okay so i was just wondering what views, facts, or opinions you gurus have on the formula. Okay heres the deal....a car show with 2 classes, a trans am class and a firebird class. what class should the formula be in? hope i am in the right place for this question

 

Its a Firebird, as designated by the "S" in the VIN, so it should be in the Firebird class. If the letter for body style was a "W", then it would be in the T/A class.

 

well that would make sense, but i know the firebirds come standard with a V6 and a formula come standard with a V8. not to mention the WS6 package on the formula. is the formula not a T/A minus a ground efx kit?

 

Vin says Firebird, that is what matters. According to that it is a Firebird w/ the option of a TPI motor, WS6, power bulge hood and a aero wing. The vin would be W if it was a Trans Am less ground effects.

 

i understand what the VIN states, is that not due to GM starting with a base model to build a car that would run down the T/A. after all, i have not seen a factory firebird with a power bulge hood. and i am saying as far as a car show goes....where would the formula be best placed. up against birds, or T/As?

 

That would be the Birds!

 

I see them as all Firebirds.... Base model Firebird, upgraded models are the Formula and Trans Am, both still Firebirds, just more fancy than base model...

Despite the VIN, They are all firebirds in essence...

 

okay...so you have a v6 base model bird up against a formula with all the bells and whistles of a T/A.... or lets up the ante to a V8 base model bird....it should be "special edition" birds in the same class and base models in their own class.

 

So, are you going to show your car? If so ask the people putting on the event how they are going to set up which class and how they will be judged.

 

I've seen base 3.1's with more options (bells and whistles) than some Formulas have. Plus Formulas never came with gfx, but it was an option on the base model.

 

i had shown my car and its a daily driver, they had the formula in a different class until it was time for judgment then they put his SHOW car in my class. unfortunately they do not go by show/ daily driver and just by years and models. i was just stoked by the way they had him under T/A class then it was Firebird

 

true, however the reason the formula was with out ground ef was to save weight so with the same engine as the T/A the formula would have better performance #S then the T/As. and what about the wing....that was not available on the base birds. as far as options, 91-92 only base birds and T/As had ground efx.

 

Firebird=Formula Model Firebird=Trans Am model Firebird

Like saying a Z28 isn't a Camaro , to me.

 

i like that stephen. i like that alot. they should not class cars like that. they should stick between show car and daily drivers! i am liking the input i have gotten here. i am just gonna build my bird to show car quality and drive it like i do now!!

 

That is the reason I have a Formula! As far as car shows go, I learned a long time ago, the person with the most money to spend normally won the show. I go to look and get ideas to use on my ride.

 

If you're going to show your daily driver you should expect some one will show up with a car that's never driven and clean your clock with half the effort. It's a full time job keeping a daily driver in show condition. I'm not going to say it's impossible, but it's a whole lot easier to have a dedicated show car that sits in a storage unit under a cover. Come show day, you pull off the cover, unplug the battery tender and drive to the show in a perfectly detailed car. It's a beauty contest, you're not usually awarded for hard work. Some doctor with more money then brains will probably beat you with his trophy car that he hasn't ever so much as turned a screwdriver on, much less a wrench.

 

Exactly, that's what I said in a shorter post. It happens at every show!
Takes BIG bucks to keep a car in pristine condition.

 

Pretty much, the Formula was an option on the base Firebird, the Trans Am was considered it's own carline therefore the Forumla would be in the same class as the base model firebird.

The GTA would fall in the Trans Am line because it was an option for the T/A as well.

 

I agree with Drew...its pretty much impossible to keep a daily driven car pristine. I've driven my IROC less than 400 miles since I purchased it in June...it was showroom clean when I bought it. Despite this, I'm always washing it (dust still gets under covers...dusting the inside...wiping down all the door jambs...

I drive it to a cruise night once a week on Wed night...so my Tues ritual is cleaning this thing. I can't imagine if I drove it every day how much extra work I'd have!

 

Friday's my work-on day. Saturday is the cruise night.

