brianturney

I see some really nice 3rd gens out there on the street and thought it would be cool to get put together a group for some meet-n-greets and cruises. A few months back I started a camaro/firebird meetup group on meetup.com. It's a laid back group of 3rd and 4th gens only, since most other groups in the local area here around Seattle are primarily 1st gens with sprinkles of other gens. We setup meetups through the website and anyone can recommend a time and location. With summer coming up it'll be a cool time to do some cruise arounds and kick the tires.

http://www.meetup.com/Seattle-Area-Camaro-Meetup-Group/

I own an 89 RS/V8/305 and an 87 IROC-Z/V8/350 (below). There are a couple 4th gens in the group but the rest right now are 3rd gens. We'll be doing some group cruise arounds and maybe hit a local pizza place to show off the rides, exchange stories/advice/ideas, and kick it with other 3rd gen owners. The group is pretty new but growing. Next turnout on 4/25/09 should see a good size group of guys and girls there, mainly members of the group and their 3rd/4th gen friends. If you're interested in showing off your ride and meeting other 3rd gen owners check it out!

The Lineup


Owning the Interstate

Krazzycowgirl

Please dont take this Wrong. I may word things in a way that might make people upset, but it is not intended that way.

But the comment about the 1st gens in the other post kind of been eating at me all night long, I belong to one of the largest Camaro clubs in the Nw. PNWCC (right now holds almost 200 NON internet members) & we have several 3rd gens in the group & they never get ragged on about their cars. If they did I would be the first one to tell them to shut up about it. Heck we even have a couple guys that own mustangs & other cars in our club we dont care.

Of course as with any group we have our purest (people who think their cars are better than anyones) but thats them, typically we just ignore them & they stick to their group. But as for those who just want to come hang out & enjoy themselves they are more than welcomed in our club.

I do do belive that holds the same for the Cascade crew which is a 3rd gen fbody group with some 4th gens mixed in.

Both CC & PNWCC are good groups, & very strong group of people & with strong personalities in both groups. That bind us together as a club, thats what makes our clubs great for those who belong in the club & scares people away from our clubs as well. These two clubs are not just car people they become family & close friends. when something goes wrong in your life you call on some of these people. I think thats why CC & I had issues lol.


it be great to see another club get started & grow on this site even in these times, & with the price of our cars going down its nice to see more people moving towards the clubs.

brianturney

howdy Cowgirl, I hear ya and get where you're comin from! I don't mean to offend anyone or those other groups. I don't intend to offend anyone by my post so please accept my apologies if that happened. I'm a southern boy raised to speak plainly and say whats on my mind so I sometimes come across pretty rough around the edges. I'm sure the cc and pnwcc clubs have some great members. While those are official clubs, I'm puttin together unofficial meetups and drives on the fly for 3rd gen owners. Totally free casual meetings that don't cost anything. I love all camaros, don't get me wrong, but the people i've talked to turned me off from pnwcc. While I think 1st gens are hot. I prefer meeting a 3rd gen driver with vehicle damage who is really into 3rd gens rather than spending time with pristine 1st gen drivers. And in most cases you gotta admit, 95% of them think they are the sh*& and snub non 1st-geners. I gotta be honest, most 1st gen owners are usually older who have a bunch of money to buy one or make em look pretty and are the baby boomers who grew up when 1st gens were still being sold or shortly thereafter. keep in mind I say usually, there are always rare exceptions. . So I can understand why they want and love 1st gens so much. Its the same reason why I love 3rd gens! I grew up wanting an IROC so bad I could taste it but my family lived in the country dirt poor. while I think they have every right and obligation to show them off in a club or show, that's not where my hearts at. I love the fbody third gen's and the non-judgemental laid back attitudes of their drivers who are passionate about them. I almost joined pnwcc but realized there was a reason that there are only a few third gens there. It's primarily a 1st gen club where hard work on a 3rd gen restoration car isn't very admired. And you have to admit, you want some admiration after you spend some hard work working on your ride. I considered Cascade crew but after talking to a few members on the forums I discovered they are based in Portland with several members scattered in WA who go to PDX for special events worth the drive.

regarding my feelings on the pnwcc, I think there is still a big stigma about 3rd gens and even 1st gen drivers have the stigma. Even most Camaro magazines and restoration catalogs have the stigma and carry much fewer articles and parts for the 3rd gens. There was a great article in the Camaro Performer magazine a year ago about this stigma surrounding 3rd gens where the editor was finally pressured enough to address the hundreds of letters from readers complaining that the mag only highlighted 1st, 2nd and 4th gens.

