I had a girl come running out of a store to tell me she liked my car. she went back inside right after :\

 

Its hard to tell if that stereotype is dead or not, I get a lot of compliments on my car from rednecks , but then again that's really the only kind of people that live around me :-/

And no, my car does not support the stereotype.

 

Yup. Texas has some thirdgen haters too, but they are few and far between.

 

yeah, the stereotype may be gone for the most part. I posted up pics of mine 4 years ago and got a lot of hate on another site. Then I just posted it up this week and got a lot of love.

 

I get it every now and then.

Turd Gen
Fireturd
Fire Chicken...

 

No one calls fire birds fried chicken.

 

Two days ago. lol

Bought a serpentine belt from O'Reilly, gigantic guy called it a Fire Chicken

 

That's cause his brain is made out of 99.9% Fried Chicken. That's probably the only thing he ever says to anyone. "Hay frank, how it going?'". "Fried Chicken". Fire turd and Turd gen I believe are more common.

 

Only comments I get are......Nice car!

 

Some of my family still give me grief over it as in "you make enough money to drive a newer nicer car, why do you still have these things". But I don't listen to them because they own minivans.

I've had parking valets at the Four Seasons Las Vegas fight over who got to drive my IROC vert on 1 trip and others do the same over the 92 RS on another trip. They honestly seemed more excited to get the 3rd gen than the Ferrari or Porsche a lot of the other hotel guests were driving. And every one of them had a story about some relative or friend that had one. The concierge even asked if I wanted to sell the IROC.

The GTA has had multiple people try to buy it off us and many a ***** make a comment about it being slow to then see nothing but taillights on the way home.

But all of the ones I drive are clean and well maintained. The ones that look like the trailer park stereotype are waiting their turn at the restomod to bring them back into the public eye.

 

I think any 3rd gen still on the road is a sight to be seen, even I get "hey nice car!" and all my friends ask me when I'm going to sell it to them. My Iroc gets as much attention as my Fiero, most don't even know what the heck a Fiero is!! The stigma was never alive down here, so I think thats why I don't get any crap over it.

 

Not a familiar sight on roads in the UK, mines a daily driver and always gets positive comments. Certain cars don't get let out of junctions such as BMW's and Range Rovers as they are usually driven by *****, however people seem happier to make way for me.
Yes there's banter between the 2nd and 4th gen owners over here, usually along the lines of 2nd gen owners needing a dustpan and brush to pick up what's dropped off their cars and 4th gen owners driving what looks like a Ford Probe but more plasticy, but all in good fun.

 

yeah, i'm gonna have to take back this whole thread - i haven't heard anything negative yet and i only have about half a mile on the car. It has been great!

 

My fiance wants to trade her DD 02 Ford Taurus for an 89 Camaro 'vert...

The car we are looking at just needs a fuel pump and after asking a buddy to give me a hand if i do get the car, he kept saying that Thirdgens are ugly and i should just buy a foxbody instead. I think i had to tell him 4 times that im not buying a foxbody stang because i hate how they look and i dont like fords in general. I convinced him that its going to be ok when the car gets a lsx/4l60 setup and makes mid 11 passes.

All the guys at local car meets trash talk about them but if i were to drive it there with the lsx in it, they would keep their mouths shut.

 

That's definatey someting I had to get used to, but it happens quite often that people just stop and wave me through, even though they would not have to do so according to traffic regulations.

Another something I'd like to add is that I get a lot of positive comments from US residents about how cool it is that with gas prices over here, I still drive a car like the Camaro.

 

Well you have the most fuel eficient of the third gen camaros. 305 TBI.

 

Depends which car i'm using..... the vert get compliments and people offering me cash to sell it to them. My IROC on the other hand looks rough, and though she is STILL the most reliable car i own, if i'm driving her i get more turdgen comments and no respect. it all comes down to the time, place, person looking at it, and what it looks like.

Edit - WOW..... i'm THAT guy. just noticed the last date some one posted to this.... score for being THAT guy.

 

I am getting fewer crap comments and more ' nice ride' comments as the years go by. Considering the 4th gen was made in Canada and the 5th gen is a bloody Australian Holden, ours are the last true American Camaros!

Besides, I didn't buy it for approval- otherwise I would be driving a BMW or Mercedes like everyone else around here... Or a Camry!

 

I have not heard anything insulting about my Turd Gen for a long time. I get teased more about for my F-350 tow vehicle, then for the Turd Gen that it tows. Of course since my thirdgen won Best Firebird in 2010 and Class Winner 2009, 10, 11, and 12 at the F-Body Gatherings, it is sort of hard for them to be too critical of the car. I think that these cars are starting to command some respect. And for all of those out there who hate trailer queens, TQ's bring up the level of respect for all thirdgens, as people see that some of them are being preserved, and that must make them worth saving.

