '92 JY T/A's. I'll see if there are any more of those.
The Van Nuys pics were taken Jan 27, 1992 and just begun a two week shut down on the 24th. We were supposed to tour the plant the week of the 27th. The VIN range on the Camaros are in the NL125XXX to NL126XXX.
VIN sequence 126000 was built on the 23rd. On the Pontiac side it looks like around NL211000. VIN 212000 was built on the 22nd. As for the cars on the carriers with the funny rear windows or lack thereof all of these were headed for ASC to be 'verts. The truck driver told us this. I might have a better shot of the truck with the JY Firebird/T/A I'll have to look.
There is a second batch of the holding lot at Van Nuys that I have when we returned in August to tour the plant. The lot has many more cars in it, mainly Camaros. And it was HOT out there! Not able to gain access in the holding lot, waved off by the guard since I had a camera.
The red IROC coming off the line with all the people around it was the last car to come off the line at Norwood taken Aug 26, 1987. I have several pictures of this car at different stages on the assembly line.
As for the CPC (Chevrolet-Pontiac-Canada Group) there was also BOC (Buick-Olds-Cadillac) and GM Truck and Bus group. CPC was the small car assembly group and BOC was the large car assembly group. These divisions were started in 1983.
I'm glad this post was well received and again a big thanks to kizz for posting the these pics. To be continued...

Guess we were right in the speculation about the verts. Anyway David you mean the last car for the model year in 1987 or the last car to come off the Norwood line period?

Those pics are awsome!!!

Yes it was the last car made at Norwood. It was won in an in house plant raffle by a 19 year plant veteran named Wendell Spurlock. It was a Bt. Red IROC with an LB9 TPI 305 and auto. trans, t-tops and grey custom cloth interior (82C).
I ran a carfax on this car in Aug 2000 and it looks like the car was sold in late 1991 with 38,000 miles on it and the last entry on the report Sept '98 it had 140K miles on it and ended up in Kentucky. A piece of history gone!

David, if I can help, let me know. I know my record may be a bit scratched since Leonard's material is taking longer than planned, but it will get done. I was not happy with the results and I didn't want Scott Moyer on my case so I wanted to redo them.

I would be happy to help scan some, or all, of your documents. Since I would hope they would end up on TGO, me doing so can help eliminate a step or two.

Let me know. You can private message me if you wish.

Thanks, and thanks to you and kizz for sharing those photos.

I see someone trying to find it now. LOL. Maybe its in Bowling Green.......
Thats a neat piece of third gen history by the way. Could run the search to see if any more records come up compared to the previous one. Don't need to buy it to find that out.

Yes you are right. The Firebird wasn't until 1991, But, the Camaro got them in 1990, and most of the GM line up started in 1989.

Can't wait to see the next lot of picture's..Thank's David M...

hey just wanted to say thanks for the pics. My car was made at van nuys 2 months b4 those pics were taken. Very cool!

Damn, my JY TA missed that picture by being built in August and my Red TA is 213060 built in early Feb. So both cars missed that picture!
Thanks again David.

Oh JT (said in the where are yoouuuuu sound)!!!! Where are the Leonard pics? Consider this riding your case!!

just kidding. I know we all have lives and this stuff isn't of the highest priority.

DavidM, you can get me all your pics and I'd be more than happy to scan them for you. Will they fit in the back of the Camaro or should I bring the truck to Atlanta this year? I know, I trailer my car to Atlanta and have the best of both worlds! Enjoy all.

Wow all the Jy cars, Amazing. Good pictures, I have them all saved now. took me a while but wow they are some sights to see.

Wow, that sucks. Who in their right mind would buy the last Norwood car as a daily driver?

Whoever bought it in 1991 apparently either had no idea how significant the car was, or just didn't care.

I think you're exactly right Tom, they just didn't know. Btw the last eight on the VIN of that last Norwood Camaro is HN185824. The last entry on that Carfax report was Van Lear, KY if anybody lives near that area. I picture it in the coal fields of Kentucky somewhere with the interior trashed!

I wonder if one of our members has it without knowing the history.

Aha. I guess some of the pic dates are mislabeled on this post. That explains why that red IROC is the center of attention. Just like all the people surrounding that IROC and photographing it, cheering it, etc., I look at that car with a new sense of bittersweet amazement. Think about those guys with the blue work clothes, off to the left in that pic. I guess that's their last day of work before embarking onto something new..

