Check out this beauty -

I'm very interested in purchasing it. What would be a fair price ??

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/aw-cg...item=593318793

 

You'd have to have it appraised.

 

That is a nice car. Pretty cool that the location it is being sold it Van Nuys! Too bad they weren't available with a manual trans. Kind of defeats the purpose in my opinion. It is worth how ever much someone is willing to pay. I don't care what an appraiser says cause they ain't buying it. Good luck with the bidding!

 

Ever thought about why TURBO cars don't have a manual trans? Because the turbocharger needs to be wound up constantly through each gearshift in order to provide any useful amount of TURBO power. if it's charging up and down every time you change gears, what's the point of turbo? it would never be at full force and would burn out a lot sooner. think about it and you'll see where i'm coming from.

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1982 Recaro Trans Am LU5/WS6/Y84, lowest mileage '82 T/A yet! - http://ohok.com/82recaro
1985 basic Firebird, LB8/F41/GU6/DE1, '82 T/A wheels, CB, 128k - Get JPG picture here

[This message has been edited by kizz (edited August 14, 2001).]

 

Every Eclipse/Talon, Supra and 300zx worth it's salt has a manual trans. As long as you don't shift like an old lady, your rpms won't fall off much.

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The IROC Homepage
<A HREF="http://www.rit.edu/~jli4307/camaro" TARGET=_blank>
View the restoration of an 85 IROC</A>
Custom Thirdgen Subwoofer Enclosures
"I didn't know a bored out Ford could go so slow" -Shenandoah

 

Jim is right about the talon/eclipse, You can't get a turbo model with an auto trans, Its manual ONLY. GM used the TH2004r instead of the th700r4, because of the severe rpm drop the 700 has. Not to mention the 700 won't bolt up to the Buick engines BOP tranny bolt pattern.
Just my 2cents worth.
Later
John

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82 Firebird,408,Dart Iron Eagle 215's,Cam 229/239, .498/.520,TH350 Tranny, 750 Speed Demon carb, Hooker Headers(I.E. POS) Manual steering, Bfg DR's.
Check out my birds new home.
Best et 8.21 @84mph in the 1/8th

[This message has been edited by spud (edited August 15, 2001).]

 

funny how the color of the front bumper looks whiter then the side plastic pieces, may be just the light but why didn't he take a better picture of the car. something is funny

 

Sorry dude, I am big into DSM's, or as you call them, talons/eclipses (dont forget the laser) and they were available in 4 engine choices and 4 drivetrain choices, but you could not get them all together. The choices were

1.8 liter SOHC with auto or manual, FWD
2.0 liter DOHC with auto or manual, FWD
2.0 liter DOHC Turbo with auto or manual, FWD
2.0 liter DOHC Turbo with auto or manual, AWD

The difference between the turbo auto cars and turbo 5 speed cars are as follows
1. Fuel injectors
2. ECU
3. Turbo
4. power/economy switch


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It's all about having fun before you knock up a chick and have to sell the car and settle down and buy a station wagon.

Cars....
1988 VW GTI 16V "The Honda Beater"
1983 Camaro/350/T-10 "Gone but not forgotten"
1985 Mazda RX-7/350/T5 In Progress "Like 10 pounds of rocks in a 5 pound bucket."

[This message has been edited by OWGTI (edited August 18, 2001).]

 

I'd rather have a manual car that does not run than have an automatic....

 

I do recall years ago that they built at least one prototype stick TTA, but in testing it ended up being significantly slower than the auto.

 

I had the opportunity to drive several of these 89 TTAs back in 89 when they were new. I was working in sales for one of the biggest Pontiac dealerships in Texas and always led the entire zone in Firebird sales while I was there. When I learned about the TTA I Located several buyers and Pre-sold 5 TTAs, at $5k over MSRP, before they were even built. We were only going to get 2 shipped to us so I had to wheel and deal with other dealerships to let me have one from them. I can remember giving up 3 SWB GMC extended cab P/Us on dealer trade for one of them. One buyer was skeptical about the turbo and requested that I personally drive the car for the first 2k miles to properly break it in. Needless to say, I had a ball driving his car for a couple of months. He even paid for the gas! I went to get one from a dealership north of dallas and got a $685 speeding ticket (131 in a 55) on the way back. I had to check out that performance 1st hand. I almost bought one myself...talked myself out of it...wish I would have. Maybe i'll look into getting a used one. Anyway...These cars pull hard...real hard...even for an automatic. I wouldn't want to shift all the time. I love the car.

Just wanted to share my fond memories of the 89 TTA with you guys.



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There is no substitution for cubic inches!

 

i heard they were not stick cause the t-5 couldn't handle the power? either way, it is pretty much the fastest production camaro/firebird ever and i would gladly give up stick for it.

 

To get back to your original question, I've seen that car at Cruiser's Car Wash on Friday nights in Northridge, Ca. The car's owner is a dealer. The car has never been registered, when he drives it, he just uses his "dealer plates." The last time I talked to him, he was talking about getting $40-$45k
for the car if he ever sold it. With less than 500 miles on it, it may be worth more than a higher mileage car, but I don't think it is worth nearly what he wants. In addition, I would worry about a car that old with that low mileage. What are the seals like? A car needs to be driven a certain amount to keep seals in good shape.

