Is there a way to find out if my car was special ordered?

My 1991 firebird 305 TBI 5 speed came with no options except for Radio.

No power windows, no power locks, no power hatch release, no power antenna, no rear defroster, no power side mirrors, and no a/c. Eevrything is manuel.

I know most f-bodys weren't special ordered but I just can't see why a dealer would order my car the way it came. I've searched to see if there was another firebird built like mine and so far haven't found one. Im not saying the car is more valuable because of this I do not think that actualy I think it may hurt it's value more than anything.

What do you guys think could it be a special order or not?

 

No, It may have been a dealer order for one of these lowball price leaders to get you into the showroom.

 

But if a dealer wanted to draw people in the most sensible thing to do would be to display an optioned out model not a stripped down one.

 

Not if they were going for the young crowd that couldn't afford the 30k GTA model, but wanted a Firebird, V8 and was affordable.

 

The reason a dealer would order a car like that, if that's the case, would be so they could advertise the car at a low price to bring in customers. Than they would try to sell them a more expensive model with better options.

 

no a/c?? I thought in 88 a/c was standard on a V8 cars (1LE's excepted)

 

Mine is a 91 with no A/C. The car came with nothing but radio.

I see what some of you guys are talking about. But it just makes more sense to me that they would display a more highly optioned model than anything else but who knows you guys may be right.

Is there a way to find out for certian?

 

For $50, you could get the PHS report. It'll give you LOTS of info, but short of directly asking the 1st owner, its doubtful that you could say for certain, it was or wasn't.

 

There were a ton of people who wanted a Camaro or Firebird who could not afford a lot of options. They instead bought the base model. Why lose out on a sale because the customer can't afford the bells and whistles. These are GM's, not mercedes and Porsche.

 

I bought a 1970 1/2 Base Firebird right off the truck just because it just had a 6cly, auto and radio. Nothing else, I just needed a second car that looked good and was cheap. So GM made those type of cars then.

 

Yes.

If you have the SPID label with the RPO codes on it, look for: 1AY(ordered for dealer's stock) or 1AZ(special-purpose order, usually being for a customer). Most years, that label was inside the console. But in '91, I believe the label is on the inside cover of the rear lockable storage compartment.

The code should also be on the build sheet.

But if you don't have that label anymore, and you don't know where the build sheet is hidden, then there still might be hope. Because your car is a 1991, your local GM dealer should still be able to run your car's RPO codes. Last I heard, GM can still provide those codes for 1990-newer cars, nothing earlier, though.

 

Because 1990 & 1991 figures are really screwy, I will use both 1990 & 1991 together.

In 1990 there were 18,970 of 19,027 With A/C
In 1991 there were 30,116 of 30,220 WITH A/C.

So between the two years there was 161 Firebirds WITHOUT A/C. Combined there were 56 1LE cars ( most of which did not get AC )... That leaves about 105 NON-AC NON-1LE cars in 1990 & 1991... Which is pretty rare... I want to think that if you got a LB9/M5 or L98 with the AC delete you automatically got the 1LE... I am not sure if AC delete was an option on the LO3 or the LB9/A4 cars however...

Hope that helps...

John

 

Unfortunatley no LB9 just an LO3.

I checked the SPID label and it does say 1AZ.

The car has nothing just a Radio. I wonder how much weight is really saved my deleting the options. Maybe somone wanted a poor mans 1LE. LOL

 

I suspect that may have been the case... If it was a special order it may be assumable that the purchaser wanted a low buck Formula without the cost but some performance... It may have actually been an acciedent where the Dealer actually intended to order a 1LE but instead of LB9 they checked LO3...

Is it a Formula or a Base Firebird, I cannot tell from the pictures as the Base Firebird was available without the GFX, however unusual...

John

 

All depends on where the car was originally ordered. If you live in Vancouver, you really don't need A/C except for a few weeks a year. And even then, just sweating it out is fine.

In California? Put it to to you this way. A friend of mine ordered a new truck in CA and ordered it without air conditioning. The salesman said he was the first guy in 12 years to order a new vehicle from them without A/C.

 

Interesting assumptions but boy how it would have been nice to have it equipped with the LB9. But for an LO3 it's not to shabby.


The car is a formula ordered in California.

 

If someone here in the steamy south ordered a new car with no a/c they'd get looked at like they were crazy . What?? . LOL

 

Neither of my '88 GTAs have either code.... 1AY nor 1AZ. So what does that mean....?

 

Not really shure that 1AY or 1AZ would be... I have seen them... someone suggested a Special Order Factory car.... I could not quickly find eithe one... I suspect 1AZ may have been "Go Cardinals" but I doubt that... Just kidding

John

 

Speaking of rare birds, I'm the one who ordered an '89 Formula 350 in a non-Formula color: Flame Red Metallic. In 1989 that color was reserved for T/As and GTAs only. The Van Nuys plant originally rejected the order, especially since I had checked the 2 tone paint delete, but eventually, the dealer convinced them to build it anyway. As far as I know, it was the ONLY one built that way. It was also lightweight, since I rejected power windows, locks and seats, and specified manuals instead. They didn't like to build them that way. Last 3 digits of this rare bird were "163". I see Carfacts has 8 records for it, and the other VIN place has 20 records. Wonder where it is now.

 

If this is the picture of an '89 Formula, it has the wrong front bumper for an '89 Formula.

 

I also have a dealer bulliten talking about that colour on Formulas---it did become avavible later in the 89 MY.

Nice car BTW--a 350 Formula in a very rare colour and its a stripper car!

 

Actually, the addition of Flame Red Metallic as an optional exterior color for both Formula and base model Firebirds occurred early in the 1989 model year.

The CDB regarding the change was sent to dealers dated October 4, 1988 and production availability commenced on October 24, 1988.