Hey David, it does sound like you have a veritable audition room of people signing up to say "pick me, pick me" to scan the photos. I don't mind being on that short list for a 2nd try. I'd do another batch just like last time, except this time I'd post them here in slightly less than 6 years, *snicker!*. Heck I can come visit you next time I'm home, bring my laptop, and we do it that way. If you do it with your own computer, I would say don't rush to buy a computer just for this one purpose. Make sure you get a good computer for the long term.

I'm lucky and privileged to have talked to David at the right place at the right time in order to have done those 54 scans. We're all looking forward to more thirdgen history coming to light, thanks to you and people like you, who chose to save and share these records. They add a whole new dimension to how I feel about my cars, personally. And personally, do you have anything from '82?

P.S. what's with the Norwood Berlinetta with the non-Berlinetta steel wheels and the taillight hanging out? That car got the short end of the stick!

kizz

Note that all those cars are also missing the corner decklid spoiler piece. I bet they had some parts shortages and those cars were put off to the side until the parts came.

The red and white Firebirds in the far distance on the right are missing the rear bumper covers.

I just confirmed this with a friend of mine that worked for the Van Nuys Assembly Plant, and he said it was a fiberglass filler where the back glass would have been. They used these fillers because this car was destined to be a convertible. It was on it's way to ASC.

Kev

my goodness, talk about total barn find photos! You had me at "Home of camaro and firebird".... Thank you ever so much for putting them up....it just takes me back to the days of the 80s...and as one said, even in those pics our fbodies look modern! I so wish i was old enough to remember those days, (even though i'm 30 now)...but to be there when they were being built would be breathtaking! Its unreal to see JY birds there and red iroc-z as if they were comman as minivans! (ha) To see the ohio and van nuys plant would of been something! Thanks again for posting the pics! I'm gonna cherish these!

How I wish they were still making these cars. Maybe years from now they'll make a retro Third Gen!

Very cool!

wouldn't look as good as the original. It would have real small windows and be all chunky.

this is the first time ive ever seen a factory hood bird on a third gen,, i never knew they did it. whats the rpo?

Not sure of the rpo but the screaming chicken was available on 86 TA's only I believe. My roommate at college had a brown metallic 86 with a gold bird on the hood.

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but: RPO DX1, 1985-1986.

I know it was DX1 for the stripped hood bird on the TAs in 84, no reason to assume they did not use the same RPO code for the later 85-86 hood birds. They were available in 85 as well I have photos of a 85 TA in Motortrend when they first tested them. Had the same hood bird being discussed here on the car.

I know it went later then 86---maybe 88? Not sure on what was the final year

I enjoyed the photos but they made me sad. GM has been mismanaged by so many people(both management and UAW) that it is now on the edge of being bankrupt. Sad very sad.

DX1 is correct, the large (Full Hood) bird was 1985 & 1986 only, since the 1982-1984 DX1 I am not sure but I would think it would be on the Buldge section only

I would assume that this is the 1984 style DX1

You got the bird right for 84 John. Has the same RPO code as the large one in 85 and 86. They also used the bird that you pictured on the 83 Daytona 500 Pacecars. And it was standard on the 15th anniversary bird. In the correct colors of course. Also they used smaller hood birds (in two different sizes) that were closer to the nose on the 82 and maybe 83 birds as well.

was at least 87 too. I have seen some with it and in fact owned an 87 TA--dark blue silver GFX and hood Bird.

My 1983 Parts Car had a larger than normal Bird on the Hood. It was about 12" or so in size... I want to think that 1982 also had a similar bird. For some reason I wanted to think that 1982 and 1983 they were different sizes, close, but one was larger than the other...

The 1987's I think it was a partial year only thing. I want to think that yes I have seen some, but it would have been a Trans am only thing obviously not on the GTA.

John

Does anyone have any more info on the Red Irocs on the trailer at the 3rd Annual USCC Grand Nationals, Norwood Ohio, 6-20-87
because mine was made in June also. I see the the last 2 on the trailer are the 350's, are they all? Mine is a 305 and if they aren't all 350's then one could be mine. Any info would be great....

wow.

All of the red IROC's on the trailer were Canadian optioned cars (RPO Z49).
I remember this from the window stickers. As for any VIN numbers, no, they didn't want anyone climbing on the carrier. But I can tell you when we toured the plant the night before (6-19-87) the VIN sequence on the Camaros was in the HN175XXX range. Hope this helps!

wow very cool! id like to have one of those hardtop 92 Z28s

Thanks for the info mine is HN171XXX.

Excellent Post!!! It was great to see these pics and its really amazing to think that GM was excited about these and that it was a flagship for them.

They certainly were!

I figured I should bring this up once more, for those who have not seen it yet.
It's as relevant to history as anything else, and these pics always hold some awesome nostalgic vibes...

Great pictures! I love this site.