I found this abused old Girl in a JY and the guy is willing to sell her for $950. Is this a legit package ? or did some one go nuts with the decals? ( I've seen a Crown Vic running around town with a 4X4 sticker so I wouldn't put it past anyone) She has a big Screaming Chicken on the hood (didn't know there were any put in 3rd gens.) wood grain dash, analog gauges, ... and the only 2 rims on it are the ugliest things I've ever seen (sorry if I offend someone out there) Tony

A few more pics... I will admit, I'm not a big fan of the gold wing on the back, and yep, that interior is trashed ... center console needs a little attention and the arm rest will have to be replaced. I didn't look good at the dash pad when I was there, my wife pointed out that there are no cracks in the photo's... 102K on the odo. rear1/4 panels dented both sides only dints I could find.

BIG RED FLAG to me, the VIN plate wasn't visible , looks like it had shifted
where else can I look for the VIN?

Its got all the usual ques to be a real GTA. The rear center tail light emblem is gold. All of the badges are in the correct place. The seats are also correct. However the paint is wrong, the wheels are wrong, its in REALLY sorry shape.

There are no "limited" edition GTAs. The only TransAm that might come close to that category is a the Turbo TransAm which started out in life as a GTA but was then further modified. The car in in your post is not a TTA and not worth $950, even if its a L98 car.

You need to look for the RPO code Y84. The RPO codes are most often found either in the center console, or in the rear lock box.

That car is a $500 deal at best, and thats assuming the car even runs. There is nothing rare about a GTA that should raise its value for a car in that condition. (I know, I own one, but its not rare just a pimped out TA with a monochromatic color scheme).

Man...thats a sad sight.

It does have all the GTA cues. What year is it...any idea? Its obviously an 87+... I wouldnt be too worried about the VIN tag. It didnt shift, the material around it came loose and shifted. Same thing happened in my 87. You can hardly see it now.

As for price... I wouldnt pay more than 500 for that. If that. Its nothing special...past being a GTA. Someone just got a theme in their head and started changing colors and adding stickers.

If you can get it for $500 or so, clean it up, see what you have to work with. Who knows whats missing under the hood from people picking at it. See if you can get her to run. If the windows have been down through rain and weather, the interior is going to be junk. The seats look like toast. Toss some new 4th gen seats in it, clean the carpet, fix the rust that is probably on the floors due to being wet. You're gonna watn to paint it. Re-do the brakes and suspension parts to make it safe. Chase out the mice... She does look fairly straight. Just the dents in the back. Doesnt appear to have taken any major hits.

You will have a decent amount of money tied up in that by the time you are done. If you are looking for a project though...try to talk him down and save her from the crusher!!!

J.

Ac compressor is on the passanger side and it has the mass air flow sensor, so it should be a 88 or 89. Everything under the hood looks to be there along with most everything elese. If its a factory 350 car with the t-tops thats a good find. I think 89 was the only year you could get a GTA with t-top and the 5.7 TPI. There is alot of good stuff there to work with. Also look and see if it has a disc brake rear end. It looks like a fair deal.

the guy claimed it runs, and that it's only missing the 2 front rims and the rotor off of the drivers front. the driver's window is down, didn't check for glass and I didn't check for rear disks.
I'll try and look for the RPO and VIN.

The VIN will only tell you a few things. Where it was built, when, if its a TA or Firebird, what engine option it came with, and what number it was off the assembly line. Essentially you are paying for a shell, and a "running" motor. I'd insist on verifying that it runs before paying. $950 is too much for that car's condition. Anything more than $500 is a waste. It will need at least $2000 to be fixed. Not including the body work on the driver side quarter.

While its useful, the car itself has no rarity, or value. The only thing it has going for it, is that is a TPI car, and as such, the fuel injection system can actually be useful in a performance application where as a TBI equipped car wouldn't even have that.

Find a cheap v6 firebird in good running order, then go find a LT1, L98, or LS based 5.3 to swap in. The 5.3 motors are going for as little as $275! Or even a newer V6 as some of them are making numbers that would put a stock L98 out.

There is also the fact that the interior is waterlogged. And every bit of metal inside the car has surface rust.

This car is a JUNKER. Do not buy it unless your only intention is to part it out. I can only imagine the hidden rust you'll find when you pull the carpets out. dTwo new wheels, radio, new carpets, new seats, possibly busted driver side window. driver's 1/4 is damage. I see rust in the interior. As well as rust stains on the plastic ground effects where the front of the drivers door meets the fender. The transmission is an unknown, the engine is only "claimed" to be running. Find another car unless your sole intention is to part this car out.

$2000 is a cheap estimate BTW. You'll likely spend more than that if you want it to be representable as anything other than a beater.

Sure everything looks like its there...but how much of it is usage? The window being down has surely taken its toll on the inside of the car. Who knows the condition of the other parts... Its not going to be a simple clean up and drive situation by the looks of it. Maybe Im wrong....but Im just going by what I see.

I still say its not $950 worth... You can get some pretty clean nice cars for not much more than that, that are ready to drive. Im sticking to my $500 +- a few bucks.

J.

The would be is a 1989 GTA...

You can tell by a few things.

1) The lower dash plastics are the 1986 - 1989 style, but there is no spot for the Subwoofer controls that would have been found in the 1986 - 1988 cars. Mid year 1989 they changed the piece to not include the blank. They went to the style in that car. In 1990 they changed the switches from pushbutton to rocker style switches. And the lower dash plastics were slightly different.

