so i just ran across a 89 GTA, leather seats, T-Tops, 350 Motor.

I have a couple of questions as i am going to buy it probably ojn tuesday. first, whats does GTA stand for??? G Trans Am, wtf is with the G? anyways, my other question is, on the dash it says some kind of suspension or something, does this mean it has the WS6 Suspension? Also, did the rear louvers come as an option on this car? because it has them. I am pretty sure it is a fairly Rare car, and it only has 60K miles on it. any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

GTA = Gran Turismo Americano

While the Performance Suspension badge on the dash does not exactly equal WS6, all GTAs received the WS6 as WS6 was standard on the GTA.

 

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

 

OMG like greatest source page ever! Thanks. now ill def be able to tell if its a real GTA. i found it while i was junk yard hopping today, its actually in decent shape, grey faded paint with white hood. no hood emblem, all other GTA badges are present, however have not checked for placement. It has the "Ultima" Seats, steering wheel has been changed to a momo racing wheel, the dash pocket is the earlier style, and it has the gold wheels/ i am going back on monday to see the car again and possible to title transfer and all that. wish me luck, ill prolyl buy it either way, authentic or not. the guy only wants 1200 for it

 

Good luck gettin it! I have one and love it and you will too. The GTA source page is an excellent wealth of info.

 

Yes, that is a good source for details in determining if the car is truly a GTA and not a fairly common attempt to clone a GTA. However, your initial post did not hint that you needed help determining if it's a true GTA.

In the end, the best and concrete way to answer that question is via the RPO code Y84. With a ~20 year old car, parts will become replaced, repair work will be performed, and various owners may "customize" the vehicle.

By the way, 350 plus T-Tops was not exactly a rare combo in 1989.

 

i discovered the ttop wasnt rare while reading up on the GTA. i didnt think i needed to verify that it was a true GTA until i read that it is fairly common to try and clone them. i AM getting the car, just have to wait until monday for paperwork reasons. i will check the RPO code, im fairly sure that i saw the sticker was still there. It is not completly original in any way tho, because it is missing the rear wing, and has a aftermarket steering wheel. it has everything else tho (gold wheels, GTA map pouch, GTA Emblems, "Ultima" Seats, and the 9 bolt gears. it is all around a pretty nice car, the interior is flawless. The only thing is the rear wing, nad the hood fitment is a little bit off. ive already decided i am getting it tho. Ive done about 3-4 hours of reading up on the GTA now and have decided i pretty much love it. anyone know where i can get a rear spoiler for it? w/ third brake light.

 

On finding one aftermarket with a third brake light, I can't help you. I've never found a site that sold an aftermarket third brake light with a spoiler or without one. I've resigned myself to trying and finding one in a junk yard or buy it off someone on these forums. In any case, here is a link to a site that has the spoiler you need.

http://www.hawksthirdgenparts.com/in...ROD&ProdID=431

Good luck on your restoration. I have an '89 Firebird GTA. It's a great car, but all her bells and whistles are getting tired. Therefore you might end up with a lot of work heading your way. My dad gave me this car when I got my License last year, and since then I've: *Remember, this is all since last May.
-replaced the Heater core (dealership)
-replaced the Air pump (dealership)
-replaced the Altenator (dealership)
-replaced mass air intake (dealership)
-currently working on my door locks and my trunk. The trunk has a pull down motor and I guarantee that if your previous owner hasn't replaced it, it will need to be replaced. I'm no good at engine work, but if you need advice on the trunk I can send you to a site where you can fix it for $47.50 and that includes shipping. The dealership will quote you $800 to fix it. Also, you will probably have problems with your door locks. In the case that you do PM me and I'll send you the links for this forum to see how to take it apart and remedy this by yourself. Without this site you will put more money into the car than you will ever see if you sell it. Again, best of luck dude.

 

i have a fair amount of experiance with thirdgens and i know the problems it will have, i love these cars, and if i get this one my girlfriend can have my 92, so everyone wins YAY!

 

If you need a third brake light, I have one that was on a hatch I bought and decided not to use.

 

i will need it. condition? Price? shipping to 85204???

