chazman

iTrader: (4)

Funny you should say that! Many people ask me why I have three of the same car. And I respond, they're not the same! This one is a manual trans hardtop and that one is an auto T-top, etc.

I suppose the yellow one would be the easiest to sell. People are always asking me if it's for sale, and it only needs a few things to be nearly perfect. But it's also a nice bookend to my black one. The "bruiser" and the "cruiser" sort of thing, I guess.

The white one would be tougher to sell I guess, only because I have more money into it than I figure I could sell it for. Funny story about the white one. Someone from GM saw my black '89 pictured on another Camaro website in 2008. He emailed me, asking if I would be bringing it to the 2008 Camaro Gathering in Indy. Now keep in mind that I'd have to park it, outside, unsecured, at the Holiday Inn parking lot all weekend. I told him the only way that would be happening is if I had an enclosed trailer and an armed guard. So, in other words: NO.

That's when I decided to get another 3rd gen for the Gathering. Something different. A Crossfire or an Iron Duke or something. After Indy, my intention was to simply sell it. I found my '83 on a farm in Wisconsin. It ran like crap, needed a major detailing and just a whole bunch of TLC to make it safe and acceptable for the trek to Indy. I spent the entire summer working on it, with my son, who was 13 at the time - and all in all, we had a lot of fun doing that. After Indy, I just didn't have the heart to sell it and still have it 6+ years later. It's a lot of fun to drive with the T5 and new exhaust, and it's got enough miles on it where I'm not paranoid every time I see a cloud in the sky or I put some miles on it.

A few years later I bought the yellow '85, because I had a wild hair for a yellow '85-'87 IROC. And....I still didn't end up selling the '83 even after telling my wife I would.

I guess having three of them might be considered excessive. I suppose I could replace one with a 2nd gen Trans Am or an early Bronco or one of 50 other cars which strike my fancy. But when you really think about it, all three of them scratch my 3rd gen passion in a different way.

A 3rd gen 'vert would be nice.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

I mentioned my former AMX a couple posts up.

For those of you who have never seen one, and that's likely most of you, here it is going to it's new home.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

Here it is with it's 1st place trophy in "Stock Class" last month, at ThirdGen Expo.

Stauf

iTrader: (2)

Always loved the AMX. They are so hard to find now. And if you do, they are a fortune. Who would of thought that a compact POS (back in the day) would be so valuable.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

Yup.

Even though that car came from North Dakota, and spent years sitting in a field - it was amazingly rust free. The guy who bought it was an AMC collector/restorer and was completely blown away by it's lack of rust and originality. Plus, Saxon yellow, 304, 4 speed AMXs are very rare.

Maybe I should have had a higher asking price.

TEDSgrad

iTrader: (4)

Depends on the model. They had a Go-Pac (Go-Package) that is similar to the familiar Go-Pack, if you're north of Chicago you know what that means!
Built in Kenosha, WI

Super Stock AMX




1969 Super Stock AMX


AMC also introduced the Super Stock AMX. To maximize quarter-mile performance, the 390 engine was equipped with twin Holley carburetors and 12.3:1 compression-ratio cylinder heads, plus aftermarket Doug’s headers and exhaust system, and the tires were drag-radial slicks. Hurst Performance carried out several additional modifications.[44]
American Motors rated the car at 340 hp (250 kW), but the National Hot Rod Association ultimately rated it at 420 horsepower (310 kW) and shuffled it among various competition classes: SS/G, SS/D, and SS/C. Its best recorded quarter-mile was 10.73 seconds at 128 mph (206 km/h).[45]
The Super Stock AMX was meant for the race track and lacked comfort equipment such as a heater. The car could be ordered all white, or in the vertical bands of red, white, and blue that distinguished numerous AMC competition cars of the day. Base price was $5,994, some $1,900 more than a fully loaded regular 1969 AMX. There was no factory warranty.[45]


