90CamaroTBI

Call me wierd but I enjoy talking to older people who grew up in the 80's and saw these cars at thier prime. From what I understand these cars were what everyone wanted and thought they were something else. I just want to know if anybody on here could share thier view on what these cars were like to be around when they were new. Sorry if this is not in the best spot but I think think we all wouldnt mind hearing from some of the older people share memories.

4playta

Well in 1984 I was 15yrs old and worked as a busboy in a restaurant and our cook bought a brand new 1984 Z28 with crossfire injection...car looked sweet but I never rode in it. When I turned 16 in 1985 I bought my first car a 1976 mustang II that someone put a 351 windsor, 4speed and posi in it for $1500 and I was eating new camaro's and vettes all day long from a dead stop. The thing that did impress me was how well those cars handled I thought they cornered like they was on rails. In 1989 my friend bought a brand new Iroc and he was braggin on how it had the 5.7 in it and yada yada yada and we went for a ride and he got on it and realy I was not impressed...that $1500 mustang would have walked him too. But the car was sweet at the time, he got every option, premium sound, T tops and it was black with grey leather seats. We picked up alot and I mean alot of chicks with that car

tpivette89

crossfire equipped fbodies were only availible in 82' and 83'

4playta

I am not sure what year it was I mean it was over 20 years ago...must have been an 83 z28.

Mike-in-Orange

You'll find people from every age group who long for the cars that were hot when they were growing up. Well, except for my age group because I got my drivers license back in the mid/late 1970s and, well, NOBODY built a decent car in those years!! Fortunately there were still plenty of 1960's and early 1970's muscle cars to be found then.

But my point is that when and if you do get a chance to drive one of those "old" cars again you find out how much technology has advanced. Hey, I like old muscle cars as much as the next guy, but have you ever tried to stop one, or go around a corner in one??? They really don't work very well. That's not to say they're bad cars, not by a long shot. But sometimes people have this dream of how great a car is/was and I think what they're really remembering is a time in their life that was simpler, held great promise, and was more carefree than their life today. And I think that is what makes any car great - the fact that it can take you back in time.

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

I remember plenty of wars back then, although I was too young to drive though. My cousin used to take on many a Mustang back then, when the Chevy vs Ford rivalry still really meant something, but it died down a great deal with the Import invasion. I still kid around w/my cousin Gaspar, who still has his '86 Iroc. Those cars were big back then in Queens New York, but a lot of the head banger chicks (who didn't like Guido's) used to refer to the IROC acronym as "Italian Retarts Out Cruising"....

Back then, fully equipped GTA's (which were a rare sight, unlike today) were actually more expensive than the Corvette's in the local dealerships. Not too much of an aftermarket for these cars back then, but it really didn't need it yet. Twelve second cars were considered street kings back then, so factory L98 cars pretty much held their own, and the aftermarket demand didn't get going until the 90's. Hmm, lets see, if I remember correctly, my very first kiss as a pre-teen was in a 3rd gen. I remember the car, the year, the make... if only I could remember the girls name though lol....

-Rob

Mike-in-Orange

See Rob, you just validated my theory.

freestylzz

Or, "I Reek Of Cologne".

New York huh? Betcha there was alot of freestyle music pumping from those Iroc speakers back in the day

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

... forgot about that one!

Plenty, only, the real freestyle like the ones below, not the glorified Judy Torres edits;

http://youtube.com/watch?v=bqDAUPRWjuQ

http://youtube.com/watch?v=iFEhM3VH84o

http://youtube.com/watch?v=jr_O4iNPBx8

http://youtube.com/watch?v=2RcVjArINpA

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

Definitely agree w/you there. Best time of my life was the 90's, and that's why I'll never let go of the '91 Formula I currently own. The Z06 I'm willing to part with, but the Formula brings back way too many memories. One thing is for sure though, jumping into the Formula after driving the Z06 is a real eye opener as to how far technology has seriously developed, and it's nostalgia, primarily, that keeps me on this website....

-Rob

freestylzz

You da man

But you forgot to include a lil' Lisa Lisa, Trinere, Shannon, Stevie B, or TKA!

8T9 BANDIT

dahm, i love freestyle music,, i still actually listen to it with my wife, and at work sometimes. and im considered a "metal head" i was a kid in the eighties and rember when my cousin bought a brand new 86 t/a,, i thought it was the most radical looking thing in the world. that one got stolen in front of her house on metropolitan ave in brooklyn. she then picked up the 89 t/a and six years later sold it to me with 7k miles,, i was a happy 15year old.

