Well I have a straightforward question, and im hoping to get the opinion of all the community on the board here. I dont care so much about the opinion of the people who publish Car and Driver or Motortrend. Let alone the people who write the value of cars for KBB and NADA.

Can a GTA be worth good money anymore without being perfect? And what about the near future, and future? When I bought my GTA it was only $5000 which for what it was, was awesome...turns out it was just to me. More and more lately you see that for anything more than $4000 your GTA had better be in PRISTINE condition or super low milage. Mine is neither.

Now I know the thirdgen suffers from a public opinion of being, slow poorly made substitutes for hot rods. And that every other one might as well have a gunrack in the back and a driver that looks like Kid Rock. And in no way am I trying to rally the thirdgen community to go wax thier cars one weekend to raise public awareness...im just upset that the rest of the world doesnt see my Trans Am like I do.

Im about to drop a fair chunk of change on my GTA to get it back to pristine, but at the end of the day...it will still have 165,000 miles (Still pulls like a mother too) and that makes it invaluable.

So back on track, does anyone here think that in the future we will see GTAs and IROCs on the stage of Barret Jackson? Or am I good to get funky on my Thirdgen

 

There have already been GTAs and IROCs cross the stage at Barrett Jackson. They might not have been on the prime time slots but I've seen them in the lot as cars that were auctioned.

The problem you have with values right now is the market is down. Not just for older cars but for everything. If I have the choice, which I do right now, to spend $5k on a car and there are several on the market for that price, I will definitely take the cleanest lowest mileage one available. That's just how it is. Will values bounce up again in the future, I hope so. If they don't, I didn't plan on selling any of them anyway.

And, never forget, build a car for you. Don't build it for anyone else because you will never get your money out of it.

 

Will GTA's and IROC's from the late 1980's and early 1990's ever appreciate in valve late the muscle cars of the late 1960's and early 1970's did. No body knows.

Buy a car and restore it to what ever valve it is worth to you because you like the body style or whatever. If the car in 20 years can be sold for a lot more you got lucky.

If you want to make money go buy stock or investment certificates or talk to your banker.

 

I think I can speak from a very knowlegable perspective. My first GTA (1988 GTA, LB9, 5-speed, T-roof) had an engine fire. I very fortunately found an another (with a grey leather interior versus my grey cloth interior). So I now own two.

So, what's the point? I'm doing a restoration on the first one. Why? Because I love the cars!!!!!!! And that's the point.

You can drive a MGB, Triumph, Lagonda, Bugatti, Lotus, Renault, idgaf, but at the end of the day they are still slower than most newer cars. So, why would you bother? Would you ever do the 1/4 mile in an MGTC?????!!!!!

So, enjoy the car. Yeah, it's 20 years old, buy most people don't know what it is and think its a Ferrari. It's a beautiful car and I love it and wouldn't have any other.

As Stan Lee would say: "Nuff Said".

 

Thats hilarious......but to be honest, it kinda does look like a Ferrari!

 

Well, look at the 2nd gen Camaro's and Firebirds. A few years back you could get a decent one for $1500-2500, now you can't touch a nice Z28 for less than 10K. Same as the mid to late 70's Corvettes, they went up in value like crazy! We just have to wait until people from the 14-25 demographic want the car their parents bought new.

I notice a lot less '57 Chevies, most of the baby boomers who wanted one either died, or lost their job here, It's rare to see one at a car show, where as 5 years back, half the lot was '57 Chevies, now it's 69 Camaros. People who wanted that car in Highschool now have money in a later age and can afford to restore those dream cars. I'm sure the 3rd Gen Camaro and Firebird will see the same thing.. Unless everyone crushes them for than 3500-4000 G's trade in bonus..

 

I personally love my gta, like yourself my car ain't in pristine condition. With just touching 90,000 for a 20 year old car means it hasn't been abuse, much of it's life. The car was built for a purpose: to be driven. I never look at it as a sports car, yet many people say it is. I just say it's part of the muscle car time line and i think it our version of what it was then. Yes, people sometimes don't even know what it is and ends up thinking it's a camaro or even a ferrari....sure i'm flattered but to me its a pontiac with a gm engine and i will correct those who call my car something else other then a gta trans am...

When i bought my car for 5 grand....it only had 48,000 miles on the clock and over time i put miles of smiles and a few rock chips too. I know i have spent close to 3500 on parts, clean up supplies, fuel etc. But do i care about the value of it? No not at all...because to me, the car has personal value and not market value. Sure they're getting rarer to find. Hell you don't see them much in car shows and when you do it's a rarity! When i bring my car to car shows and cruise ins, I'm getting middle age guys in their 40s coming up to my car and telling me stories about when they were in high school owning one of them. Like the way when the baby boomers talk about when they had a 60s car...so ride your car with pride like i do, build the car the way you want it to be, and as they say "don't crush 'em, restore 'em!"

 

I think you have a few things going on here.
1) a high miles car will never have the value of a low miles car, ever, everything else being equal. same date, time, place etc...
2) It is a GTA, with that said it was the top of the line for that year, above and beyond the Camaros and all other Firebirds. (less the Firehawk)
3) You could probably pick up a really nice lower miles car for really reasonable. A 1987 Formula with 411 miles only got to about $12,000 recently on ebay... So the market is definitely down from where it was a year ago.

You can either A)fix up what you have, you will invest a bunch of money, BUT you will learn loads and loads about your car which is priceless. or B) buy another car with lower miles and miss out on all that knowledge.

John