 

I do sometimes from the high school age kids, mainly women. The guys tend to back off after a little show off or I life the hood. At first this car had no respect here in my local town but it has gained some through tire squealing and race winning. Much older, mature folks still question why I would drive it.

It ain't pretty, I have had to replace quite a few body panel and it needs paint but it has it where it counts.

 

Was pumping gas tonight a no joke a 80 ish lady walked up and said what kind of car is that? I smiled and said its a Camaro! She said wow it is really a sharp looking car. I told her i had one in the early 90's and i loved it. She said i wouldnt pass it by either. Super cool coming from a 80 year old lady!!!

 

I have even had guys in stangs give me thumbs up, a guy in a mustang even warned me about a cop up a head on side of road today. I get a lot of respect in the camaro! People clear the road no matter where i am driving. Unless they want to race then i just hang back knowing i can't win..lol

 

Got it last week from a garage I went to to change my tires, mechanic said that it's not american... pffff I told him well it's a sports car not a muscle car but it's still american...

 

[QUOTE=
isn't that the type of thing that registrations are for............govt has some serious shortcomings when it comes to car laws, ask me bout the time they revoked my registration cause I cancelled my insurance on my non running car(for obv reason)l.[/QUOTE]

I cancelled my Insurance when I going be hospitalized for 3 months but I also had my registration changed to (non-op) at the DMV and had my car stored at my daughters because it wasn't allowed on the streets with a non-op status.

 

I've grown up in everett, now reside near shoreline, there still very very hard to find here. whether they be RS, Z28, Berlinetta's, or Iroc's. everytime im out working in the yard when the cars out there everyone always stops and talks to me about it, how long ive had it, what all i did ect ect. i think people are gaining respect for them, as there coming harder and harder to find.

 

This brings me to how I got my username, I bought my first 86 firebird from a native on a reserve (I live in BC Canada so lots of natives) and after I bought it my brother in law said to me "you know your gonna have a lot of people calling it a firechicken" and I just hoped he was wrong. What do you know, the same night I got it, I parked into a mall parking lot and the first thing I hear is "Heeey! Nice firechicken man!" and it was a drunk native from across the parking lot.

 

The day after I got mine home the neighbor came over (yep he is a red neck, we have them here too) and said that it was a nice KFC bucket. He said that it was probably from Kentucky, it was a fried chicken and being red and silver it matched well. I didn't find it funny but everyone else loves it.

 

My car is a Rez car. Lots of native people are also serious car people. The folks around here remember the car from years ago when the original owner had it. If they say anything, it is usually Nice Firebird, or that's Amanda's car, something like that. http://theonefeather.com/2011/06/amanda%e2%80%99s-car/

 

Since someone alreaded necroed this thread, I'll chime in

I bought my 4th and latest firebird early this summer. It is an '89 Formula, black, close to original, and in very good shape for the year. Still has it's original paint. I am the third owner and someone before me put the TA rear spoiler on it, replaced the factory stereo, and re-apolstered the seats (though with original cloth, you can't tell it was done) and I installed an open air element. Other than that it is the same way it came off the line, with 111,000 miles on it. So nice, but not super nice.

Everywhere I go, I get looks and comments about the car, and none of them are negative. I take it to a classic car gathering every thursday night, and am frequently the only Pontiac of any kind there. Even among car people, mostly Ford people, I get nothing but respect and admiration for the car.

So, from my experience, people love the car.

 

My 89 year old Great Grandmother thinks my car is vary schnazzy. She is not appauled by it the least, and I've even given her a ride in it a few times.

 

Sounds like you have a cool grandma, however I am not sure that grandma's count. My 94 year-old grandma loved my 83 TA also, but then she thought my Silverado Crewcab Dually Choo-Choo Custom with a toneau cover on it was a stretch limo. She told all of her friends, my grandson takes me to the doctor in a stretch limo. We never tried to correct her, as she swore her whole life that she would never ride in a pick-up truck. If she had known that the Silverado was actually a pick-up instead of a stretch limo, I would have caught hell...

 

Haha. Plus emagine how special she feels when she thinks she is being driven around in limo.

 

I think your first problem is listening to what these d-bags at LS1tech have to say about anything.




.