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

Ahh, Shannon, this had to be one of her all time greats. Had the biggest crush on this girl back then, about three years older than me, who used to blast this song in her '88 Ford Mustang, as well as anything sung by Debbie Deb....;

http://youtube.com/watch?v=sKPvqa26En4

Also, nobody can forget about Tina B....!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=IkIwhc21n4o

Metropolitan Avenue, you just brought back some wonderful memories....

8T9 BANDIT

ktu on sunday nights,, that 103.5 still crank the good stuff.. there's also a ton of mixes out there now, wich are pretty good. i make my own freestyle mixes off limewire... we will be cranking it on july 5th street lethal

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

We were at a club on Queens Blvd called Paleds (previously Phase II), and Judy Torres had just started out. She was on stage (she was very heavy back then), and the crowd started to cruely chant, "go hippo, go hippo", and I remember like it was yesterday when she replied, "I may be chunky, but I getz funky". Everytime I hear her host Sunday nights on KTU I think of that night....

Judy Torres only plays what she likes, and rarely get's deep into real Freestyle jams. She likes stuff from Coro, George Lamond, Brenda k Starr, etc, but she rarely plays the real Freestyle jams like this....;

http://youtube.com/watch?v=JCyFgYOpuLU

http://youtube.com/watch?v=K4vCfpYl8l4

http://youtube.com/watch?v=UXF20FR31xE

Cool man. I listen to a lot of Trance now; Tiesto, Micro, Encore and them, but I'll always love Freestyle first and foremost. I'm definitely down for the 5th....

freestylzz

You guidos!

ZONES89RS

iTrader: (2)

I was too young really to know then, but in 89 the formula was a beats, and everyone(probably a mustang II with a 351) had to bow down to the TTA.

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

^

chevyracingrox

yea, i like hearing old camaro stories. my dad had an '84 berlinetta. it was fully optioned out (even had the billboard radio). it supposedly had a 305 in it, but my dad said it ran like it had a 350 H.O. i never got to ride in it though because my mom didn't like that car and made him sell it in '86 and i wasn't born until '91. i heard about some of the races he was in all the time, and all the crazy stuff he did in that car when i was growing up, so it seems right that i would want a car like his.

ZONES89RS

iTrader: (2)

I do actually hate the storys from people who have the "My (brother, dad, cousin, uncle...whother hell ever...) had a IROC...blah blah blah...", they assume they were hot **** by todays standards, most didnt know the mustanf owned olmost every camaro from 82-92...might have been all. They dont know about the TTA and the formula was actually faster than the camaro. Or they say they had a 82-84 or 91, 92 IROC. They just are not verry smart when it comes to car facts, i just hear it too much, also the ones that think the 87-90 ground FX were different from the RS to IROC. I even get tired of people thinking that my car being a RS isnt fast....till i crank it up.

John in RI

iTrader: (167)

That's true,..... But only until the race got into a corner. The back end of those mustangs sure liked to try to sweep past the nose under heavy cornering. The Z28's tires would just start screetching a little while the stangs were spinning into the woods. I had 2 buddies spin out their mustangs after previously owning Camaro's. They may have been faster on the top end - but they handled like crap.

If it wasn't for the mustangs being faster than most F-Bodys in the early eighties I don't think the 350ci would have been placed back into a Z28 as soon as 87.

I can clearly re-call when I was 15 Y/O my Jr. high guidence counsler lecturing me on "life" and his statement, : "You don't want to be driving around in some old Mustang, right ?? Wouldn't you rather be cruising around in a Shiney IROC ?? " EVERONE wanted an IROC when they first came out. It was the closest looking car to a racecar in it's day and out handled almost everything on the street.

I've never owned a mustang - never wanted one. Right now I own 5 Camaro's.

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

I disagree. The 80's Fox Body, before the advent of the 90's sanctioned Mustang races, didn't necessarily own the F-Body (unless you were into Vanilla Ice, and I certainly wasn't), especially here in the five boroughs. Simply no room to stretch either make's legs, and nobody was foolish enough to go 120+ on the city's highways, especially back then (I drove my '86 Iroc brand new, off of the showroom floor, but even I doubted it's handling). However, from stop light to stop light, which was predominantly the way we used to race here, torque would always be the deciding factor in a street race.

Yes, the aftermarket leaned a little more toward, and in favor of, the Mustang, but that didn't stop me, or any anyone else that I rolled with, from doing our own machine work and tuning to our own rides. Both platforms, F-Body and Fox Body, were 14-15 second factory car's, so I don't see how this would make one own the other. Again, most of our racing was "won" in the 60 foot, with the other party playing catch up until the next stop light sprung up, which was only seconds away.