I'm looking for that unique camaraderie with other laid back non-judgemental attitude with other third gen owners that I didn't find anywhere else here locally near Seattle. I don't believe in keeping my car hidden while I'm working on it. Bring it to the meetup even if its got bondo showing! hell its about sharing war stories, damage, repair techniques, and sharing the experience along the journey to making it a great car as you work on it! I'll show my IROC at the meetup group even if its not perfect yet knowing other third gen guys admire the hard work ya know? : ) What i'm lookin for is that more unofficial laid back atmosphere of 3rd gen drivers who can kick it together, cruise, check out other 3rd gen cars, and who can make some third gen buds knowing that noone else is going to rag them or give them funny looks for what shape their car might be in at the time or the fact they drive a 3rd gen. (yes I sometimes care what my buds think) :P But its not so much about that, its about being around like-minded buds who arent judgemental and have the same passion that I do. 1st gen guys don't click with me that way. Every camaro is a work in progress and I'm just as proud when my ride has some crappy paint, knowing I'm going to give it a good paint job this summer, as I am when it looks perfect.

I love all camaros and respect all camaro owners, but I live for third gens. : )

Bri

AmorgetRS

iTrader: (6)

I was thinking about showing up, but since you exclude Firebirds...

Blue1989RS

I'm still waiting for a north washington group to form. No way could I afford to take the camaro on a real road trip to seattle without a flatbed.... Amorget, you have PM.

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Krazzycowgirl

That is part of the reason why it was sooooooooooo important to get my car up & running for Pinks all out, you dont see many 3rd gens on the track, While I now drive a C4 vette as a daily driver, My Iroc is still my baby (2nd to Candy (my vette, since shes my daily driver)

brianturney

I'd love to see you kick the Sh*# out of everyone there! Gotta post some info after! Good luck!

brianturney

ah.. hmm. I hadnt thought about firebirds much lately. Still Fbody third gen. Camaro/bird almost the same thing.

izcain

There has acually been a few 3rd gens that made it to the final 16. Theyre there just not in a big number!

Krazzycowgirl

LOL I know you are hoping to make that final 16 in your camaro. Izcain, maybe we can park together with our diff club stuff.

RedLava

iTrader: (4)

I think it was the first pinks all out they did a green 3rd gen firebird won

sunsbum

I know I dont post here alot but im in seattle and Id be interested...the more cars the better right (86 iroc).

brianturney

Let me know if you have any questions. Check out the meetup info in the link above on the post.

874ME

iTrader: (1)

I have to agree that the local " Camaro" clubs do not acknowledge 3rd gens. Hell, even the local Pontiac clubs look down at 3rd gens, even though the baddest Pontiac ever offered to the public was a 1991 FireHawk. To this day it is still the quickest and fastest Pontiac offered to the public from a dealer.

I have freinds that have classic GM muscle cars, including the following - 1969 Nova SS, 1970 SS big block Chevelle, 69 Ram air 4 Firebird, 74 454 4 speed Corvette and another with a 69 RS SS big block 4 speed camaro. I feel the strain when I talk about my cars. Sometimes I feel that the only reason they include me in the group is becuase my car on a good day will mop the floor with theirs. I am also the best mechanic they now that wont charge them to help work on their cars.

I have been to a Dyno shoot out with PNWCC, pretty arrogant bunch,especially Ellis. My buddy with the Nova even felt unwelcomed.
I dont get the superiorority these guys have. I have owned several fast early 2nd gen Camaros, my third gen that I have owned since 1991 is quick, street legal, and has a SBC. I guess some peole feel that if doesnt have a carb it aint a muscle car. Or if it didnt come with a LSX engine, those guys are almost as bad.

Krazzycowgirl

Ellis is not part of PNWCC & hasnt been for a few years, the ones you may be thinking about are the LT1 or LS1 guys & most of those are Northwest Fbodies, NOT PNWCC.

most of our guys own older camaros, that do the dynos.


This saturday there is several met ups with corvette guys, introing the new camaro.

brianturney

We meet up just have a good time and meet third gen owners. Everyone in the group is pretty awesome. Every meetup I laugh my guts out because we're having such a blast. When we're out and about we get people all the time coming up talking about our third gens. "wow sweet cars!" "Damn thats awesome, I've always loved these cars!", "this is so cool you guys do this" Are the typical comments we get when we're stopped somewhere while doing a cruise or meetup. And the more funny one from the group of young guys we saw one time.. "holy sh#t those are badass, what kind of cars are those?!!" haha. We've even had a few third gen drives see us in formation on the road and totally stop what they were doing and turn around and follow us to hang out for the day. Apparently there's a LOT of third gen love out there that I never knew about.

