hardon85

Good point when the original muscle cars of the 60s and early 70s were out they weren't that big of a deal because they were everywhere and every car maker made 3 or 4 of them so choices were endless it seemed like, but after the gas crunch of the 70s only a few of them survived; firebird, camaro and mustang are the only ones I can think of right off that never had a production break or faze out during this time. So sure there may be less buyers but also there are a lot less choices today (or back in the 80s anyway) as far as muscle cars are concerned.

I have not talked to anybody who didn't know what the 80s style or boxy style camaro looked like (that's how I describe to others anyway) and everyone so far I've told about it so far either had one or had a good friend who had one, and everybody says they like that bodystyle (maybe they don't but they tell me they do anyway)

And everyone is right who says a car is not a good retirement plan because nobody has any idea what will be valuable. I read that back in 1978 some people paid $75000 for a corvette pace car how do you suppose they feel today in reality it should have been a good investment (not at $75000) they were limited and awesome looking, unfortunately the power sucked as there was no special engine package or anything for it. I had a dealer tell me one time that the dodge daytonas and camaros with the 4 and 6 cylinders will probably never be worth a whole lot but if the factory had ever made a mini-van with a v8 hemi that thing would be worth a ton of money in 30 to 40 years since it would be rare and have a bunch of power.

I say if you like a car just drive it chances are you won't have it in 20 years anyway so don't worry about the value to much. So many people say they will keep a car forever but you hear far more stories of how people had a car they wish they never would've sold. But life happens you may want to buy a house a new car have a baby which these cars are not good for hauling kids around or some other unforeseen circumstance could come up (it happens to all of us and don't feel bad when it does).

I personally have a 4 year old who is very interested in 3rd gen f-bodys and I have talked to a lot of other members with similar stories and look at all the 16 year old kids on this board, as long as kids are interested in these cars there will always be interest in these cars.

I'm sure at some point these cars will be worth $50-60 thousand but by then that won't be as much money as it is today with inflation. Have fun with these cars that's what they were intended for.

jj74sd455

back in the day the racers ordered these cars and modified them to their own preference,which included gutting the interior, crazy paint scheme, and big horse engines. these x-racers are highly collectible and fetch a pretty penny. now thatbeing said i personally wouldnt want a 69 ta pink with thistle stripes but i bet if it were an era correct racer someone would pay top dollar for it. if it were a factory convertible 69 ta it wouldnt matter what was done to it, itd be worth half a mil rusted out with no motor or tranny. we havent even mentioned the fire ams yet. they were a kit that came in three stages in the 70s for racers and any pieces are highly sought after let alone a full fire am conversion. sometimes things are worth more money than stock,sometimes not.you never know what will be worth money and what wont someday. i think notchbacks are ugly but they are worth quite a bit. beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

radical82

Having lived through the era of Muscle Cars, I don't recall many (if any) that were bought and then locked away in the garage... We installed headers, shifters, carbs, ignition upgrades, and slicks then went to the drag strip... We enjoyed our cars, pounded them down the quarter mile and participated in more then a few clandestine street races... We used the cars, some as daily drivers but a lot became weekend warriors, and a select few became pure race car modded to the max and bullet fast by the day's standards.

I'd say do the same with these 3rd Gens...there'll be plenty of time years from now to look back and say could of, should of, would of put one away in a bubble to preserve it...

I could have kept my '68 Mustang 428 4 speed car forever, maybe it would be worth a bunch today...but then I wouldn't have had the privilege of owning a '70 Z, 2 different big block Vettes, a couple of 440 Magnum Mopars, and a whole host of drag and sprint cars... I enjoy my cars, building them, racing them, dreaming and scheming up wild new mods... IMO that's a whole lot more fun then keeping the factory plastic on my 3rd gen looking fresh in hopes that someday it may be desireable... In my younger days there was a saying, "If you can't race it or take it to bed it ain't worth having". I've grown older and mellowed some, but it's still a fun way to approach life and cars!!!!! Let somebody else post a guard on their pristine 305 powered IROC in hopes that the factory paint on the plastic bumpers never gets a chip!!!!!

I was at a body and paint seminar in Minneapolis a few years back, the talk in one of our sessions was about what is going to replace the Tri-Five Chevies for the next generation of Hot Rodders. The near unanimous vote at the outcome of the session was that it would be the 3rd Gen Camaro's and Firebirds!!! I think we're just at the start of this, some really radical, fast, and gorgeous (or at least 2 out of 3) 3rd Gens are showing up at the drag strips, road courses, and car shows all over the country and the original survivors are looked upon as good project material!!!! As Hardon85 and a few others mentioned, get out there and pound on your 3rd Gen a bit and enjoy it, that's what the cars were intended to be used for!!!!!!!