 

Your statement allows me to infer that you believe an identical car with higher mileage would have no problem with leaking seals. Would you prefer to have a twelve-year-old car with 12,000 miles over a twelve-year-old car with 500 miles? The age of the seals would more than likely be the same, and the higher mileage seal would, of course, have more wear. So then which is better? While I have to agree that aging seals can and do present some problems, they are far fewer than those that are worn from use. I am speaking from experience on this. I have an 85 IROC with less than 2,500 original miles, and the only problem with seals that it has is the rear main seal, which leaks about two drops per month. How much oil do you suppose leaks from a sixteen-year-old car with say 80,000 miles on it? I'm not a molecular scientist but from outward appearances, every hose, belt, vacuum line, etc. looks like new. Even the tires show no evidence of dry rot.

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85 IROC-Z
2,3XX original miles

 

The issue isn't whether a car with 80k miles will leak more than one with 500. If a car isn't driven regularly, the seals will tend to dry out and leak. With high mileage, they wear out. Sounds like your 2500 mile car has been driven frequently enough to keep from drying out the seals. Additionally, if a car sits too long without being driven, the wheel bearing will flat spot. In either case it doesn'tmake a lot of difference, it's not that big a deal to
repair a car. I don't think any TTA is worth $40-$45k, but that's just my opinion,
if I was to buy the car for that price, I would want to be sure that it has not detiorated from sitting, or that the owner would have necessary repairs made before I paid for it.

 

Actually, if the original owner of my car wasn't lying, it was not driven at all after the first two years. He claims that it just sat there since it was too much trouble to clean it up after driving it. I'd have to say that I've never heard of wheel bearings getting a flat spot. Tires will get a flat spot when left in one place for an extended period, but I think if you have wheel bearings that have flat spotted, it could be due to inadequate heat-treat procedures. I could see if they lacked proper lubrication that they would corrode, but it seems unlikely that they'd flat spot as hard as bearings are. I don't mean this as a flame, but don't believe everything you hear. All my information about this topic is from experience.

 

I cannot believe how trusting some people are with their money. For ~$36k I would have certainly broken the car in myself. Getting it back with 2k miles would be like buy any other used car and hardly worth a $5k premium. At least you had some fun though!

 

Almost sounds like odometer fraud

 

Hi all!
I don't think that anyone who has a very low milage car (like under 1,000 miles or heck, even more), lets it just sit there for years! Come on! I know that my car, with 38,xxx miles on it, has sit in the garage for almost 2 years straight! I went out every weekend, and fired up the car, for at least 5 minutes! Some days I just drove it around the block. That's how I kept my battery charged up!
Cars should have an hour gauge, like a plane. Cars sit in traffic for hours, compared to driving on open roads! That's even harder on the car! How many people rev high while idling? Also everyone! Not while they are in gear!
No thanks, I would/will go with the low milage car every time!
Now, on these cars (20th Anniversary Turbo Trans Am), most leak! Why? Poor rear main gasket design for one! But most of the owners use Mobil One (like me), and they tend to leak far worst that normal oil. Everyone on the 20th TTA maillist can tell you that!
Heck, mine leaks just as bad!
I broke my car in, and took it racing after the first 500 miles! That was at the dragstrip! I did some really high speed running on the roads even before that! I can attest, the car pulls like a
whil-da-beast!!
Anyone remember Disneyland many years ago? It is really a "E" ticket ride!!!
And yes, I bought mine new! Heck, I even drove the mule cars in '88, before production!

Just ranting,

George

 

Sticks with turbos are great on the street but are terrible at the track. No load at launch makes for slow spool.

A blow off valve is all that is needed for shifting. Or just power shift never lifting off the throttle...same thing.

I remember reading that the prototype manual TTA was 1 second slower than the auto. That would've made it as quick as a 350 GTA or IROC. Doubt anybody would have wanted one for the kind of money they were going for if that was the case.

 

Yes the rear main leaks on all factory turbo Buicks. Its because of the crappy rope seal. My 87 GN was at the dealer 5 times before it stopped leaking. Finally fixed with a Felpro seal.

TTA's are no different. Once you put the new seal in, no leaks.

 

I had the same joy this past year with Firebirds. In New England, where dealers hardly ever have ANY F bodies on the lot, we sold 31 of our 35 this year...4 remain. I'm sure we were the largest volume dealer in the northeast, without question. I had dealers from Indiana calling to send out a flatbed to pick up Firehawks I had in stock...I said no dice It was a pure joy to watch these last Birds go to owners...I also had the joy of configuring and ordering every single one myself!!! My heart still belongs to third gens, but without a doubt, the F body went out better than it had ever been.

And my dad kept a little souveneir of all this hard work for himself...sitting in the garage at home is an '02 Formula 6 speed hurst, in sunset orange mettallic...the only orange car I ordered all year! Some day, she'll be mine. And after a year, it only has 389 miles on it...I dare say in 10 years, it'll still be real low, then I can enjoy it!

 

I'll second that ;

I owned a 1988 Renault 11 GT Turbo (1.4 high pressure turbo 140 BHP) It depended on its turbo pressure for performance. every time you shifted (no matter how quickly you shift) the turbo boost guage would drop off, so when you grab the next gear, no boost for a second, although a dump valve did go some way towards fixing the problem (and sounded great, waaaaaaaaaap tshhh)

Auto's are considerably quicker accelerating for turbo cars, simply because there is no drop off in boost.