Hello all....

I have two white 5.7 GTA convertibles one with 41k the other with 47k. Both are all original and in great condition. They both have black tops. One has camel leather interior the other grey cloth. Also, one has dual cats on it (not sure if that is rare either) I am wondering how much these are worth for insurance purposes. Please let me know what you think. I will post pictures shortly. Thanks for any help.

 

My suggestion to you is to have someone give you an appraisal on the two cars. "Value" must be determined by seeing the car in person, and also your insurance company is not going to go by what a bunch of people on an internet site say, they're going to want it on paper and signed by an authorized appraisal company. I know this first hand from experience.

 

I will most likely take that route, but I wanted to get an overall idea before I do that. Thanks

 

be sure to ask your agent for a (agreed value policy) full replacement to the insured amount.

Do not let him sell you a stated amount policy, its still an ACV (actual cash value) policy but not to exceed the amount insured.

 

Often referred to as the 19A clause.

Congrats on two nice rides! Any pics?

PS; What model years if you don't mind me asking?

PS;PS; Lucky Bugger!!!!!!!

 

They are both 89's. I have to take come pictures this weekend and then I will post them asap.

 

Dual cats on a GTA?

Didn't think they were available that way.

 

According to Frankie's figures, there was 3,068 of those systems on the GTA in 1989:
N10 -- Exhaust System, Dual -- 3,068
http://www.gtasourcepage.com/89RPOFigures.html

http://www.gtasourcepage.com/TransAmTimeLine.html

 

Ah....I couldn't recall the RPO code & must have skipped over it, looking through the codes on GTASourcePage.com

 

I wonder how many of 3,068 GTA's with the dual cats were convertibles???

 

If your interested I can give you the VIN sequence number in relationship to the other 139 L98 Trans Am/GTA verts for 1989...

In short I have the Dealer Order logs from ASC, From that I was able to decipher all of the VINS except 15, 10 were exported, 5 have fallen off the books or never registerd in the US... I made a spreadsheet of ALL the cars and am tracking them as I learn about them... ALL I need is the last 5 digits of your VINs (PM Me or email me) and I can figure it out from there...

Thanks

John

 

Just a question......do you know if they are both built by ASC? A few other companies were still converting the Firebirds to convertibles in '89. Straman was still doing it. They are most likely built by ASC, but don't rule out the possiblity that someone else might have done the conversion. (I guess we will know when okfoz can verify the VIN).

 

THey are both on the list, so yes they are both ASC...

Acutally I have never seen or heard of another 3rd Gen converson company after 1987 other than ASC... I have read that people had another Vert maker for 1987, but I can't find any...

Actually I have never seen a Straman of any year to my recolection...

John

 

I cannot find the thread where I got this photo, but the owner of the car said it was built by Straman and was a '90 model car. Does this car look familiar?



Here is a Straman brochure from '83





And here is a Straman Brochure that had a postmark on the envelope from 1987 (even though the car looks a bit older than that.)

 

Automotive sex? Those horny Motor Trend employees!!!!

Great post. I love checking out those classic old ads.

 

The top is Strikingly similar to the Hi-Line Version... If you compare that top when down to the picture of the Camaro Hi-line there is very little difference, even the way the wrinkles in the cover are in similar places... The only difference I could spot quickly is the Straman has the Snaps visible on the top, where the Hi-Line appears to have an extra flap to cover the snaps (see second Straman Pic)...

John

 

why would you think that? Then the GTA would have less hp then a Formula/Trans Am

PICS!!

 

Well....

It turns out N10 WAS available, I just didn't think it was, although very not many actually got it. Which one has the dual cats? 87 or 91?

BUT...GTA was about STYLE with performnce, not all-out performance, no no N10s wouldn't have surprised me.

 

So the dual cats were not standard on the 5.7L. My 89 TA vert has the 5.7L and dual cats??

 

Nope...Not even available until 89.

See? Your car is SPECIAL! A first year dual cat vert.....I think your car just doubled in value!

 

Here is an article worth reading about Straman. He mentions his Camaro & Firebird conversions.
http://articles.latimes.com/1998/jun/25/news/hw-63226

Says that Straman was building 50 a month.

 

Actually...

Originally the Dual Cat option was a Formula 350 or LB9/M5 option only for the beginning of 1989... Later in the year it became standard on the GTA with the L98 & LB9/M5 like the Formula this went through 1992... It was probably also standard on the Trans Am when they did it to the GTA with certain engines...

You have to keep in mind that the Formula was the "GTO" of the day, a bare bones car made to Go Fast without the frills... The GTA was an upscale Luxury 2+2 Sports car... I suspect some complaints were had when customers wanted a GTA with the Dual cats but could not get it... So Pontiac decided to add it mid year...

Apaprently some people claim that not ALL 1989 Formula 350's & LB9/M5 cars got the N10 Dual cats ( appaently most of them did as I have yet to offically find one )...

John

 

I spoke with Allen (1989TransAmGTA) about the dual cat thing since he bought his brand new. Apparently he couldn't get the dual cat because his was made before Jan 1st.

Makes sense. As for the value of dual cat vs single cat? I don't see what the big deal is. They're expensive to replace (if you're retaining the dual cat/Y pipe combo) and probably don't flow as well as a high flow single cat system that many of us have purchased over the years.

My car came as a single cat. I'm glad. Much cheaper for me when I bought the Catco. Door sticker says mine was made in August 1988.

 

This makes sense. My one 89 vert was made very early in 89 and did not have dual cats and my other 89 vert was made late in the year and has them. Thanks for all the information.

 

I think the guy that posted about the value of the dual cat setup was just being a wise acre!!

 

Yeah, I remember wondering why the heck my car didn't have the G92 option even though it has the 3.27's, oil cooler, limited slip rear, 245 tires, 4 wheel disc, L98. As far as I can tell, to get the N10 dual cat exhaust, you had to have G92.

So I'm guessing the G92 was a mid year option as well.

 

Here is a base Firebird Conv on epay. I asked the owner if it had a label and he said ASC built it in Feb/89.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...TQ:MOTORS:1123

 

Not to beat a dead horse with the Straman stuff, but here is one more worth reading:
http://cgi.ebay.com/1984-Pontiac-Tra...QQcmdZViewItem

 

Sorry...for the delay on the pictures. They twins are in storage and I was on vacation. Here is one of them. The other to follow.

 

By the way...what do we think these are worth????

 

Some more pictures

 

Would you like to add a rust free Cali car to your collection?

 

Send me some pictures and info. on the car and I will take a look. thanks

 

It will take me a couple of weeks, but I will. Thanks.