87ragroc

I own an 87 Iroc convertable I bought new in 87 and was wondering if anyone know how to find out how many may still be around

okfoz

The only way to do it would be to go through CARFAX, AUTOCHECK or some other organization that would allow you to do car searches..

Although there were only about 1000 camaro verts made in 1987 you would have to check almost 100,000 VINS to actually find out what is left because a vert did not get a special sequence number.

One of the things that I have run into is that not all cars that have been destroied were reported. I have some VINs from salvage yards where the VIn is not reported to a govt agency. More interesting one in particular was burned beyond belief so I know that it was scrapped.

I would think that about 2/3 to half of the cars are gone...

John

rlapenna

iTrader: (2)

Post some pics of it. I'd like to see a one owner vert. was there anything special about it? I have an 88 vert.

SKYROC

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This is a one owner 87' 20th Anniversary vert. I bought it from the original owner a couple of years ago. The car was in storage for many years.

Tampa Hurricane

iTrader: (2)

How is that a one owner vert. If you purchased it from the original owner a couple of years ago, then it would be a two owner vert as you are the second owner!

Scooby Doo

SKYROC, Beautiful car.

87Ragroc, now we know there are two 87 Iroc convertible 20th Anniversary out there still.

beige83

87 verts are the rarest. Less then 1000 made. I think it is due to it being introduced mid-year.

okfoz

THe White Book claims 744 Z28's and 263 SC's, I have a reliable source that states 744 TOTAL, ASC reported only 955 TOTAL Camaro convertibles made by them for 1987. ASC inludes the Firebird production figures into the chart I have for 1987, 1988 & 1989. The White Book for 1987 has a TON of problems and inconsistancies, I might be inclined to argue that in fact the total number of Camaro verts may be the following:
744 TOTAL "Official" Camaro Verts
(481 Z28 Verts)
(263 SC Verts)
211 Unoffical ASC Conversion verts
-----
955 Verts reported by ASC

John

SKYROC

Sheesh...tough crowd.

I consider it a "one" owner vert because it only had one owner before me...thus...a "one" owner vert to me.

Thanks for setting me straight on this!

sarcasm [off]

SKYROC

Hey...thanks for the compliment! I appreciate it. Does anyone care to hazzard a quess what they are worth. Both me and the original poster are curious.

I bought this one for $5000.00. It needs a new top and a little paint on the spoiler. Once I get that done I plan to show it at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, NC.

SKYROC

This one has the ASC sticker on the driver's side door frame. "one of 481 Z28 verts" if your summation is correct...I like to believe it is. I wonder how many of the 481 are still on the road or in a garage somewhere.

okfoz

You almost have to take the information with a grain of salt as Chevrolet destroied their paperwork long ago... Not really sure, probably to hide something...

I know that you never see one of the SC verts except on a rare occasion when someone is selling it on ebay, I definately see more of the Z28's for 1987, probably more than twice, but then again I do not think anyone here on the boards has come forward with a V6 1989 Firebird convertible but they do exist, so it might be that the people with the SC verts really do not care...

John

BlueZee28

iTrader: (30)

Well you can know there are still 3 20th Anniversary IROC convertibles...a guy from my local club has a flame red one. 5spd too I think...

tweeker

Hey skyroc you live around Charlotte? I plan on taking mine to lowes for the shows next year

mnorton

You can be sure that there are at least 4 of them! Mine's a 5-Speed as well.

QuickStyle

theres an 87 iroc vert running around my town here somewhere... i worked at a shop in the same parking lot as the dmv, and i seen this guy pull up in there and i questioned about it... he was going to transfer the title into his name cause he just bought it, this car was perfect, clean title, not a thing wrong with it, original 20,000 miles, i asked how much he payed for it... traded his late 80's mustang for it that he said was worth about $2,000 dollars... i offered him $3,000 cash..... he wasn't going for it, after talking to him for a while, i finally broke down and told him that its a pretty valueable car and that he should not drive it much cause he was going to use it as a commuter... he had no clue what car he had.

Radiorick

I got #286 (z28) - white with red interior - Rick

SKYROC

Yes, I am planning to make Lowe's this year...if everything I want to get done to the car gets done in time.