Now, this isn't to say that the Mustang wasn't fast for it's time, it most certainly was fast. My biggest competition back then (now in the mid 90's) was an '87 5.0 LX, the dude threw everything that was readily available into it. The car sounded great, and with the 5-speed and 3.55 gears, the thing was very quick. But that's just it, he had to modify his car to run 12's, it didn't come that way, and he most certainly didn't "own" me, because by that time I was running a '66 425 Olds engine (I passed on a 400-SB) in my '86 Iroc.

Gaspar

ZONES89RS

iTrader: (2)

Well stock for stock, the IROCs were torque monsters though.

TurbomanKnight

Man, I cant wait to meet up with you in July and hear some of your stories.








I like to get my dad to talk about his days in the 80s. He had a few Camaros and Firebirds. I found some pics of his 87 Z28. That car was so beautiful. It makes me glad that I chose a Camaro.

Imadude_134

iTrader: (9)

No one in my family has ever owned an f-body... back in the 80s, my parents had a dodge van and a Citation, and into the 90s, they had a Crown Vic Wagon, the Citation, and a Lebaron... Then got a Ford van and a Ford Contour... I got my 91RS in June 2001 (when i was 16), and remember hearing my gfs older brother talking baout how he wanted an Iroc when he was younger (he was born in late 70s)... but I am glad I got my RS and still have it today. I hear a bunch of people at work talking about my car and how much EVERYONE (or at least is seemed like everyone) wanted an Iroc

EvilCartman

iTrader: (1)

Only one person I know had one way back when. All white Berlinetta if I remember right with some ugly wheels with beauty rings. Folks never had one, just a station wagon, caddy, couple mini vans and other cars through the years. I never really had much interest in getting one till I saw one up for sale at a machinery auction. Bought it just to have a new project to work on and well, I'm still working on it after 8 years

8T9 BANDIT

... I got my 91RS in June 2001 (when i was 16), and remember hearing my gfs older brother talking baout how he wanted an Iroc when he was younger (he was born in late 70s)... but I am glad I got my RS and still have it today. I hear a bunch of people at work talking about my car and how much EVERYONE (or at least is seemed like everyone) wanted an Iroc



and thats why, despite what most people say. these cars will be worth money someday. because similar to the 67-72 muscle cars are now. everyone wanted one or owned one. thats why older guys pay $$$ for the older muscle cars. they want a piece of there past back. when our and the older generation get in our 40's-60's they will want a shiny new iroc or gta too.

90BlackGTA

iTrader: (1)

Didn't anyone own a GTA back then lol? Seems it was Iroc's not that theres a problem with that but just wondering. Also how did people react when they saw our cars? Was it a big deal when someone pulled up into a parking lot with a brand new Iroc or GTA? Josh

25thmustang

I came from a GM family...

Never had any memories of Fbodies at all. Rarely saw nice ones, was in a few of them but always seemed to be owned by "that guy" that beat it to the ground, never washed it, and was beat by a Thunderbird or Regal in a stoplight race. Sad to say but the same holds true today minus a few nice examples. I see more rusted out ones with roof racks driving around in the sand and salt than I do nice clean examples at the local 500+ car, car shows. Shame on those people, but not much I can do about it, their choice.

8T9 BANDIT

you must have lived in a really crappy neighborhood, when i was growing up i saw tons of awesome examples of thirdgens. really nicely kept gta's and iroc's. and even a few notchbacks around my parts. you obviously hate thirdgens. why the hell are you here? how many times do people have to tell you to leave?

25thmustang

Actually your really the only one who swings off my nuts about it, and for what it's worth I live near one of the most popular cruise spots in the North East. Just relaying what people in the richest state in the country drive and don't drive...

90CamaroTBI

Well of course if your rich your not going to drive around in a 305 IROC lol. Also there are probably not many stock mustangs there.

8T9 BANDIT

Dmans85

I second the above. Congrats on living in the wealthiest state. I'm happy for you...
My story on the orig thread line..Borrowed a friends one day, red 85 iroc back in 88-89 maybe during high school in LI, NY. It was the best looking, or the fastest but the muscular lines, stares I received, fun i had mashing the throttle from a stop I remember to this day. Bought my own in 91. Still have it and probably will never part with it.

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

It was a very big deal Josh, but it's not like today though. We would rarely see any roll racing (counting off, three honks, etc.), it was always from a dig. When people did roll race it was on the highway of course, and it didn't really matter who had the jump, so long as the person won on the top end (it was a matter of who had more *****, really, because 80's cars weren't known to handle that great at 120+ speeds)....

At the hang outs, GTA's were IT! Like was mentioned earlier, many optioned out GTA's out sold Corvette's at the local dealership. Iroc's were more common, Trans Am's were a little more scarce, but would always pop up out of the blue. Nathan's in Long Island was probabaly the biggest hang out back then, I mean, everything you can imagine showed up. When a GTA would show up, honestly, it would signify $$$$....