Also it has the rear seatbelt shoulder harness restraints. So it has to be after 1988 as 1989 was the first year for them.

The T-tops and 350 was available in 1987 & 1988 but exports only. So that is not conclusive. However it has the Tach for a 350, or the LB9/M5, I am 90% sure the GTA did not get a 305 A4 option in 1989. GTA's were only available with the LB9/M5 and the L98/A4. THis car obvisouly has the A4, and it appears to be a GTA therefore it would be the L98/A4.

Go to all of the sign shops in the area and ask if anyone ever owned a Red/Gold 1989 GTA...

The car is not a special edition... No matter what I would only give him $500 for the car, I might consider $800 or so if he had the original Wheels for it.

Honestly there is not a piece on the car that would not need to be painted, replaced or repaired to make the car nice...




John

I say $250 at the most. Then expect to spend $2.5K - $3K to fix (with some paint and body work). I say just buy the best $3k car that you can find.

305/auto TPI combo's were around in 1989. They were offered from 1985 to 1992.

It could very well be a LB9/A4, and infact, most likely is. Assuming an original engine in the car, the VIN number is easy. Look for an F or an 8 to be the 8th digit of the VIN. F indicates a 305, 8 indicates a 350. Other cues would be where the red line sits on the tach. 305/auto had the redline at 5000. 305/T5 and 350/a4 had the redline at 5500rpm.

That car would look super sweet with more GTA stickers on it... like on the doors, front fenders, etc. The bigger, the better.

I personally feel the red/gold theme is to loud for my taste. if it was a unique car I would think about it but with just the seat covers @$1,000 ... and there is alot of rot showing from the inside around the T-Tops, I'm not thinking about it anymore.
FWIW, I did get the vin and it is a 350.
VIN # 1G2FW218XKL26XXXX

I think I'll see how long he wants to wait before he starts parting it out.
I apreciate the advice and info .

Actually it is most likely to be a L98 in this case.

There is a partial pic of the Tach... at least enough of it to determine what tach it has. it is the HO version that was mostly used only on the L98 and the LB9/M5 cars.

You are correct the LB9/A4 was available from 1985 -1992. However in 1989 the GTA was not available with the LB9/A4... At least in the USA.

Frankie Rider's gtasourcepage shows the exact same number of LB9's in 1989 as M5 Transmissions.

John

Carfax confirms it as a GTA, I didn't feel like spending any mony on it so all I got was
that it's an '89 TA GTA with a 350.

out of curiosity, what 'birds could you find the faux woodgrain dash and center console in? I'd never seen this before. Is it a GTA thing?

Tony

Not sure which ones came with it...but it wasnt GTAs. I wanna say that berlinetta's could come with it... but again Im not sure.

The wood grain was nothing more than a covering...like a dash kit. Tojan cars had it too I believe.

Doesnt go too well in a thirdgen IMO. Im pretty sure I saw the kits still available somewhere.

J.

That fake woodgrain stuff is 100% aftermarket. There was never a Firebird with that stuff in it.

Car fax can't confirm its GTA, the site reports TransAms as "TransAm/GTA" but doesn't indicate if it is or not. GM separated the TA and Firebird lines. Firebird Formula's are just an option package for the Firebird, just as the GTA package is to a Trans Am. Nothing in the VIN code denotes if a car is a GTA or not. Only the presence of the Y84 RPO code can tell you if it is officially or not. Like i said in my original post though. It has all of the right exterior peices to be a GTA. So its either the worst clone I've ever seen, or its a real GTA, just trashed.

The woodgrain is aftermarket, and tacky.

Don't buy this car out of some misconception that because its a GTA that justifies its $950 price tag. Its trashed, and worth far less than a TransAm or Formula. Its a parts car, and even then its not much of one.

Just want to confirm the CarFax deal. CarFax reports a 1G2FW VIN as "Trans AM/GTA" because it's either one. You cannot just look at the VIN to find the difference between the two unless you run the VIN through GM's database that records the RPOs. CarFax and their database won't have that information. Just like 1G2FS would be Firebird or Formula.

thanks for the info guys. I'm not thinking about buying it. My origional concern was that it was , say a local / regional special offered by Pontiac or dealer and if so to try to see if any 3rd gen'ers wanted her before I ask the guy for parts off of her.
I'm not a fan of Auto and everything but my 'bird is an auto, so I talked myself out of this car once you guys said that she is not worth it (and I saw the rust around the T-tops)
Now, the next time I run by the JY this car is at, I'll ask him how long he wants to wait before he wants to part her out... I need good headlight bezels and many other bits and pieces. (Hello, My name is Tony and I drive a Beater )

Tony

uemf, Hey man all the GTA verification tips you could ever want as well as their history you can find on this page http://www.gtasourcepage.com Great info to have for future lying cars.

Are you sure on that? My 1989 was built in August 1988 and it doesn't have anything there where the 1988 subwoofer switch was.

Your VIN should be in the first 3,755 As production would have started Aug 1, & there was only 3755 Firebirds made in Aug of 1989.

I know of a low 1989 VIN that had the little plate. I suspected that it was a remnant from the 1988's and I suspect that either they used up the stock from 1988, or they may have had a shortage of the new plate and used what they had on hand. Of course it may have been random chance that the car I looked at had the little plate.

Actually it is "Himan's" car. you can see it here: http://www.78ta.com/photo/89ta.php

I want to think his car was in the 8000 range of VIN, but it has been several years since I looked at it. In the image below you can see the plate. The car appears to be very original.