 

just brought it home, runs great!!!! genuine GTA, 9 bolt, ws6 suspension, ttops, auto, leather interior, rear deck louvers, gold wheels, ahhh, i feeeeeeel goood.

 

Yeah, the source page says that too. The reason I gave it was because he was asking about particular options GTA's did or did not come with, sounded like a hint he needed to know more about what GTA's came with from the factory.


Congrats 92WhiteZ28 on your purchase. You'll like the T/A way better than the Camaro.

 

i really hate saying it, but i do like the T/A way more than the camaro. its a beautiful car, and it has so much power (my first 350). i like it alot! thanks for all your help guys!

 

I believe that the Base Firebird Wing with the third brake light used the same housing as the Aero Spoiler third brake light... I might be wrong but when I had my 87 Formula 350 someone put a regular wing on it and the third brake light looked identical to the one on my other 87 Formulas.

I would try any Third brake light from any Firebird from 1987 - 1990

John

 

John, I believe you are correct. The TBL on my Notchback looks to be the same piece as the one used on my red '88 GTA.

 

will take more pics later, this was the day i went to pick it up.

 

Nice, I might be getting one also. Anyone know if the 89 came with a digital dash? Sorry about jacking your thread. Your Gta looks great. How many miles on it, and how much did you get it for?

 

after it was all said and done i got it for like 1500, it has 109,000 miles. im not sure if the GTA came w/ digital dash, just look for Y84 RPO code.

 

The digital dash was an option in 1989 on either GTA or Trans AM. It was not standard, but an option.

 

U52 is not on my 1989 order sheet (First Printing 05-88) as an available Firebird option, JT. My GM RPO data shows that 3 GTAs were produced with the digital cluster in '89, but it is not listed separately on the sheet as an option.

 

heres some pics, i like the last one lol.

 

Shoot, I would be selling that Iroc and put that money in the GTA.

 

Dang. The White one I might be getting has a black hood. Want to trade? haha

 

I thought we had a similar discussion before on your forums, Frankie. I may have mis recalled, but I thought the data was incomplete - hence only 3 shown. Is there really only 3 GTAs built with the digital dash option?

BTW, I'm starting to believe I did misrecall. Doing a search on here and your forum, I'm not seeing anyone claiming to have a 1989 with the digital dash, except for one member who did the conversion themself.

I think this is the point where I say, my bad.

 

i will trade white hood for black hood. and i would sell the iroc, but i have invested a lot of sweat into that car, i love it. It has alot of mods to it, just working out the kinks, hence the jack stands.

 

How would we get them to each other? Shipping isn't very cheap at all.

 

ur in cali, im in AZ, meet halfway?

 

430 Miles drive for each of us. or roughly 6.5 hour drive.
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I will let you know if I get the car on tuesday. It sounds good to me though.

 

ooh a gunmetal grey GTA! nice purchase!...poor baby needs some work i see.
I own a 89 Flame Red Metallic GTA with T-Tops/350 V-8, and for the most part everything on it is original except for tires and exhaust.
I bought her with only 48,000 miles for about 5 grand back in 03. Now she's just under 85,000 miles. Lucky you that you live in the Az area where it never snows..except for the mountains. I'm in this lousy midwest weather where at a blink of an eye it'll go from a sunny day to a thunderstorm and then snow all within a few hours...esh! I don't drive my car daily like i did couple of years ago because i'm now in the process of restoring her to normal except for a few mods after body restoration this year. Here's a few pics of my ride as a form of motivation
congrats & good luck with your GTA!

 

oops i guess i can't put up the pics now that i've already loaded them at a previous post last year: I guess if you highlight this link i guess you can check it out here>>>

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/nw-i...cs-before.html
just a few pics before night for winter - NW Indiana and South Chicago Suburbs

 

Whats a 3rd brake light

Great score man, have fun with it!

 

I believe he is referring to the High mounted brake light located under the spoiler.

Actually to also help answer an original question which was answered GTA stands for Gran Turismo Americana, which was an extension for the 60's and later 2004 GTO which was Gran Turismo Omliagato which meant Grand Touring Optional, which was technically stolen from Ferrari in 1963 by GM. The translation for GTA would technically be Grand Trans America, or Grand Trans Am.

John