Have any of you ever searched for, and found, a Camaro you previously owned? I was cleaning out some old boxes today and found the glove box contents from the 1984 Camaro I owned from 1989 to 2001. The old registration has the VIN, title number, and license number. I did a couple of VIN lookups online, but nothing useful.

 

Got my 92 z28 back after 17 years.

 

Would be interesting to know what happened to my first 3rd gen I got back in 1999, but I doubt I have any documentation around that would have a VIN or something I could use to search it out. It was a nothing special RS with the gutless TBI 305 and worse paint than my current Trans Am despite being 24 years newer at the time so I'm not sure I would want it back anway, lol.

 

I did one VIN lookup service. They don't show my purchase in 1989, it just lists the first owner as 1984-2001. It then lists the second owner as 2001-present. No names.

The real history is:
First owner 1984-1989
Me 1989-2001
My parents 2001-shortly after where they traded it to a dealer (the trail goes cold there, both my parents have passed away, so I can't ask for any specifics)

My brother is convinced there is no accurate info because it was probably crushed and sold for scrap. I'm betting its equally likely to be in a junkyard somewhere with a tree growing through the engine bay.

 

I did last year!

As I mentioned in post #1 while introducing my '88 T/A, my first 3rd gen was a '91 Camaro RS I had bought new. Traded it away after a year due to rear tire wear problems.

Post #1

For years I wondered what had come of it. Maybe 5 years ago, when the GTA Source Page still had it's own forum, one of the members there offered to check the VIN for me. I don't recall what tool he used (CarFax I think). It showed that the car was still on the road, registered annually, and locally.

Then at last years Michigan F-body Meet & Greet, I stumbled on the car. Details in the links below.

Post #893

Post #896

Post #913

 

Not a 3rd gen, but I found my '97 RS about 5 years ago and bought it back. Unmolested, still had most of the original paint. 240,000 km on the clock (I put over 165,000 on it) and bad rod knock on a replacement GM short block.

I bought it back and replaced the engine with a Series III out of an '07 Buick, along with new clutch, KYB adjustable shocks, brakes, exhaust, headers, short throw shifter, etc. Did it all myself during Covid. Over 260,000 km on the clock now, runs great, my daily driver.

The exhaust is an SS take off I bought from SLP back in 2000 (I bought 2) that I had hanging on the wall as art after I sold the car in 2007.

 

Jenga jack stands? Approved.

 

It' was "up on blocks" lol.
Did the entire swap using nothing more than a set of standard tools and a floor jack.

 

That gives me heart palpitations just looking at it........

 

That is scary looking. Glad you found your 97 again.

 

How about this: I still have my 83 sport coupe that I ordered from the factory with a 5spd 305ci, limited slip diff, 4 wheel disc brakes, t-tops, quiet sound group, fat sway bars, in black

 

I tried but I can't.

 

I found my '88 about 4 yrs ago. I owned car from 1989 to 2005 and traded with cash for an 87 GN. Fast forward to 2018 - we moved and I was going through file cabinets and found an old registration for it. I googled the VIN and found it was owned by a buy here-pay here lot about 45 minutes away. Apparently Ohio shows the owner when it is a commercial entity. I stopped there shortly after and there it was in a field on 4 flats. (This place HAD to be a front for something illegal because they had cars as far as the eye could see and no real interest in selling them.) Anyway, I managed to buy it back and found it was not too far gone. It has been rebuilt


to basically new over the last 4 years and I will never sell it.

 

I would love to find the 1970 Mustang mach 1, this then High School kid, bought in 1972. But all I have is an old New York license plate number. No chance, I suppose.

