Hello guys, today i came across a tripple black 1987 firebird said to be a 1lE package. Now it has a a 350 tpi, t5 trans, 4 wheel disc brakes.... The car is in bad shape body wise. He says he put a new crate motor in it, which it looks to be, new trans and they only have 500 miles. the body has 190kplus miles on it. as the car sits i would only pay 800 or 900 tops w/o the engine and trans but the 1LE thing is trowing me off. i cannot get pics right now sry. the interior is slightly trashed bla bla bla.


So what im asking is should i get the car, is it the real deal and are 1Le packages rare.

 

Be wary. The 1LE didn't arrive until 88 and then, according to the White Book, only four were produced.

JamesC

 

Is the rpo sticker gone? I agree with JamesC, If there were only 4 made in 88, and you don't see the the rpo on the list, then it's obviously not a 1le car. And with as much 1le information as there is out circulating, surely someone would comment on there being at least one 87 car with it.

Cheers!!

 

yea, its no 1le, guaranteed. And i believe all the 88 1le birds are accounted for.

 

.

 

1987 88 i dont no the difference. but thanks for the advice, ill get pics as soon as i can. the console wasnt in place cause of the trans replacement. Can u tell if i no the vin..
The thing is he wont sell the car unless i paint his truck. iI only talked to the owner for a couple minutes , but he wants alot for it. (value) There is no ac and he has a rollbar for it. he says it came with the car. wich i dont no wtf up with that.

Ok so it looks like is not a 1LE from what you guys say but im not saying no yet. What would the rpo be? anything else to look for. It has alot of upgardes for that car.


Thanks alot, i appreciate it alot


Rich

 

Well i just read up on them and the only thing i can think of to look at is the brakes. ill go back tmmro and see what year it is because i feel like and idiot not knowing.

 

The RPO is 1LE. If you dont have the codes, or its not there, its not one. Doesnt matter what brakes are on it today, nor if the AC is missing, nor if it has a roll bar someone later put in there, or if it has "upgrades". Either the 1LE RPO is there, or its not.

 

HAhah now i see the rarity of the 1LE package, i didnt no anything about it. im mostlikley not going to find a rpo haha . Sorry for waisting your time.

 

The 1LE thing is mostly hype anyway... They're just a normal Camaro or Firebird with the top of the line performance drivetrain, and upgraded front brakes. Take away the brakes and you've got a much more common car. As far as performance, an L98 or LB9 5spd with good gears is going to be exactly the same, but with a longer stopping distance.

A trashed car that was once a 1LE or B4C isn't worth anymore then the average L98/LB9 5spd car in better shape. For a deal sweetener to actually matter the car needs to be fairly nice to begin with.

 

good example of that

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/cama...-91-build.html

 

Wow, that's a sweet $200 car...

 

i dont think i was out of line in my comments do you lol

 

Technically the 1LE option began in 1988, there were some 1LE equipped cars before that in 1986 and 1987. These cars were Players cars, and the special equipment was supposed to be removed after race service. There were some cars that the equipment was not removed...

With that said, it is more likely... scratch that, FAR MORE LIKELY, that the car is a regular ole LB9/M5 car with a crate 350, and nothing special brakes. OR someone put on the 1LE brakes for grins.

John

 

yea i went and look at the car again today. no console so no rpo.... figures, the brakes look to be normal single piston... like okfolz said.
the spedo is a a 140 mph with a 5000 tack, aftermarket i dont no??. Like i said the car is kinda trashed. He said it was a 1le, had an australian rear?? and he has a rollbar that he said came with the car. What year is the car from what you can tell?? whats up with the alternator pulley.

 

 

 

 

I have an 87 players ta. 1le is not on the spid. 1le was first optioned in 88. If a4u is on the spid, it's a players car. If not, think it's a hoax. P.M the vin to me and I'll go to a GM dealer and run it for you, as no charge in Canada.

 

The VIN, i have a pic but theres one number you cant see due to glair.

 

If your looking for a 1LE car, there is a 91' Camaro near me with 110,000miles on it. They ONLY want $11.5k for it. And the source of their info on how many 1LE camaro's there were in 1991 is from Thirdgen.org .

 

Based on the pics you posted, it looks like a Formula. And given that the "crate engine" probably didn't come with a belt drive system, so he probably re-used the car's original belt drive, and serpentine is in the pics, that would make the car no older than 1988. Again, that's if the belt drive was original and not a swap too.

Speedo and tach are accurate for an LB9/T5 car(first available in 1987).

The "Austrailian" rearend lol is a fancy way of trying to impress people who don't know it's just the Borg-Warner 9-bolt rearend, which came in performance-optioned birds from 1985-1989, so nothing unusual about that. And the rearend gear ratio, if the car was an LB9/T5, was 3.45.

The radiator support tag you photo'd means nothing pertinent to options or model year. It's just a reference number for the car's build sheet.

So the car is possibly a 1988 Formula, originally with an LB9/T5. I don't know which models the 1988 1LE cars were, but I doubt any were Formulas. The VIN for a Formula with an LB9 engine would begin 1G2FS21F, with the code for the LB9 being the F. The 10th digit of the VIN is the model year: H for 1987, J for 1988.

 

Thankyou, now were getting somwhere.

The vin looks to be 1g2fs21f1j

so the car is an 88 fromula???

Since nobody said anything obout the caliper, im going to assume is standard order??

Could it be a players car

 

Yes, it's a 1988 Formula, originally with an LB9 engine(5.0 liter 305TPI).

Caliper in the pic is a standard (rusty) cast iron caliper. 1LE calipers, I believe, were aluminum.

And like 1LE cars probably not being Formulas, I'd guess that no Player's cars were Formulas either. Most likely, all that were birds were probably Trans Ams, but that's just a guess.

Regardless, a 1988 LB9/T5(if the manual is original) Formula would be considered a desirable car. But given its condition... and it not being what the owner thinks it is, or is trying to sell it as, it won't be worth much, definitely not what the owner thinks it's worth.

 

i think i should buy it.

 

What are you planning for the car? By the way, even though I would personally love to see the price of these cars go through the roof.......$800 to $900 for a rough roller seems far too high.

You should probably offer to paint his truck, give him a discount, and get the car for free. Otherwise walk.

 

it has a newer 350 and and a t5, if it wasnt anything speccial id like to take the rear but i cant wrap my mind around the small stuff like the rollbar and inst. cluster....ect,. so if i do buy the car id just make it a nice powerfull driver.

 

No formulas were built for the Player's series. No 1le in 87. Players cars pre 88 (86 had factory brakes, wouldn't stop after they were hot, 87 cars had Brembos) 88 was the 1st year of the dual piston calipers. Had to have a modified spindle. I'd say someone bolted on the brakes, added a roll bar. Maybe an old autocross car? Definatley not a players car. Good luck.

 

the cluster is stock with overlays, you cna get them on ebay for a couple bucks.

the rear is nothing special, defiantly not worth buying just because of it. FWIW, the 9 bolts are getting really hard to find parts for.

roll bar, same deal, they were in some of the 1le, and some of the police spec cars, it was probably available over the counter through the deaer at one point, again, nothing really special.

it doesnt have AC, was it removed, or was the car a AC delete optioned car?

soes he have a recipt for the "350", if not, i wouldnt be surprised to find it to be a 305.

the car looks beat, and the interior seems to be trashed. It looks like a real backetcase, and will probably nickle and dime you to death if you want to "rebuild" it.