IMissMy86TA

hmmm.. as a previous owner of a 57 with 70,000 actual miles.. (what I traded my 86 TA) in for i can vouch that original does get more money. I
knew plenty of cars that were trashed, thrashed by someone else. then other guys would put them to stock and get some money. If it didnt have the original block (no they didnt have matching numbers, but you can tell by year and plant) the cars were pretty much worthless. History of the cars, documentation, miles, equipment, rarity is what makes a good show car. Barn finds are for original. Sure there are lots of custom tri-5 chevys. but the ones that pull the money and are desired are original.
I am sure you have seen some rods (one red TA on here for sale is an example) that have custom interiors/hood scoops etc are hard to sell.. ask him... because people may not find it attractive. But they will always want a stock one... they can change it if they want from there.. but one that is modified cannot be as easily. sorry. I am done. History is on my side. will i enjoy my car and drive it? yes. will I rack up miles? no. < 1000 a year. but I will enjoy those times and they will be special to me. did I pay sticker? hell no. I bought one that orig sold for 22. I got it for 10K. will it be worth 25 again. heck yeah. do I care? not so much. It will be passed down to my son and preserved by him. will it be worth more for him? I am sure. will it be good memories for him? Definitely.

GtoRockz

I wanted to mention something about the value's of our and other cars.
Suppose in 1970 you could buy a GTO for (Guess) $3100 brand new off the showroom floor. Today that GTO may sell for $20,000. Sounds pretty good right? It does until you factor in the constant devaluation of our money.
I know since 1913 when the private federal reserve bank gained control of our money supply the value of the dollar has lost over 97% of it's value.
In the early 70's we could buy a cold soda for 5 or 10 cents, gas was 35-40 cents etc so you can see what i am getting at. I read recently that in the next 12 months they expect the dollar to loose another 30-50% of its current value.
I could probably sell my car right now and make a couple thousand profit but the longer i keep it the less likely i am to make anything. For many reasons i am right in love with my bird and do not wish to sell but i do not hold out much hope of it being a quality investment mainly due to our flawed monetary system. Well, that and the fact that my Firebird is no GTO.

Drew

iTrader: (58)

There's only one thing you're forgetting to factor into that equation. 40 years with a coveted GTO.

GtoRockz

Great point - 40 years of owning a GTO = Priceless

Drew

iTrader: (58)

That's a fact. If and when I find the right buyer for my convertible, at the price I'm asking, I'll get my initial investment back, and enough of a profit to pay for the upkeep in the time I've owned it. I'll be able to gracefully end my ownership of the car, and I'll be able to focus my attention on something else. What more is there to ask for?

Owning the car is the experience. Being able to call it yours, and occasionally take it out and enjoy it is the guilty pleasure. Selling it in the end and breaking even or making a small profit is all gravy. It's not about breaking a record at Barrett Jackson.

58mark

iTrader: (3)

I never had a GTO, but I had a 70 lemans when I was 15, and it's sad (for me) that that car is worth 20x now what I sold it for

first car/favorite car

jj74sd455

i guess im the hoarder-ive kept all mine save three,74 454 gmc,75 cutlass supreme, and a 72 buick riviera. had to make room for more pontiacs,still searchin my first 64 goat tho

spiffiestpengui

ok, first of all. dead? no. I have an 83 z28 which i LOVE. BUT. I just saw a magizine the other day showing prototypes of a new trans am. and saying that it was going to do everything gmc did wrong. it looked alot like the new camaro. anyways, i have always loved firebirds, and actually i almost got a newer one, but it was out of my price range. i got my z28 and i am very happy with it. bottom line, i love firebirds and camaros. and have had alot of people comment on my camaro and talk about firebirds. they are not dead, just under rated. people love them but don't buy them. why? it could be under informed. until i found my camaro, i thought i would never own a nice car. for the money, I think camaros and firebirds are very affordable.people just think they are expensive because of the names. why do you think these names are well known? and soon enough our generations will be classics too. just wait and see.

collin2201

Just like any car, given enough years, it will be worth more than it was originally. Every year, 3rd gens quietly enter the junkyard which means they might be a little more coveted in 20 years due to scarcity.