And the original Mary Kay pink car:
Playmate AMX

Playboy magazine's 1968 Playmate of the Year, Angela Dorian, was awarded a specially painted "Playmate Pink" 1968 AMX.[46][47] It was powered by the base 290 V8 with automatic transmission, air conditioning, tilt wheel, AM/8-track radio and optional rear bumper guards. Aside from the unique color, it differed from other AMXs with its dashboard number plate containing Dorian's measurements, making her car AMX 36-24-35.[48] The car, currently owned by Mark Melvin who bought it off Dorian in 2010, was features in one episode of Jay Leno's Garage.
Some sources describe other AMXs to have been painted Playmate Pink at the factory. AMC’s marketing vice-president, Bill McNealy, who handed over the keys to Angela Dorian’s car mentioned that “a number of them" were finished in pink.[49]
In late 1968, a Playmate Pink AMX was special-ordered by a dealership in rural Potosi, Missouri. This 1969 model year car's door tag indicates a "00" paint code (meaning a special-order color) and it has a 390 V8 with automatic transmission, as well as the performance "GO" Package, air conditioning, and leather seats.[50]


And Italian style mid-engine:
AMX/3




AMC AMX/3 concept car





Mid-engined AMC AMX/3


Widely considered as the best AMC design of all time,[citation needed] a third-generation AMX concept car, the AMX/3, debuted at the 1970 Chicago Auto Show. Engine-less and fashioned in fiberglass, the original AMC/3 prototype was a show car only.
American Motors placed an order for 30 operational cars.[83] The AMX/3 body mold was sent to Italian GT maker Giotto Bizzarrini, whose Turin facility hand made drivable mid-engined, steel bodied cars. Built on a 105.3-inch (2,675 mm) wheelbase, the Bizzarrini prototypes used the AMC 390 cu in (6.4 L) V8 and an Italian OTO Melara four-speed transaxle. Road testing was done by BMW, which declared the AMX/3's chassis one of the stiffest and most neutral handling they had ever tested.[citation needed]
The steel Italian cars differed from the original AMC design in having fewer but functional rear decklid louvers, louvered hoods, and, in some cases, hood scoops to direct fresh air into the heating-A/C system.
Five completed cars were produced before the US$2,000,000 program was cancelled. Escalating costs and pending bumper regulations put a stop to the mid-engined AMX/3.[83] The remaining extra parts were used by erstwhile Bizzarini collaborator Salvatore Diomante to assemble a sixth car.[83]

mk1431

Try Turtle Wax Black Box finish kit OMG it brought out a very very very deep black I have never seen before on my T/A I swear i'm looking into a black hole Highly highly recommened you must wear rubber gloves cause in has a black tint in it

chazman

iTrader: (4)

I've tried that as well. Seems like good stuff. There are so many good choices out there nowadays.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

It's a shame mine had so many needs that I grew tired of it. Once I got it running, it would light up the tires, (actually the right rear), through 1st and 2nd gear. I think it having a disconnected air pump and no exhaust after the Y-pipe added a few ponies as well. I wouldn't mind having another one, one day. But it would have to be a nicer one, though.

yaj15

iTrader: (3)

Hey Charlie,

How does the braking feel on your '89 compare to the brakes on you other thirdgens?

I've got an '88 IROC with the factory 4 wheel single piston caliper brake set up. I'm thinking about upgrading to 4th gen or 1LE front brakes and the PBR set up in the rear.

How much of a difference does the PBR set up make with stock single piston brakes in the front?

chazman

iTrader: (4)

I can feel the difference. You'd think you wouldn't, since the big brakes on are the back.

yaj15

iTrader: (3)

That's what I thought. I've been talking to some members in the car club I'm in and they have said the same thing. The big brakes on the back and that proportioning valve make a big difference in the way these cars stop with the '89-up PBR set up.

I don't race my car but I do have fun on local backroads. The stock brakes fade fast after only a few stops. I wish they would have made the 1LE brake set up standard on these cars.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

Figured I'd just add to this old thread vs starting a new one.

Took the black car out for a spin for the first time since last fall. This car loves to leave rubber 11s on the pavement. I think it accelerates harder at half throttle than my new '87 LG4 does at full throttle. I did notice an oil leak coming off the filter. Probably a good excuse to change the oil.

Shoulda taken some pics of it today!

Drew

iTrader: (58)

Good stuff... It finally dropped below 100-degrees without being dark or storming long enough for me to pull the Formula out today. Drove about 60 miles of country highway, 65mph with the A/C blowing 50 degrees. Life was good.

It's easy to forget how enjoyable they are to drive when they seldom come out of the garage.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

You are exactly right, Drew! These are fun cars, even three decades later.