I have a mileage budget for this car. 20 miles a month for exercise only. I wish I could have bought the one with 20,000 original miles.
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Yep...mine is a 5 speed too.

jstoltz

iTrader: (16)

I got one too. used to be lg4 and 700r4 but now it is awaiting a big block and turbo 400 with an under/overdrive setup.

krs-1

there were only 744 iroc-z convertibles in 87, i know because i have no. 0254 sitting in my garage

okfoz

I was hoping someone would post this...

that blows my theory out of the water.

jstoltz

iTrader: (16)

the numbers are more than likely inadequate. if there is a # on the dash they were after completion conversion. the 744 and and 1044 numbers that are normally seen are the numbers that Chevrolet authorized before any of the cars were ever built. then dealers and individuals had their cars sent to ASC. If it is a true factory vert it will have a 20th anniversary map pocket. this was given to all that were sent to ASC before completion. the ones that say special edition with a number were after completion verts which means they were complety finished then sent to ASC where they had to be stripped apart again to do the conversion. they will have 2 for the body code in the vin instead of 3.

GTAfanatic

iTrader: (3)

i think there one on e bay now black i think he wants 3,500 for it if i find it again i will post actual facts

GTAfanatic

iTrader: (3)

some one must of hit the buy it now cuz its not there anymore.
but there is a silver one up now.

okfoz

You are mostly correct... The reason for the "Factory" Convertible was the simplification of the order process, by allowing a dealership to more or less check a box was a whole lot easier than filling out a seperate form to have the car drop shipped to ASC and then delivered to the dealership. As it began all cars were T-top cars and they were delivered to ASC to be converted, they were a complete car. The "factory" cars were shipped back to the factory to be distributed thru GM's delivery system. The dealer ordered conversions, like on the 87-89 Firebirds and the 86 and some 87 Camaros were drop shipped to ASC and then ASC would ship them to the participating dealership.

ASC I believe actually may have sold the removed parts on some of the cars like SLP did in the 90's from the firehawks & WS6 cars. Once more most of the early convertibles I have seen have the rear trim side pieces from a hard top car but they cut out the section for the rear hatch area, and around the trunk lid struts... I believe at least thru 1989...

Someone has stated that they remember seeing a bunch of cars in the parking lot without rear Hatches, this seems odd as if it rained then all of those interiors would have been ruined.

John

okfoz

What is the last 5 numbers of your VIN? Is it a low number or a high number, this might explain some things. If your VIN is a lower number then it might suggest that ASC may have stopped making aftermarket conversions for dealers once Chevy offered the cars directly, if it is a higher number then it would suggest that ASC may have continued doing conversions along side the "Factory" convertibles. Of course it might raise more questions than answers.

John

jstoltz

iTrader: (16)

they kept doing aftermarket conversions along with the gm orders. the special edition verts with the numbers on the Camaros anyway only happened in 87 also. I have never seen an 88+ with that badging either.

flippermtc

iTrader: (1)

This is very interesting. I have been exchanging e-mails with a owner of a 87. He sent me pictures of the interior & the plaque says "Special Edition" & not the leather pouch. I thought it wasn't origional. Now i understand why its like that. So technically it wouldn't be considered "factory or origional" ???
In your opinion does that change what the car should be worth?

okfoz

I guess it would depend on what you consider "Factory Original"... On the one hand if you placed 2 cars side by side, one with the "Factory" ASC conversion or an ASC Dealer Drop order Conversion you could not decipher one from the other except for the Badge on the dash and the 6th digit of the VIN would be different (2 = Coupe, 3 = Convertible)...

So they were all made by the same people and were all constructed identically and I do not believe ASC made any conversions AFTER the fact; for example a dealer usually did not send a car from his stock, or a customers car to be converted, they were almost always drop shipped to ASC to be made into a convertible, I know for 1989 there is only one car which is in question for being a direct customer converted car, otherwise they were all made for dealerships. The one car has a persons name as the purchaser, which might have been the name of a dealership.

