I get asked why a few times.

I was at the MX track this past weekend, and some dude came up and started talking to me and the gf, and he mentions he is a tech at a shop that does muscle cars.
Told him I'm restoring an 87 T/A and he goes "why?" like it wasn't worth the effort.
Then he tries to sell me on getting a carbed 350 or 383 through his shop.
I said no thanks, I have an LS1 sitting in the garage almost ready to go in. He couldn't get his head around why I would want modern, up to date, reliable and efficient... He even said "you don't build a fast car to be good on gas"...
Some of these old muscle car dudes are thick headed I guess... If you can have all the advantages of modern tech, why not?!
Sure, our cars have been known to be "cheap", but it won't be long before they start becoming harder to find in good shape. In 20 years it will be like having a 60's muscle car. And I don't plan on selling mine.

 

 

I have been taking my 86 IROC to a lot of shows this year in Utah. I get a lot of oh, that's a nice car. I think that the third Gen Crowd will always be shadowed over the 1st gen Camaros. I see so many of the 1st gens that they're common place...My car is immaculate and the engine is pure extra clean stock, with all the stock items...I think that they are consistently looking for the chrome saturated engines. Geez...

 

I know...it seems like the 3rd gens are getting a bad rap of being under powered. I also get "my mom used to own one" This car isn't a Chrysler Cordoba or a Berlineta. Its an IROC-Z...They laugh...and say well it is a great looking car. I have 89K mi on it and when she hits 95K The motor's coming out and I am planning on boring it out and do a little performance enhance things to it. I will probably live on this site during the preliminary parts purchasing...u can bet on it...LOL

 

I get the usual "what year is it?" or "is it a 5.0 or 5.7?".

 

What I hear a lot is: "Nice camaro, is it an IROC?"

nope, it's an '83 Z28

 

Ok, slightly off topic but I had to share this. Stopped at a friends place for a bit. Left a coke in the car. After sitting and talking for a bit another of his friends came over. A little while later I go to the car and grab the coke. This guy asks me "that your car?". I just couldn't resist and said "no I'm just stealing cokes out of it" Here's your sign!

 

As soon as i start my car up I always get, "You got the 350 or the 305?" I guess my 3.1L must sound pretty good. Even fooled a mechanic with 20 years in.

 

At a car show I had a lady come up and ask me if it was a Mustang.... FYI it says CAMARO on the front!

 

Is that her with the scarf lol.

 

In their defense, maybe they just came from a car show, where everyone has either "Cobra", "SS", "LS6", "GTO", "SD-455", "Judge", "Yenko", etc fake labeling on their cars. I saw a "Yenko" Nova video the other day and knew it was fake. If it was real, he wouldn't be driving it on the road and he wouldn't have converted it into a strip car with huge slicks on the rear. The common thing is 2nd gen TA owners have "TA 6.6" decals on their Olds 403 cars.

Ever wonder why you very rarely see a Tempest or LeMans at a car show? Because they were all turned into GTO clones!

 

I was in Washington once, and the same thing happened to me. I called the number and it was a hot young woman who wanted to go out with me. She said she did that with some other car, and the guy never even called.

 

Yeah...sad but true. one day all third gen camaros and TAs will bet IROC and GTA clones. its already happening in GTA land. seen quite a few.

 

Yeah, clones drive me crazy. I've seen a few IROC clones

 

They can cause damage when they are sold as the real mcCoy you know? This is common as people want the premium car and people try to rip unsuspecting buyers off.

 

Yup. I've seen it happen with 1st gens all too much. Go to a car show and some guy will be talking about how he bought this car and it's a true Z28 or RS-Z28 or SS or (insert model here). A quick look at a few things and I realize it's really not. It's sad, because a clean base model is still a nice car, just shoot straight and call it what it is.

 

My favorite one is when girls get in and ask "where are your cupholders? how do you live without one"

 

I was told by a coworker that I should not own my 83 trans am because I was driving age in the 1980s.

 

Has anyone noticed that small children seem to be the most excited about our cars? There are a couple of kids not more than 6 that every time I pass their house I hear them scream to their parents, "look at that car". Not even old enough to know what it is or appreciate it's condition for the age. Just gives me giggles every time though.

 

Yes! I live near four schools, 2 elementary, 1 jr high, and a high school, and 100% of the time I'll have one of the elementary schoolers point and stare as I drive by. Occasionally some high school kids might give a thumbs up, but the little ones always get excited. Third gens must remind them of an old racecar or hot wheels car

 

yup, a kid ,maybe 7 or 8 who lives two doors down tried to trade me his wagon and bike for mine. sorta made me go "awww".

 

Same here, the kids next door to me keep asking me if I could make Kitt talk.

 

where's your mulle? whats leaking on me? sorry the tops leak a bit. why is mulle a curse word lmfao

 

That's priceless, haha.

 

just got asked today if i was driving an old Lamborghini, i was like thanks but it does say camaro on the front

 

"why not put gfx on it?"

-______-

 

Thats as bad as I was told "nice Viper!"