How much it's going to cost, though, doesnt really matter to me. My 91 Firebird was my first car and i plan on holding on to it forever.
I'm trying to have some foresight though. Since 3rd gens don't quite have the same aftermarket support Mustangs have so... I'm getting a hold of all the parts I need now rather then hunting for them in 10 or so years.

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

I know I am resurrecting an old thread, but I want to comment on the popularity of the third gen cars. I am 38. I bought my first third gen when I was 16 years old. I still own it today. It is a 1982 Recaro Trans Am. It has 59000 miles and it is in great shape. I lost interest in it for a number of years and it sat in my garage. Life got in the way of enjoying it. You guys know the deal - raising a family, fixing up a house, etc. The last few years, I regained interest in the car, and I make it a point to drive it every few weeks when the weather is nice. It is unbelievable to me the reactions I get from people when I take it out. Whether it is people my age reminiscing about their youth or young kids checking the car out, there is definite interest in third gens again. They used to be a dime a dozen, and there are not too many left in good shape.
This year I finally bit the bullet and bought the car I have always wanted since I was a teenager - a 1989 Turbo Trans Am.
So now I have 2 - and I feel like a kid again when I drive them. I don't know if they will ever have the value of the 1st and 2nd gens, but I remember when the third gens were new, nobody was interested in the second gens. They were just used cars. They never offered the performance that the 1st gens did because they were bastardized with 70's emissions, much like the thirdgens at first. But there is definite interest in 2nd gens now, and I am confident that third gens will also become collectible as well. Whether it is modified with an LS1 drivetrain, or an all original Crossfire TA, third gens have their place in the collectible car market.

GtoRockz

I totally agree with you.. we almost cant take our's out without getting a complement from someone, and the way it runs, drives and handles keeps me a bit smug as an owner. I really love owning my 3rd gen.

Dante93GTZ

iTrader: (5)

They may not be getting "respect" yet, but there are those that are complimenting them nowadays. I no sooner unloaded my 91Z from the enclosed trailer and my neighbor yelled across the road how much he liked it and that he always "wanted one of those IROCs"....

Darzk

We (My Dad and I) picked up a '91 RS for ~$3300 in Arizona this winter - dirrty car, but not a spot of rust on it - replaced the rubber seals, cleaned it for a few weeks (>.>) and we've gotten 3 offers for over $10,000 for it already...

We've been to a couple car shows with it, and I was really suprised at the attention it was getting. 3rd gens really are kinda the exception rather than the rule at the local camaro clubs, at least up here.

We're still kinda in a 'no one restores a 3rd gen' era, but we're definately passing through it. Think about it, in the mid 1990's Camaro and Firebird specific club memebership really picked up, and the first gens were about the same age as our cars are now.

The styling on the generation is certainly the last 'muscly' look - the fourth gens (especially the buggy late gens) start to move into the more 'areodynamic' curvy look of more modern sports cars.

I've only been driving the 91 for a few months, but its one of my favourite cars to drive - and my favourite to be seen in. The cars a month older than me.

Certainly the third gens are popular, or going to be. For now, the interested market is going to be people from thier early twenties to mid thirties, and generally a 'collector' car doesnt get purchased until later in life, when youve got the time or money to invest into it - especially with the economy as it is atm.

Jason E

I have to say, since I last posted in this thread nearly a year ago, my own third gen treasure trove has changed a little, and I certainly HAVE made good use of the downturn in the economy to score a couple nice third gen deals that I know will appreciate with time...but also happened to be cars I really, really wanted.

As mentioned in a couple other threads, I scored a mint '88 IROC 350 in my favorite color (medium grey) with only 21k miles on it. I bought two months prior to that a clean original 30k mile 86 TA TPI that needs paint and a few things, but is otherwise clean.

They were on opposite ends of the pricing spectrum...the IROC cost me $12,500, the Trans Am only $3,000. To me, each is a respective example of the deals out there in any price range. My IROC is obviously worth a lot more with a) t-tops b) 350 and c) absolutely beautiful original condition. At the same point, my Trans Am, for a total investment of $7,000 tops with a paint job, new steering wheel and spoiler (that's all it needs) will be a beautifully clean, low mileage example of a stock '80s Trans Am. Not as strong or fast as the IROC, but it will be nearly as clean.

There's deals out there to be had...I scored both on my local Craigslist, within 20 minutes of my house. And the Northeast is FAR from being a third gen friendly area!

Brock Lee

Reading this thread makes me feel old.

I remember when nobody wanted first generation F bodies! They were everywhere. My uncles would buy them for $50, drive them a couple months, blow them up, junk them, and get another. Top level ones commanded a little respect and a few more bucks, but they often suffered the same fate.