 

keeping your ride clean is part of the bonding experience! i do under stand, but points wise i was only 5 off from the others score. though he won the award i won much respect due to my picture book of me and my friends all working on the car. top to bottom my hands and tools were there. so despite my 230kmile bird, it was undeniably worthy of being amongst show cars!!

 

Where's the pics?

 

Here we go again....Travis, I'm sorry that you feel cheated in the results from last weekends show but Don and whoever else filled out the paperwork had my car classed as a Firebird for the entire show, at no time was it ever listed with the Trans Ams. There was only 1 dash info page handed out to each car and mine was the same class as yours from start to finish. Yes, Formulas are considered Firebirds just like GTAs are considered Trans Ams due to the VIN numbers which from what I gather is how they seperated them. And you do earn a lot of repect from people, especially me in being able to maintain the car in excellent condition for a daily driver...you've been working on yours for how long,5 maybe 6 years since you bought it? I drove mine daily for 12 years and have been working on and trying to maintain it like you ever since day one (20 years ago). This was one of the good things that happened while we were in CFB, the seperation of show and drivers in the judging which was an idea I suggested back then in an effort to prevent this exact type of thing from happening. It worked for the most part but this is a different group,different rules,etc. I would suggest that before bringing this up here it would have been better to speak with Don or bring it up in the club's meeting this weekend and seek some form of resolution there. Now don't take any of this the wrong way, I consider you a friend and have no wish to start a conflict with you. This just fired me up bringing up bad memories from past judgings in CFB.

 

Ah ha! Another side to the story. Club members too? Where's CFB?

 

CFB = Charlotte F Body out of Charlotte,NC.

 

No. It is not a T/A minus the GFX. For the most part it comes with most of the options of a T/A with the obvious exception of the GFX. However, you cannot option a Formula up to a GTA (which comes with its own host of goodies) as you can a T/A. There are some other minor differences between the two lines that I cannot recall at the moment. They are essentially similar cars on the same chassis, but the VIN code clearly delinates a difference therefore they are not in the same class of your car show.

Stephen,
I get your point about the difference between a Firebird and T/A & Camaro and Z28 (and it is a valid rebutal), but do any of the different Camaros have a separate VIN code as the 'Birds and T/As do?

-Eldon

 

Cool. Talk about differences between models, I tried to upgrade my shifter with a BW aftermarket shifter, it's only made to fit the TA's. Nothing available for a Formula. Go figure! Hope you two can iron out the rift. I would PM him...

 

that wont be a problem as its not an issue with mike. his car is fan freakin tastic and for me to be classed with him is cool. i just was unsure of how they were classing formulas with regular birds and not T/As. we broke out the ironing board

 

That's great! Ironing board! Ha!

 

We're good, no worries.

 

That's good! I like your Avatar, reminds me of Big Daddy Roth's drawings.

 

Suddenly this thread makes way more sense...

 

First of All... here we go again...
Aren't they dead? yes.. they are Rigged votings, weird rules, **** talking, you did it to yourselves. talk to anyone who knows CFB and they will tell you the same thing.

Judgings that were rigged. It's pretty noticeable when the corvette club does NOT EVEN LOOK AT THE CAR.. Just the # on the sheet, and a quick glance. yea i'm sure they saw alot in a whole 5 f**ing seconds. jack-asses... i was NO born yesterday mike. sorry, you guys couldn't fool me or any of the people i know in the club.


Some people fail to realize that their car that sits in a garage 364 days out of a year, sees maybe 1 weekend drive every year is MUCH different from the car thats gets driven EVERY DAY... the latter being the daily driver.
I usually say to this person who thinks their show car is soooo much nicer .. "hey, good for you. you spent thousands fo dollars in paint and interior restoration and everything else... now it sits in a garage or under a cover for 99% of the year. wow you're special.. not. I drive my car every day. you know why? THATS WHAT IT IS MEANT TO DO!!!!! Drive your car, or stop talking **** ;-)"