 

 

old thread but a fun one, I usually have some older guy come up to me (I'm 21) and say something along the lines of, "oh man I had one in highschool, ah man I miss it, wish I never got rid of it, wife made me get rid of it, don't have kids or get married"

 

The white RS in my signature, with the 383 LS1 stroker and quiet SLP Dual / Dual.
"That's a nice stock LS1, why don't you put a cam in it?"

Before the swap the best question ever was from a clueless stoner back in 2011 -"Hey man is that one of them new Buick 's?"

 

"Is that really 251,000 on the clock?"

It just happened again Friday night @ Dairy Queen. I have a cluster from a junked car(and amazingly all gauges work!)and my car is a vert so people like to look in at the odometer. I keep the car really clean and the paint and int. are in fantastic shape that the guy was floored. Depending on my mood I do like to play it up, tell them that those are the miles on the car and I am the 8th owner.
The latter is true.

 

I swear these cars get more attention than other classic cars.. everyone remembers them but you never see them now.

Went to gas up since it was 60 degrees and bone dry yesterday in New England and my tank was low from running the engine through the winter. Just checking fluids and such..

Got the typical:

1) Is that your IROC?
“Sure is”

2) What year is it?
“88”

3) Is it a 5.7?
“Nope, 5.0 but pretty darn close.. has the TPI”

4) Did you just never drive it?
“Nope found it and shipped it here”

5) Is the engine rebuilt?
“Nope original motor 30k miles”

6) Is it a six speed?
“Nope, manual IROCs are hard to find, 4th gen had 6spd”

7) Is that the original color?
“Yup it’s a restoration job to original paint code”

8) Was that paint like $20k?
“Nope, a guy I know did it who restores classics”

8) Are those the original rims?
“Yup”

Followed by:
-Man I used to have an (insert thirdgen year) (Insert RS/Firebird/IROC)
-If they didn’t have a thirdgen they had a 5.0 Mustang
-They either crashed it/got stolen/couldn’t afford insurance
-They probably had T-Tops and talked about how cool that was
-They haven’t seen one of these in a long time
-Comment on how it looks brand new, nicest one they’ve seen
-Comment on how the Vert looks awesome, never seen a Vert

It never gets old..

Can’t believe how many stories I’ve heard of guys who saved up, bought a brand new IROC and it got stolen the first week they owned it.. crazy

Drove two miles, filled up on gas, and back in the garage until official cruise season! Turned a lot of heads in two miles!

 

It happened - I think mine was 11 days old. I think in 1987 the 1st three year IROC's were the #1, #2 & #3 most stolen cars.

 

Damn.. that hurts.. ever find out what happened to it?

My buddy got one stolen from a college parking lot. Cops found it in a field with the rims missing days later..

He got it fixed up, repainted, brand new rims, etc.. but it never drove the same.. was a bummer.. he sold it and got a C4 Vette..

 

Got a call the next morning before I left for work - they had found it, wheels gone, other damage was minor. Spent the next month at the dealer waiting for wheels and some other parts. Sold it two years later, found it & bought it back in 2014.

Just makes for a better story.

 

What's your price ?

 

Awesome story

 

Does that have the Vette engine? I bet I get asked at least twice a week.

 

"Wait, aren't the Bahamas islands?"

 

Haven't taken mine to any shows in a couple years, but did several little local shows the first few years I had it. Number one question was "how many miles?" People were always shocked when they saw almost 90k. Following question would then be if the paint was original.

 

''Did you restore it?" is a common question I get at almost every show.

 

Some of us have real cars AND drive them but you are right there are a whole lot of clone cars out there and there are also a lot of rare cars walled up in collections like a bunch of matchboxes.

 

I don't ever get questions, people just usually tell me they had some sort of third gen or a friend did. If they're older, they remember when these cars were new and how they hadn't seen one in a really long time. Last time I drove it the dash cap was off because I was waiting for a piece of trim to come in, so some one asked if I had a dash for it.

 

So far I have found out the 1960's car guys hate these things at first, but after a while they come around. They don't like our generation walking past there Chevelle to check out a third gen. Most conversations end in " I had one just like it, until I wrecked it"

 

Does the AC work?
Answer: No

 

Why does it have a mustang motor? 5.0 I just shake my head and drive away

 

What year is that? Or, That thing sounds healthy! But really I find that people (mostly SUV driving dads at the gas station) will ask any old random thing to simply break the ice and tell me about the one they had when they were younger and how badass it was.

 

Wow you guys have it pretty easy.. try working for Ford. Whenever my car's in the parking lot I get to listen to a full day of "I'm gonna scrap that POS" or "Can you please get your Camaro (It's a GTA) out of the parking lot, it's getting oil everywhere"

 

You should leave them some rubber and smoke in the parking lot.

 

Funny how a Mustang the same year has no demand in the car market.. probably because they are so “awesome” and have interiors like a Ford Tempo..

Ford isn’t as good at turning heads as GM.. been that way for a long time.. you can make any car fast and reliable.. what else you got?