Thirdgen Ranch

iTrader: (5)

This post ought to be good for a few laughs. I want to hear the biggest BS stories you've ever heard about a thirdgen. I'm not talking about somebody claiming to have blown away every car in town with their LG4 powered beater Camaro. I'm talking about people claiming to have some super rare or unusual car that simply is not true.

Now, this definitely isn't just a problem with our cars. People have been telling BS stories about their cars long before our cars were even on the drawing board. However, our cars definitely seem to have a better amount of it than most. Even on this board it seems like you can always find somebody claiming to know for a fact that some 350/5-speed Camaro were made or that they knew somebody who had an '86 350 TPI car. Of course, eBay seems to be loaded with cars claiming to be something super rare or special. Unfortunately, some people fall for it because they just don't know any better.

Of course, being in the thirdgen parts business I get to hear plenty of stories. Some of them from people who were probably given the information from a previous owner and don't know any better. I usually correct those people just so they know the truth. However, there's plenty of people who obviously just came up with the story themselves for whatever reason. Most of the time I don't even call those type people out, I just laugh it off. However, sometimes I will. The best story I have is somebody who I couldn't help but call out and the best thing is that he had a friend with him so it made him look even dumber. Wouldn't you think that it may not be best to drop some line of BS to somebody who deals with the cars for a living?

So, let put our boots on and get ready to wade through all the BS. I'll start with my best story.


My story takes place two or three years ago. We got a phone call for IROC parts that my wife answered. She told me the guy was some dork who claimed to have some rare prototype IROC and told me I should have some fun with him. So I called him back and it turned out I had the parts he needed so he came out. He didn't say anything to me on the phone about his car being anything special.

Him and his friend came out and got the parts either that day or the following day. Unfortunately, he didn't bring his car. They were probably both in their mid-20's. We talked for a little bit and and nothing came up about his "rare" car so I figured maybe he was smart enough not to try and drop a line of BS on me but I thought wrong. I had my '91 B4C at home and we were talking about that car and some of the other rare cars I have. After a little while, he starts with "Well, my car's pretty rare too." So with that, I'm expecting to hear a pretty good story but nothing compared to what I got.

He claimed to have an '84 IROC prototype car. So I asked him about it and he starting talking about how it had some rare interior that I had probably never seen because it said "Camaro" all over the seats. I told him that I had seen them before and that they actually were pretty rare so I thought maybe that was where his story would end. I figured maybe he had been told it was something special because of the interior.

Nope...the story gets better. He tells me it was a GM auto show car that was never intended to be released to the public but somehow it got out. He said GM called him every six months or so to check up on the car and make sure he still had it. Yeah, right!!!

After that he starts telling me about how the car came stock with a 350 TPI engine. Of course, I had to call him out on that since you couldn't get a 350 OR TPI in 1984 let alone both. After I told him that engine wasn't available he goes on to tell me that because it was a "prototype" car it didn't get an original engine. He said that if you ran the numbers on the engine it came back as an '83 Vette engine. With this I had to laugh because THERE WERE NO '83 CORVETTES!!! So I tell them that, and he says, "What do you mean there were no '83 Corvettes?" I responded by saying, "That what I said, there were '82 Vettes and '84 Vettes but there were no '83 model year Vettes."
With that he's obviously not happy because I'm making him look like a complete fool in front of his friend so he says, "Well, I don't know how but it's got an '83 Vette engine in it."

Then I told TPI engines weren't available in '84 and he said he knew that and that's why his engine was special since it came stock with all SLP TPI parts. (That's funny, SLP was making TPI parts before GM even released TPI cars?) Then I told him I didn't think SLP was in business in 1984 and he said they had to be since his car has all the parts. (Yeah, that's definitely proof.)

Then he goes on to tell me how his car only has seven characters in his VIN number since it's a "prototype" car. With that I told him to bring it out so I could see it because otherwise I wouldn't believe it. He said he drove the car regularly and he would bring it out for me to see. Of course, that was the last time I ever heard from him!

The best part is that I can just imagine the conversation between him and his friend on the way home. He was probably ripping me bad for being and idiot and not having a clue what I'm talking about.

DanJz

Mine isn't really a story, just an example of someone not knowing what they're talking about.

When I was in the market for a third gen, I was talking to my friend, who already had an 87 Firebird. I had done a good amount of research on these cars while I was looking, so I knew a good deal about them even before I bought one.

Anyway, there wasa Trans Am for sale not far from me, and a cheesy little dealership. $3100, decent shape, sounds like a good deal. I noticed that it hadn't been on the road for a few years so I knew that probably wasn't a great sign.

I tell my friend about the car, and he says "Dude do not get that car. It has a V6 in it." Umm, a Trans Am with a V6? Yeah ok. I was 100% positive that it was not a TTA, so I knew that he was clueless.

I finally got my Formula 350, I mentioned to my friend one day that the same Trans Am is still for sale but that I didn't want it since it hadn't been on the road in a while, which is responds to by saying "Dude you totally should have gotten that car. It has a 327 in it." Well, umm, no 327s were ever offered in 3rd gens, and this is also the car that he claimed was a V6. He clearly doesn't know what he's talking about.


More recently, this same friend has been trashtalking my car and saying how he can kick my *** because mine "is TPI, which is the worst intake system GM ever made." Keep in mind, I have a 92 Formula with the L98, and he has an 87 base bird with a carbed 305. He thinks he can kick my *** because his car is so much more powerful than mine. I have him on displacement alone, let alone being fuel-injected. Once again, he is obviously misinformed. He failed to do the proper research and stuff, which would have easily shown how my car is quite a bit more powerful than his. Supposedly his car is bored out and stroked and all this stuff, but his engine compartment is complete stock and everything, so I honestly doubt it. I just laugh it off and agree with him, since I don't want to start anything.

Not really BS stories, but they still show how some people really just don't know what they're talking about.

scottmoyer

I can't see this going very well. Granted it may have some History content, but the issues discussed can be easily disputed on the forums.