2nd generations? In the northeast the small race tracks were 90% 2nd gen F bodies as recent as 8 years ago! They were cheap, undesirable, and the racers would scout them out and pay just over scrap and almost always end up dragging them back. Each night at any given track you were sure to see at least one 2nd generation F body die. I remember around 2004 I was talking to a guy and he dreaded the fact they were going to have to move to 3rd gens as the pickings were getting slim. But they did. They are still pissing through 3rd gens.

The 3rd generation F body is an icon of my childhood. Obtaining one was very satisfying. But where are all those F bodies that were parked on just about every street in America? Yeah, there are many left, but you can be sure that a very large percentage are no longer on this planet, more are being crushed every single day. And the hack work I see in many still on the road, there are going to be even fewer in the very near future. I doubt they will ever shoot past the other eras, but just because they get no respect at the moment doesn't mean they wont down the road. The other generations went through the same trials. It is all history repeating itself.

82TA_JAIME

iTrader: (1)

Im the OP. Havent been on here in a while due to deployment.. but before i left the states i had a neighbor that really liked what i had done with my TA. He especially liked the 406. I, on the other hand, was quite taken by his 92 25th anniversary RS. Well, long story short, i now own a camaro that in my opinion is far more prestine than my TA was. I still think firebirds look alot better but its just that i have a chevy bug thats been clung to my family since my great grandfather bought his first chevy.

That being said, my RS is a "keeper" IMO and i plan on enjoying the tbi til it gives up on me (116Kmiles) and when it does the replacement will be something from the LS family.

No matter what the fate of our third gens is, I will be doing my part to keep the 3rd gen spirit alive.

God bless!!!

mantaguy

iTrader: (5)

I'm a proud owner of a 1986 TA,I'm the original owner bought it right off the show room floor.And it is in great shape no rust no dents or scratches.I knew someday this car would be a classic.2011 it will be registered as a historical auto QQ plates(25 yrs. in NJ to be classified as historical)I think the value you put on a car is personal.
You can't imagine how many times my wife ask me to get that thing out of the garage
it was in their for a good 13 years.
Then we moved to another home and I needed the garage to do some wood working and things like that around the house and the car had to be stored in the driveway for about 3 years.So then the T Tops where leaking and the back seats got ruined and dry rotted.But this year I'm going to restore the interior and put this TA back on the road.Know why, because this car I kept for 25 years and it's not going anywhere.
I paid I think 17 or $18,000 for this car when new.I was never interested in 2nd or 1st generations never owned one.
So the value of the f body is in the eye of the beholder.
I think the best colors are the all red,all white and the all black.Mines all white with the red and gray interior.And I also think the 86 is a special 3rd generation F body.
It was the 1st with the third light on the back hatch,and it's the only one.
It's the only one with the black rubber spoiler and the first F body with the 140 MPH speedometer.
I really didn't pay attention to the car until I wondered on to this website about a month ago,and realized I had a special car.
I didn't know what a ws6 was or a LB9.I knew the car was fast and it handled great on a dry or wet road,but not in the snow.
So I started to look up some of the things you guys were talking about and found out my TA had the ws6 in it and the LB9 was a 305 5.0 MFI HO.TPI
I knew it said 5.0 HO on the fenders and the dash says performance suspension.
I found the rpo codes in the console,you know.the one that says "DO NOT REMOVE"
I also found out it has a THM700R4 trans.
Then I'm thinking man I got something special, to me anyway.
I'm 59 years old,so when I'm driving down 295 with the tops off,I'm certain that It's going to turn some heads.
So you doubters that think the f body is just a thing of the past,
think again,It's just the beginning.

a.foster90

iTrader: (1)

My first car is a firebird, thirdgen, and is a restoration project for my grandfather and I.

I paid 1200 for it, probably more in fixing it (not adding it up), and I do not know much about cars at all, but I am a business student and its very very common for discontinued or limited products, especially cars, to increase in value once the company either discontinues the line or goes out of business. I have no doubt in my mind that my Firebird will increase in value once restored. It's a piece of history, and although its only worth maybe 2000 today...thirty years from now that will change.

I'm only twenty, so I don't have much experience. But I do know one thing...you could offer me a brand new lamborghini, a house by the ocean and a million dollars in cash for that car...and I wouldn't hesitate to reject the offer.

The memories I have with my grandfather and the memories I will have with the car in the future are worth more than any price tag could describe.

Ultimately, the value of what you own is up to you.