Historically Dealer Installed options or conversions help the resale value of cars more than detract from the value especially if the item was not available from the "factory" IE the Firebird Verts prior to 1991, The Yenko Camaros etc. THe Value of an 86 or 87 Camaro Convertible which was drop shipped to ASC I would think would be worth only slightly less than an RPO camaro from the same year. Actually if you found an ASC converted Camaro with a 350 I would think that would top the value of just about any Camaro Convertible out there, as the 1989 Firebird 350 powered verts appear to be worth more than a factory 91-92 TA vert.

Really I think depending on what else the car has on it would determine more to most people, especially if the car has some unusual options that was typically NA on a Factory Vert.

John

blkiroc87

Great looking car!! I have a 1987 convertible also, got it about 5 years ago with just under 12,000 miles. Now just over 13,000 miles. This one has the 305 tpi with a 5 speed, 4 wheel disc breaks. Red leather interior. I've been to a lot of shows and never have seen another 87 convertible. In my opinion the 87 convertible will be one of the most valuable irocs down the road..

evans87

Here is my 87 5spd

Willie

iTrader: (1)

I could write a thesis here as I've done in the distant past on the H/R forum but will refrain. Do a Search on my name on that forum and go back numerous years. I've written a ton on my speciality, the 1987 Camaro convertible.

So for this time, only a couple of facts:

1)
744 Z28s (includes IROC-Zs)
263 Sport Coupes (includes LTs)
1007 Total

I contacted ASC before they shut down and was told they performed 1003 factory conversions..... Interesting.... This number does NOT include the customer owned conversions they performed. BTW, ASC did customer conversions on Camaros through the 1988 model year. I have personally seen a 1988 ASC 350 IROC-Z convertible with a "2" VIN (more later).

2)
Sixth VIN Digit must be "3" to be a factory produced convertible. These were the only 1987 Camaros monikered as the 20th Anniversary.... If this VIN digit is a "2", signifying it left GM as a coupe, this car is not worth as much as an "original". These cars were serialized with a dash emblem under the "CAMARO" or "Z28".

3)
Because Chevrolet did not record option combinations in the third gen years, no one will ever know, for example, how many of the 744 Z28s includes the IROC-Z option. My speculation based on how many I have found over the years indicates that most are IROC-Zs. I have located over 100 IROC-Zs and only 13 Z28s (of which one is mine).

4)
Only the 1987 Z28 convertible had limited drivetrain combos. a) The base 305 LG4 with a mandatory optional automatic, and b) The optional 305 TPI with the base no-cost 5-speed. Interesting enough, more than half of the 100+ IROC-Zs I've researched have the optional 305 TPI with 5-speed. (Who would prefer to have the carbed auto, I ask.) Conversely, of the 13 Z28's, 11 have the base carb with auto tranny. ONLY TWO have the 305 TPI with 5-speed. Lucky me again!

To answer the original question as to how many remain today, you first have to know how many were originally produced. This isn't easy because no official records differentiating the Z28s with and without the IROC-Z option were kept. How can this be, you ask? Simple. As stated earlier, option combination records were simply not kept by Chevy. In this case, the RPO Z08 (convertible) was considered an option, of which we know 744 were produced. Add RPO B4Z (IROC-Z) and you've got an option combination. By the same token, no records on how many LT convertibles were produced.

The only basis we have is this. The production figures for coupes:
52,863 Z28s of which 38,889 had the IROC-Z option. That means 13,974 true Z28s. The ratio is:

13,974 / 52,863 = 26 percent Z28s
38,889 / 52,863 = 74 percent IROC-Zs

Applying these percentages to the 744 Z28/IROC-Z combo:

744 * 0.26 = 194 Z28s
744 * 0.74 = 550 IROC-Zs

How many of these are left? Who knows.... All I can say with 100 percent confidence is that there is one Z28 convertible (non-IROC-Z) with a 305 TPI / 5-speed that's still registered in Arizona. It's in my garage and seldom sees usage. I was offered $30k for it years ago and I declined. It's not the money that matters to me, it's owning a one-of-a-kind vehicle. Yes, the pic shows polished / black IROC-Z wheels. However, I took the extra effort to modify the center caps to read "Z28" AND I have the original wheels with NEW, never mounted original Eagle GTs, which were last made over 12 years ago.