 

im in new jersey ,,,and not one day goes by that i dont get atleast 1 compliment ! more than my friends who have g35s 350s and TLs...i see a little jealousy in there face when theyre riding shotgun and see all the attention and compliments i get in this 25 year old car ..Never heard a compliment on either of there cars when i ride shotgun

 

When I lived in Columbus Ohio a few years back, I would get the snobby "nose up" from the executive crowd when they heard the cam thumping as they drove their Escalades that got worse mileage than my ride did. They all drive Prissuses now. I still have my '86 and live in nowhereville Kentucky now, People everywhere but Columbus love it, bought my girlfriend an '89 IROC and it's the talk of her work!The paint is washed out, T-5 whines, exhaust bangs around etc. We get more compliments on that car than I can believe! Mine will be back on the road soon after a LONG vacation and I can't wait til the folks here get an ear full of what these cars can really sound like. The local mechanic's teeth nearly fell out when I lifted my hood for him!

 

Yeah, I still get a lot of crap but doesn't bother me in the least. I have had junk and have cars that most people never have a chance to even sit in much less own. **** media hype and people's opinions. If 3rd gen F Bodies make you happy then that's all that counts. I bought mine and love driving it almost every day.

 

I get alot of crap about how amazing my car is and what an awesome paint job it has, everywhere I go. SO anoing.

 

People used to call me "Joe Dirt" when i had my '82 Trans Am about 10 years ago.

haven't really had anything negative said about my '89 Camaro other than "why did you pull out the V8 for a V6"... The car is well known around this area, i guess the previous owner had a lot of friends or something.


In these cases i'm reminded of the song "Smash" from The Offspring

 

Who are you going to take crap from? Anyone who really matters? You have it for yourself, not to impress some random loser. Take pride in it! Keep it looking and running sharp. That will speak for itself.

 

I just play along with it. People tell me I have a "sweet IROC" in a sort of mocking way... of course, it's not an IROC, but I say thanks and that after I'm finished with the army, I will finally grow that m_u_l_l_e_t I always wanted. I then say I fuel the car with Natty Ice.

However, people that know anything about cars take notice and actually respect it once they find out what it is and the condition it's in.

 

in my area, 3rd gens are very few and very far between. i've seen four or five nice ones, and a similar number of beaters. that's it. so, i think that 3rd gens, in my area, are pretty much out of the public consciousness.

nice cars are nice cars, and i've only ever gotten compliments. the closest thing to "getting crap" would be participating in car shows to find that cars are categorized by decade, until 1980, and then its 1980 to present! those grey-bearded A-holes that run the car shows think there's up to 1972, and then all the crap that came after.

 

I've been to some shows like that... there'll be 3 categories for Camaros/Birds:

67-69 F-Bodies
70-73 F-Bodies
74-present F-Bodies

 

Kurt - I saw that not to long ago at a show in the local area. I thought the same thing when i saw it - apparently there were soooooo few camaro's made after 74 that they can be categorized in one lump sum..

 

I love that Good Guys only recognizes cars made before 1973 as "hot rods", but you can slap an lsx engine in an Edsel and it will qualify?

 

.Same here. I was at a car show a while back and one of the guys said " Hey man, go park that s**t over there in the weeds" Everyone got a good laugh. I actually won the Best Paint throphy.

 

On the Internet all I get is that 305 is slow, a waste of money, and you are not a man if you don't drive a manual.

In real life people think it is a cool car.

 

No offense to the people on TGO that are registered on ls1tech and that are actually f body people on ls1 tech but 80% of the post and people i read about on there, they are complete ********s and morons mainly because there stuck in there own element. There was even a thread on there about a guy disputing that 92 firehawks never existed until somebody posted up information of proof and the guy looked like a fool. Besides the point.....

The respect for third gens have gotton better with in the last 6 years. My friends in high school owned nothing but 4th gens and just thought my car was just...... lets say OLD. the funny part was though there cars were breaking down or always needing work all the time when i just drove mine to school without issues. granted once they actually started to know me and my love for the f body they got why i liked third gens, and they became very interested in them at that point and sold there 4th gens and bought 3rd gens. I get compliments about my car a few times a week when i drive it. And i dont drive it much anymore either, plus its not perfect or in mint condition but its not in fair condition either. The car strikes a balance in between. The car needs new paint soon, new wing, and center console. But people still love looking at it because out of every day you have a 1 out of 1000 chance of even coming across a third gen on the street thats nice looking.

Mustang guys will always be biased against f bodys because its what they love. Which brings me to tell a friend had nothing but gt mustangs the newer ones and once he got to hang with me and get to know me, he grew to love the third gen formulas. People can always change

 

The only people I really hear making fun at thirdgens anymore are my buddy's, and they are just pushing my buttons because they all drive LS1 fbody's or fox's, doesn't help that I still have one of the slowest v8s known to man