mmc4vette

Do these cars (iron duke) have any collector value? Are they easy to find and if so what are their value for an excellent one to one that needs some work. I found one for sale and i am wondering if it is worth purchasing?

Thank you for your help

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

No. Nobody cared about them when they were new, and they haven't gotten any more sought after in the years that have gone by. Like, I don't know if you're aware, you could buy early to mid 60s Nova with a 4-cyl; how much "collector value" do you suppose that has, compared to a V8 one? Same deal here.

They show up in junkyards alot.

Their price would be less than an otherwise equal condition 6-cyl car, and MUCH less than an equal condition V8 one.

"Worth" is in the eye of the beholder. If you're looking for a shell to yank that garbage out of and drop something decent into, it'd be perfect. If you're looking for something that you can buy cheeeep and fix up and that other people will someday want to pay you more for than what you paid for it, look elsewhere.

two-if-by-sea

iTrader: (22)

I haven't seen an Iron Duke in a boneyard since Clinton was president. I think it would be a neat conversation piece at a car show, but not a great investment.

KMK454

You could perfectly restore a numbers matching Iron Duke and the overwhelming majority of car folks out there would see a great candidate for a V8 swap, not a cool Iron Duke. Only the most hardcore thirdgen nuts like us would say, "Cool, an Iron Duke!"

Dartht33bagger

I think it would be cool to see one, but I would never in my life personally own one. It's not worth it to me to have one, but I can definitely appreciate someone else's Iron Duke.

Dusk2600

I love the iron duke, i had one in my sonoma, but in a camaro... no

58mark

iTrader: (3)

If I had 20 3rd gens of every make, model, and engine type, and needed an iron duke to round out my colection, I might consider getting one

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

If I had 20 3rd gens of every make, model, and engine type, I would get rid of the 4-cyl ones so as not to bring shame on the others. There's just nothing "cool" about those.

Then I'd probably get rid of all the 6-cyls as well.

Those who have them and like them, no offense; just don't expect that because you like them, that anyone else will.

58mark

iTrader: (3)

nice open mind you've got there

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

How so?

navy02ws6

Nothing wrong with an iron duke...if you're looking for a boat anchor.

I can nearly guarantee those cars will never have any collector value. The only time I could recommend buying one would be if someone wanted to strip a car down to make a drag car since they usually have no options to begin with.

GETGONE

I want one simply because everyone always destroys them throwing a V8 in and making them a drag car. I'd love a nice all original Berlinetta 4 banger just because.

Jason E

There's always 2 sides to everything.

First, I can understand the uniqueness and rarity of such a car. I can appreciate someone wanting to keep it, preserve it, show it, and garner some pretty neat conversations due to owning it.

Conversely, I wouldn't want one if it was given to me...it would take up space for something I'd much rather own. Its just simply an extremely undesireable car, even to a third gen lover. I wouldn't cut it up, I wouldn't mod it...I would simply do my best to find it a home with someone that falls into the first category above.

I owned a 2.8 '89 RS for 4 years...my mother owned it for 9 years prior to that, buying it new. The family has a lot of memories, and love for that car. At the same time, it was ridiculously anemic, and if it fell in my lap now, I'd sell it all over again. The slowest third gen I would ever want to own is my own 86 TA...

Dusk2600

isn't the iron duke more reliable than the 2.8?

58mark

iTrader: (3)

maybe the carbed 2.8, which were dogs. the 85 and up 2.8's are engines that are tough and reliable. taken care of, they should easily get well over 200,000 miles

evilemokid94

iTrader: (6)

+1!!! my old 2.8 had almost 300,000 on it before my rod started knocking.

navy02ws6

Not sure about the 2.8, but I know the 2.5 had a lot of cooling/overheating issues. Apparently it was not uncommon for early Fieros to catch fire from related issues.

Gumby

Iron Dukes are cool, not everyone has a need for speed.
why the V6 sold so well.

GETGONE

Fiero fires had NOTHING to do with cooling issues. It was due to lack of maintenance and oil leaking on the manifold and catching fire. There are still TONS of 84 Fiero's running around with the original Iron Duke with over 200K miles on them.

88fastgta

iTrader: (9)

i would love to own a iron duke as a beater/daily driver car....... i dont want to drive my gta everyday.....

navy02ws6

Oops...guess I need to stop trying to quote books that I read 20 years ago. But hey, at least I was right about only the 2.5's catching fire. One would have to be pretty dumb to not notice that awful burnt oil smell to the point where it actually catches on fire though.

Dusk2600

every time i see a 2.8 camaro for sale the engine always has a knock, same with the s10's I don't want to start a war, i just have read nothing but bad things about the 2.8, i guess my question is why..

Gumby

People gotta take care of the engine.

230,000 on mine and going strong.

58mark

iTrader: (3)

My first 2.8 was abused and it still lasted 200k. My second is still going strong at 190k

navy02ws6

I'd have to go with lack of maintenance here...seeing how bad the insides of the 305 in my 91 T/A looked (I don't think the previous owner had EVER changed the oil!), I can't imagine that the base model/2.8 cars received BETTER care on the average compared to IROC's/Z28's/Trans Am's/GTA's.

Hate to say it, but I think I speak for a lot of people on here (that bought cheaper cars like me at least) when I say that lots of previous owners of our cars drove the crap out of them and never did a thing to them mechanically/maintenance-wise. Guess I shouldn't expect much from a car I paid $400 for...but then again, I'd expect even lesser care to be taken of a base car.

Dusk2600

I never heard of 2.8 engines lasting that long, mabye it is a maintainence issue

evilemokid94

iTrader: (6)

mine lasted over 300K before i got a rod knock. i could have gone alot farther too but i didnt wanna trust it.

grasshoppertym

i had a buddy in high school with the 2.8 multi port, and we loved it
it wasn`t the best in a straight line but we always tied the mustang gt to wear we were going cause there was always a corner coming up and he was hard into the brake while we were still in the throttle. i know he was well into the 200 000 km`s by the time he got rid of it. it was always well maintained but it was also used pretty hard too.
i had a indy 500 fiero with the 4 cyl 4 speed in it and it was no speed demon by any standards. and it was alot lighter than the camaro, not sure what the gears were though
mike