can someone inform me as to what a berlinetta is? what years they were made, and so on? pics, too, if you can... thanks!

 

The Berlinetta was a premium luxury Camaro from 1982 - 1986 in the 3rd gen years. It did not have ground effects, so it would look like the Sport Coupe. It would normally come well optioned and could easily cost more than a Z28 of the same year. It also would be trimmed in gold on the exterior.

 

i see... so is the berlinetta the only camaro that had the nose with those 3 holes right under the emblem? also, did they come without the gold trim?

 

no.. the sport coupes came with that nose as well but they weren't as highly optioned and didnt have the gold trim...

 

gotcha... alright thanks guys

 

The 2nd Gen Camaros 1980 or 1980 1/2 (I cant remember exactly) and '81 had the Berlinetta option and they had some trim options as well. I believe it replaced the Rally Sport.

 

I certainly never looked at the Berlinetta as "luxury". It was just a weird car all around to me, although it did have that neat digital dash.

 

It depends on the year... 82-83 the Berlinetta basically was a Sport Coupe with tacky gold Camaro & Berlinetta emblems, gold stripes on the tail lights, different front turn signals, a softer suspension, and gold aluminum 14" wheels.

84-86 Added the digital dash cluster, which used a completely unique dash shell, pedestal stereo, etc. Everything else remained about the same.

At it's most basic, it was a gold emblem package. It was aimed at the female buyer...



If you knock off all the stupid emblems, and gold trim, you've got a Sport Coupe with a luxury suspension.

 

Anyone on the board have a good condition, restored, or survivor Berlinetta/Sport Coupe? It'd be cool to see...

 

There are much better examples around but here's my unmolested, original 84 LG4 Berli:

 

But this has nothing to do with the 3rd generation cars. If you are bringing this up to mention that they were available in the 2nd gen years, that's fine, but since this is thirdgen.org, it has no bearing. Also, if you read my response, I stated that they were available from 82-86 in the 3rd gen years. I said that specifically since the the second generation years of production are not pertinent to TGO.

 

Just a car with a bad name that did not do anything for the Camaro performance image. My opinion, it was a car aimed at the other gender as a upgade to the cars then avaiable..

 

Naf, got any pics of that dash and radio while lit up?

 

Berlinetta's did not come from the factory with a rear stabilizer bar.

 

No lit up pics.

Mine did not come with the rear stabilizer bar OR the triangle braces to the K-member. The rear bar, a beefier front bar ( the original one was not much better than a coat hanger), the K-member braces and a wonderbar were installed soon after I got it.

Mine also had a compound tranny mount. Probably to further isolate from driveline vibrations.

 

How odd and your's is an 87 SC? Our suspensions should have been totally identical out of the factory with the K-member bracing, and the rear stabilizer bar. Previous years, the SC's without the optional F41 suspension did lack the rear stabilizer bars.

Although, like you I re did the suspension anyway and added the factory wonderbar, 1LE spec springs and the front 36mm bar and 24mm bar.

 

No. My 84 Berli. The '87 SC is in the garage sporting it's new paint job. You can't see it in the pic, although the '87 Z I fixed up for my nephew is in the background.

 

Oh ok cool. Now are there any members out there with a 1986 Berlinetta with all 7 console switches below the shifter? I believe they are the upper three for the power windows and hatch release, the second row for the fog lights, cruise control and forget what the 6th is for and then the last one for the rear wiper.

 

This is my son's 82 Berlinetta and my project for last few months. I've been curious if these rims were factory (has bowtie on center caps), all the Berlinetta pictures I have seen had the spoked looking wheels like the above pics.
Better than my first car for sure.....

 

looks good Gary

 

They look to be factory 70's Z28's/Rally Sport wheels.

 

A Berlinetta was a kind of sporty "touring car" for many decades. It's an Italian word (AFAIK not associated with Berlin). Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, and Maserati used it for some of their models as far back as the 50s and maybe before.