-Rob

25thmustang

AND if people read my first response you would see I merely shared what I saw growing up here, and also said it was a shame, more fun to see nice ones. BUT the nutswinger will continue to swing no matter what.

And I can help it is the welthiest state, and as a matter of fact our Mustang club here has about 150 cars in it. There aren't many stock Mustangs anywhere, they are all done up and nice!

Bullydawg

iTrader: (7)

Lets not rag on 25thMustang, and lets get this Thread back on topic before it gets lock. I would not like to see this thread locked.

90BlackGTA

iTrader: (1)

mike_c

iTrader: (13)

Not this again...
My dad has a friend who has a Pontiac/Buick/Cadillac dealership that he has owned since the early 80's. He said during GTA production, his dealership only got four GTA's. And not one of them sat in the showroom for more than a week. He said when they got the first '87 with an L98, they took it up I-95 one night to see what it had and how it was the fastest thing he'd ever driven up until that point. (Remember, this was in 1986) My uncle has a friend who had an '85 Trans Am and an '88 GTA. He always talks about how much he loved them and how much he wants another one. He always asks me when I'm going to sell mine...

steeljab

iTrader: (3)

lay off 25th guys...ya'll are the ones being ****** not him (and i'm only saying that to one or two of you)

88 350 tpi formula

iTrader: (9)

seemed like the gta cars were not driven like they are now. I always saw iroc-z and trans ams seemed like every iroc had the window shade though but always got the looks

Firebat

iTrader: (7)

I don't know about 80s, too young to remember. In the 90s, 4th gens were still too high priced and *****s/imports were non-existant(The fast and furious movie didn't come out yet). I can remember even in 2000, thirdgens were one of the cars a lot of the kids wanted in high school. We're talking about my area of nebraska though.

2fast4uff

gee,how old are you?? yes these cars were hot,hot back in the day I,am 40 years old and ive owned a few camaros and firebirds in that gen +60 other cars.the car looked the part but would get a butt-kicking from most (stock) 5.0 mustangs .that was depending on the engine 5.0 carb tuned-port or 5.7 anywhere from 150 to hold to seat (just kidding) 200 horse dogs.however they were alot of fun with the t-tops off and with great curb grip.these cars are cheap,cheap now and can be ...and need to be hopped up.6 out of 10 runners still on the road have a engine not original to the car.and 8 out of ten with the original engine have speed parts. the interior was never really upgraded that much and these cars all need seat covers,dashpad and the clear/coat paint was a nightmire.grab one now...and fix it up and put on some Ozzy and its the me-genaration 1980s all over again.want talk some more? post me here or email at smokyflash7@aol.com later dude.

ZONES89RS

iTrader: (2)

Still, no one mentions the 89 Formula 350, which owned the mustang, that was the fastest, except the TTA, which older foks never mention.

8T9 BANDIT

thats is true, most tq, on the lightest car..

2fast4uff

the turbo t.a.was a very rare high price car, rarer then the same engined Regal grand national.but not as fast.The regular joe on the street couldnt afford this car.priced way above the gta. you just dont see them on the beat much..not even when they were new...people would store them away just like GNS .the 5.7 225 horse Formula was very fast but the real king of 3gens is the Firehawks.

danziger

Ugh! I'm showing my age here, but I bought a 1989 Formula WS6 brand-new from Prestige Pontiac in NJ when I was 21. There were far more 5.0 Mustangs and IROCs on the streets than there were Pontiac F-bodys, which was fine by me. I knew I wanted a Formula from when they first came out in 1987 and as soon as I had enough for a heavy down-payment, I took the plunge.
I got a lot of compliments on the Formula and what it lacked in acceleration (my friends all had Corvettes, GNs or 5.0s), it made up for in predictable handling and reliability. I still miss that car...it was stolen and totalled.
Feel free to ask me anything about the car scene back then as I regularly raced at Atco and in less legal settings...

danziger

The TTA had different heads than the GN and was defintely faster than the GN (I owned a 1986 GN, so I have some knowledge in this area). The 5.7 Formula wasn't rated at 225, but 245. The M6 305 Formulas were 230HP in the later models...
I actually sat in a brand-new, red 3rdGen Firehawk at Burns Pontiac in NJ. It was outrageously priced at $40K if I remeber correctly...

2fast4uff

huh,didnt know about the head change??I just went to the stock drags and watched a tta get a asswhiping by a GN maybe its the driver and not so much the car??? Firehawks are cool I,built a clone a few years back.

8T9 BANDIT

its probably more the mods, than the either the other two things..