A mechanic bud I met through the group has a shop and paint booth we meet up at sometimes. We all hang out, have some beers, bbq, laugh, joke, work on engines or paint, etc.. Last Saturday we put our bud Raph's 86 Camaro up on the lift and dropped the tranny. he had a seal leaking badly. Shop told him $1200 to fix. NOT! haha. Raph's great. He's an 18yo kid in HS who loves his third gen like no one Ive seen. But we had his back. We repainted Kat's rear hatch spoiler/fin. it was oxidized badly but looks better than new now. Its just an all around awesome time. This weekend a bunch of us are gettin together at my place in Issaquah for a bbq, oil change, and help our bud Isaac replace his plugs/wires. fun times. Its the most laid back group I've ever met. We've got a good mechanic in the group, a guy who does fiberglass professionally (has a sweet knight rider style car with a custom front end like the show, its badass), and some pretty other talented people in the bunch. I can't remember when I've felt as welcome, accepted, had this kind of camaraderie and felt like part of the family with my third gen.

Click the link and check it out. Check it out.

brianturney

The new camaro is pretty sweet. We met up and did a cruise of about 10 of us third gens and hit the local dealer as the first stop. It ended up drawing a crowd of people wondering what was going on. People checking out the new 2010 and checking out our third gens. the dealer loved it. Owner came out and talked to us for a while. They weren't doing any events that Saturday but we sort of turned it into one for an hour. I sat in the car and checked it out. very nice. pretty sweet that the windows automatically roll down real fast about half an inch when you open and close it the door so that the glass goes snugly under the weatherstrip. Wish my third gen did that! That was fun trip to the dealer. It was all about the 2010 for an hour and the third gens.

Krazzycowgirl

Today at Friendly Chevrolet in Puyallup they are doing a big event at 1pm, welcoming the camaro, Its a Vette met but several of us are draging out the older camaros to go hang with it. since my Iroc is not even close to be driveable we are taking my husbands 71 RS/z28 instead of our two vettes

AmorgetRS

iTrader: (6)

It's funny you say that... Ellis has a pair of LT1s, no LSX or carb motors. Ellis is actually a VERY good guy, but you need to get to know him a little. If you want a 700R4/4L60E he is the one to build them as has several behind very fast cars.

Krazzycowgirl

Well that Lt1 of his (or stephs) is really a 383 Stroker motor that is one of the fastest LT1 cars around.


I have one of his trannies sitting in my garage waiting to be mated up with the 355 I am builing (a couple more weeks we hope.)

Doug what gets me about these guys is they slam PNWCC, but They dont realize that I once belonged to the crew only to be kicked out or univited due to the fact of people didnt like the fact that I was part of pnwcc. But Do I hold it against those who belong to that club no.

Also most of the guys that dragrace their cars or that would be at a dyno in our club all own 1st, 2nd & 3rd gen camaros. Very few of our 4th gen owners race their cars. I know of 3, & Dan & I being one of them lol.

874ME

iTrader: (1)

Krazzy, I am not slamming the PNWCC, I am oferring up why I didnt get involved with that club. I tried, and at the time I also had a 2000 6sp LS1 T/A. I also belonged to the western washington firebird association and one of the members there told me about the camaro club. I was invited to attend a dyno day at Turbo Tech in Tacoma and also invited my freind (and Boss) and his 69 SS Nova, I took my 87 IROC. The members I met that day were not freindly and douted on an arrogant Ellis, which was fine with him.

I am not here to get back at you or anyone else, just offering my experience with the club.

Krazzycowgirl

most of our care membership tend to not allow people in, they are standoffish, but if you go up & talk to them, they will not give you the cold shoulder, Now the northwest Fbodies guys, can. & I had issues with your guys as well. so I guess we are even huh????

Gunfurr

Hey Y'all

Is any one putting together another cruise in soon. I would like to get my baby out and stretch her legs and meet some other owners.

Hope to here something soon
thanks everyone

brianturney

Ok I think everyone's had their venting about the various clubs that exist out there. Probably best to put that behind us now.

This group/club is new and isn't affiliated with any existing clubs in the NW. I made this post to announce the new group, dedicated to 3rd and 4th gen Camaros & Firebirds/TA's where people can meet in a laid back atmosphere. 14 members (two are 4th gen) so far in the seattle area and growing. Group started in Feb 2009 and has 14 very active members who come to the meetups, work on cars together, swap ideas and skills, work on engines, bodywork, and paint or other things, teach other members what they know, have bbq's, cruises, and planning to hit a few car shows this summer. Its all about the camaraderie, friendship, cars, laid back atmosphere and having a good time. To my knowledge its the only club specifically dedicated to 3rd/4th gen Camaros/Firebirds/TransAms in the NW. Very cool, fun, unique group of people ranging from 18 to 40. We cruise around the Seattle area, as far north as Camano Island, and sometimes down south. We cruise all over and its fun to turn heads when 12 third gen's drive by in formation.

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AmorgetRS

iTrader: (6)

Guys, this meet-n-greet is turning into something not exactly what I expected, so in fairness I am closing the thread. PM me if you want more information.