For reasons not known outside the hallowed halls of GM corporate, the "chick car" successor to the not-terribly-successful "chick car" Type LT got assigned that name, starting in about 80. They carried it through the first few years of 3rd gen production.

In the 3rd gen, it was a heavily optioned Sport Coupe; zero performance options of any kind, except by special order, but lots and lots of "creature comfort" type stuff and "gold" bling as part of the package. "Chick car" pretty much captures the essence. Basically, all image, no substance.

 

Saw my first 3rd gen Berlinetta up close at the Camaro homecoming/plant tour in Oshawa in June. In fact there were 2 of them there. The digital dash is cool. The cassette radio pod (the tape is front load like a home component deck) looks very Star Wars. And another interesting feature is that the turn signal switch is on the dash, not the column. It cancels, too -but I don't know how it's possible to do it mechanically from so far away.

I took pics on the interior. If I can find them, I will post them up.

 

Yeah the whole electronics package was quite cool for its day... kind of odd that so few of those ideas ever made it into "mainstream" production, as much as they must have spent on development, tooling, etc. I don't really think it made a strong selling point for the car though; at least, out of the couple of ladies I can recall who had them, they didn't really say that was the thing that attracted them to the car.

 

The electronics package is initially cool... until you begin having to deal with the little failures that start occurring after 20+ years.

EVERYTHING is electronically controlled: the HVAC damper door is motorized, the windshield wipers have a digital control built in to the motor, the lighting is controlled by a separate module piggy-backed to the ECM with switches built into the column for cancel, etc. None of these parts are available as new replacements.

Other than wipers that only turn off when they're in the mood, I've got one that functions well, although not without effort over the past few years.

 

my wipers did that in my TA I think its the control board on the front of the motor. I could turn them on but when I turn the switch of they would keep running until i turned off the car then back on lol. I had to buy a whole wiper motor and board from the junk yard. When I put everything on they worked like normal. I put my newer motor on and a different control board have yet to test it.

 

Scott, yes thats all I was trying to say that they were available those years. I was just trying to help.

 

np. My response seems a little snotty, but it wasn't intended to. Just was stating that I was responding in reference to 3rd gen years since the second gen really has no bearing here. Thanks

 

I actually loved the Berli's as a kid. There was one that was parked at a business we'd drive by every time we went to my grandma's house. It was light blue. I always dreamed I'd have one. I still love them to this day. One of my club members has an 85 with the 5.0 in dark gray. He was going to mod it but luckily other club members talked him into keeping it stock. His mom had bought it new. I thought I had some pictures of it but I guess not after going through all my pictures.

 

I know this correspondence was from 2011, or twelve years ago, but my dad is the original owner of a 1982 Berlinetta Camaro with 27,000 original miles. It was garage kept for all these years. She never saw rain or any elements. Interior and Exterior mint condition. Everything original.

 

Anybody interested ? What do you believe is the value or price of the vehicle? Keep in mind, all original and amazing condition. 1982 is first year of the 3rd generation body type. 27,000 original miles. Not many made and not many remaining and certainly not in this condition. I also realize, it's not a muscle car, but it's a beautiful original 3rd generation Camaro that's been in a time capsule.

 

I have my opinion on your cars value. I think it should sell for 12K-15K depending on the buyer you find. Rare and excellent shape does not always translate into $$$. Desirability is what drives the Classic Car market and unfortunately the Berlinetta is not that desirable now and even back when they where made. They were a niche market vehicle. Very cool car, I always liked the Cadillac of Camaro's, but don't think I would own one. As someone said in your other thread, you should sell this on an auction site. A true time capsule like you have should be presented to buyers that will appreciate it and pay you what it's worth.

 

I appreciate your response and opinion. I also believe you're accurate in all that you are saying.

 

Just asking, why not keep it? Sounds like alot of your dad is still with this car. Memory wise.

 

For sure. There is. This car was purchased immediately after my parents divorced so while there is a lot of my dad in this car, that doesn't resonate with my mom too well. Hence the dilemma