 

It can be a great adventure for sure... i found my 1988 Camaro Sport Coupe after a 10+ year search and not having seen it since August of 1991. Found it around Labor Day 2012 in a salvage yard in "rough" condition and did a complete rebuild to make it even better than original

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/engi...inal-88-a.html

 

I owned a 1989 Firebird as a first car from 2010 until 2014. I did some searching and it was registered in a small town in Kansas. Whole county only had about 3,000 people in it, so I found their buy-sell-trade group and made a few posts. About a year later someone commented that it was their son’s car, but had been basically abandoned in their (climate controlled!) barn.

After a year of convincing, I finally got them to agree to sell it back to me. Working on putting that deal together still. It only has 8k more miles on it than it did when it was sold! Picture in the field is from when I owned it. Picture in the barn is from when I found it a year ago.

 

Good find, codyman! Did they make you pay big money, to get it back?

 

Shockingly no. My dad sold it for $3,000 to the same family. They only want $2,600 for it! It is a little worse for wear. Kid put a hole in the front bumper. Seat covers are shredded. Doesn’t run, but that is probably just the battery. My $800 paint job from 2010 isn’t quite the sight it once was…

But only 88k Miles and almost completely rust free? For $2,600? How can anyone say no to that?

Pretty neat, the guy who has it wouldn’t take any offers. He started with the whole not for sale schtick, but changed his tune when I told him it was my old car. He wanted it to go back to me. Nice guy.

 

Great story and the price sounds more than fair! God Bless!

 

I found my 84 Trans Am HO after 35 years. I was still in school but couldn’t resist ordering a brand new 84 with all the good options - HO, 5 speed 3:73 discs, rear louvres, top of the line stereo, red with black interior. My summer job fell through so I couldn’t take delivery. Years later I started looking for the car, watching the classifieds but I never saw one that was even a candidate. Finally I gave up and went to look at a black automatic 84 which turned out to have lots of options and was only $2k. As I’m looking it over, I find that it was an HO, was repainted black over original red and had the clutch pedal still in it. Bought it on the spot, ran the VIN and sure enough was the one I ordered. I was thrilled to say the least.

 

That's awesome! Congrats on finding it.

 

Thanks! It was truly exhilarating. One of my best car days ever. It had snowed three feet just as the ad went up and the road was closed. I was the only one willing to hike in to see it as I was sure the first person there would buy it. It had a built 350 with E heads, Turbo 400 and Cragars with good paint, 64,000 km (Canadian car), interior still decent and I’d seen the car the summer before at the drag strip and chatted with the owner. I knew it was worth a hike in the deep snow and had the cash in pocket. The only downside was it was parked outside on the lawn, covered in a tarp and the interior was damp and starting to get mouldy. We had cleared the snow off, uncovered it and proceeded to start it up. That’s when I discovered it had a clutch pedal and I couldn’t get the money out of my pocket fast enough.

From there, the tale turns to woe. Being surrounded by 3 feet of snow, I wasn’t able to drive away until the snow melted so it was a few days when I returned with plates and my son, aching to drive the car home after nearly 35 years. First red flag was that the car had been moved to the driveway, second was that the seller had split up with his girlfriend and was living in a hotel, third was the pungent smell of marijuana as I opened the door. The sinking feeling in my stomach was confirmed when the car wouldn’t start. No problem, I’d brought a spare battery just in case so in it went and the car fired right up with just a squeal from a fan belt. As it warmed up, the squealing increased so I pulled out a long screwdriver to listen to the pulleys (the old trick where you put the handle to your ear and the tip to the suspect part). It wasn’t the pulleys and by this time the squealing was becoming deafening so I raced to shut it off but the billowing white smoke coming from the tailpipes told me everything I needed to know. Yep, the head case and/or his ex had gone for a stoned joyride and blown the head gasket. Cue the tow truck; clearly my long wait to drive the car was going to be a little longer. Subsequent analysis found metal all through the engine as bearings and antifreeze play well together. Still, it was worth it as the car finally sat in my garage all those years later.

 

Christ man, that blows. Though, if you already paid, that was your property that they destroyed. you could take him to court.

 

What's the update on the car now?