Cheng53

I'm new to the board so I'm reading all the information and thank each of you add details to my many questions. I have a 1987 conv (IROC-Z) with about 79,000 miles. It's in great condition and looks to be original. The dash has the following tag: Special Edition 0164. I know it's not one of the 744, because the VIN is a coupe and has t-top clips in the truck. I was told that somewhere on this board is a detailed description of the ASC conversion (a manual), has anyone seen it?
Thanks,
TB

Willie

iTrader: (1)

.... I was told that somewhere on this board is a detailed description of the ASC conversion (a manual), has anyone seen it?

Chevy added a convertible supplement with the "3" VIN. I have it. Here's the front page. I don't know if the customer owned conversions, "2" VIN, received this.

Willie

Willie

iTrader: (1)

.... and pics of the 20th Anniversary map pocket and the customer owned conversion serialization dash plaque.

Willie

Cheng53

Thanks Willie ... my special edition number is 0164 and looks just like the photo. As it was explained to me this weekend, somewhere on this board is a "Manual" of exactly the procedures use by ASC to cut the body of a coupe and install the nessary conv top supports???

Thanks Again.
TB

okfoz

Looking at the construction I would think that they installed the subframe connectors, Drilled holes, riveted them to the body, cut off the top, smashed down the rear inner wheel wells, I think mine was actually cut and then a piece was added. The brace from side to side was installed, The Top, boot, and tonneau cover and then the interior.

Be my guess from how it is made...

John

cool z

my uncle had a 87 a few years ago, sold it for 10k to some guy in minnisota in 2002,kept the money in bank and now is looking for another vert 3rd gen after he drove mine

his number was 060 or something

kinda wish he had it still

evans87

Could any of you fellow 87 convertible owners snap a few pictures of what your stock rear quarter panels look like? Specifically the area where the front seat belt comes out of what i believe is called the rear quarter panel cup enclosure? I cant tell if the 1 on my car is a rig job or if its how its supposed 2 look.

SKYROC

I have this ASC conversion manual in my center console glove compartment. The 6th digit is a 3. There is also the map pouch that reads 20th Commemorative Anniversiary Edition.

okfoz

I got a supplemental owners manual with my 1989 Formula 350 Vert. It has a Firebird on it and everything. Looks really official.

So to answer your question Yes they got it, or at least some of them did.

John

thebman007

All,

I have the following build sheets for Camaro & Firebird converts that I can scan and send a copy to Owners from ASC Livonia. Just need your email address if any of the below cars are yours:

Camaro's:
121444 Z28
147398 IROC
135368 IROC
137831 IROC

Firebird's:
202716 Trans AM EXPORT JAPAN
225613 GTA
225154 GTA
230355 GTA
217809 Trans Am
228055 GTA
228057 GTA
239695 GTA
239711 GTA
230409 GTA
230414 GTA
229825 GTA
228049 GTA
230190 GTA
228037 GTA
221376 Trans Am
228162 GTA
226818 Trans Am
226095 Trans Am
225163 GTA
226076 GTA
223689 Trojan Convert
223571 Trojan Convert

Thanks.

Radiorick

Check PM

gatorcola

88 iroc vert one owner here. I just have to say my main satisfaction in owning this muscle is driving it. While I do not commute in it and it spends most of the time in the garage, I do not restrict myself to driving her whenever the impulse strikes me!

okfoz

TheBMan007,
From the info I have None of those are from 1989.

Is that all the 1987 ones you found, do you have any more info you found lately? I know you lost some in a move I was hoping that you might have found more.

John

thebman007

Yes that all the 1987 one's I found, Howevr on a good note, there was a electric pull down motor and switch in the box for the tonneu cover for the top. That was cool and from the 89 firebirds.

Looking forward to the book!!

okfoz

IF you ever find more, let us know, I would really be interested in that note book that you kept...

evans87

thebman007,
hate to sound like a dunce but what are those numbers and where do I find them on my car? I would like to see a build sheet for my car and I hope you have one for it.

okfoz

Those are the Last 6 numbers from a cars VIN.

theBman007,
Do ANY of those cars have a 350? L98 or B2L

JOhn

thebman007

Okfoz,

137831 is L98 Camaro
135368 is L98 Camaro
147398 is L98 Camaro
121444 is L98 Camaro
All 1987