Lonnie P

Thought I would post a few pictures of an all original '88 Formula.

It is a 17k mile car that originally belonged to my Grandmother.

Car is a hardtop, crank windows & the base AM/FM radio.
It does have a dealer add-on cruise control, which I have never seen before.


It is still on the original tires, spark plugs, hoses & as far as I know the brakes.



























Sort of leads a sheltered life under a car cover, but I bring it out a few times a year.

Thought I would let you guys take a look at an unmolested original car.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

That there is a REALLY nice car! Nice to see an all original, unmolested car like that.



Where are you located?

JT

iTrader: (1)

I think the Firebird emblem on the fenders is usual for a Formula. My 1988 Pontiac book has a picture of a Formula and it doesn't have the emblem on the fender. There have been a few other Formulas like that, so perhaps this was a small change made somewhere along the product line.

Restrorob

iTrader: (7)

WOW !!! Really NICE...... That must be a wild grandmother you have !

conlinj

iTrader: (3)

Not too wild it only has 17K miles lol

Very nice car and color combo, thanks for sharing. I wonder if they should create a sub-forum in the history section for all original cars detailed with pics.

-Jim

Jersey89GTA

iTrader: (1)

- Holy crap thats a cherry.

Hope you are Granma's favorite Grand-kid (or even better -only grandkid)

Thanks for sharing.

FormerL69

iTrader: (2)

Nice Formula. By far my favorite year for those. Love the color!

Lonnie P

She had good taste in cars...

First a 68 Camaro, then a 75 Camaro before this one.

She has been gone for 20 years now, but I make sure the car is remaining well preserved.

Javier87z28

iTrader: (1)

Wow nice car man

BADNBLK

iTrader: (11)

Glad to see you posted the pics! Very that you are hanging on to it and keeping exactly the way it was designed for Grandma

two-if-by-sea

iTrader: (22)

.

Steve86TA

iTrader: (57)

Is that a burnt orange color or is my color off? Very nice either way

lonestar7

iTrader: (1)

That looks like the same color as my 1988 Formlua 350, medium metallic orange. Of course, that one is in much better condition, only 17k miles, wow.

TTOP350

iTrader: (8)

Very very cool car!

Slater126

iTrader: (1)

Grandma would probably get smoked like a cheap stogie by a modern day Toyota Yaris with that LO3/A4/AC combo, LOL! But still, very cool car, and thanks for the pics! Good reference stuff.

I didn't, however, know that 1988 Formulas came with the "Firebird" emblem on the front fender. All Formulas I've ever seen, including my '87, didn't have this. Just base Firebirds I thought. Was that added or is this stock? Seems like a very odd thing to add.

Lonnie P

The emblem has been this way from day 1.
It is odd but original.

mantaguy

iTrader: (5)

Hers one with the decal.

mantaguy

iTrader: (5)

Hers one with the decal.

mjdavis68

iTrader: (1)

OMG thats an awesome color combo and car!

burnout88

Nice, very nice, medium orange metallic. A hard to find color. The only thing that would make this car better would be if it was optioned with the 350.

Reid Fleming

iTrader: (2)

I've never seen a cruise control lever that looks like that before.

TTOP350

iTrader: (8)

Thats the dealer installed cruise control he talked about.

Jason E

Very nice car...love the color.

The only other Formula I've ever seen with the Firebird fender badges was actually in a 1988 Hot Rod article where they compared an LB9 5 speed Formula to an LO3 base Camaro. Maybe early in '88 they planned to add the badge, and later canned the idea? I've looked at as many Formulas as probably anyone here...and I've never seen any besides those 2 with fender badges.

Interesting stuff....

FormulaL98

Very nice car!! Good to see it stayed in the family and in good hands. When I purchased my 88 Formula I actually took off two "Firebird" emblems as I thought they were wrong. I knew the cars paint had been touched up so I thought they had been added somewhere along the line, maybe not.

neeb_usmc

iTrader: (2)

Wow. Nice

okfoz

The Badges are an anomaly, I am not really sure why they would have been installed. I think some of the dealer information shows them from 1987 pre production pictures. But beyond that never seen them on an actual production car... but there they are.

I am curious tho... What does your SPID say, do you have WS6?

John

Lonnie P

Yes it is a WS6 car.

What do you mean by SPID? Are you referring to the option sheet?
I'll have to look for it.

JT

iTrader: (1)

The SPID is the white and black sticker on the inside wall of the center console with several 3 character codes.

Lonnie P

Never heard it called that before.
I'll try to get a picture of it.

The car is now under a stack of blankets in the garage.

okfoz

Service Parts IDentification Sheet

carlos64030

iTrader: (1)

Here's another Formula with a 'Firebird' fender emblem:

okfoz

I am curious... we should take note of the engine in the cars... I wonder if it was an LO3 only thing in 1988... Or maybe they got too many firebird emblems and decided to use them up for a while in the factory... Heard of crazier things.

TTOP350

iTrader: (8)

I believe that the "firebird" emblem on formulas goes waaaaay back to the formulas beginings and has been a on and off styling cue..

okfoz

I think just about all the 2nd gens (Formulas) had the Firebird emblem... 3rd Gens however there does not appear to be any rhyme or reason. None of my 4 87's that I have owned had them, or at least by the time I took delivery. I did a quick search, because I thought I had seen it in some literature, but from what I found none of the the literature show a Formula with the emblem either from 1987 - 1989

TTOP350

iTrader: (8)

I'm wondering if its a very early 87 only thing? Thats the 1st year back for the formula soo maybe they didn't have all the stuff lined out yet?
Maybe dealers installed them??
Or maybe Bill and Bob just liked to put them on tues and thurs built cars to confuse us.. lol

Jason E

Can't be an 88-only or LO3-only thing. The 88 HR article I referenced was an LB9 car. I doubt we'll ever know the real answer!

okfoz

It could be simply the new guy on the line, or a dealer installed it... Some things do not have RPO's, for example there is no specific RPO for the Formula Decal, or the Formula 350 Decal, it was simply part of the W66 package and whether or not you had L98 or not determined whether or not you got Formula 350 or just Formula. Other things do have RPOs like the large Hood Bird DX1, Then there are RPOs for deleting an item like the Formula was WX1...

1Aauto

That car is beautiful. I love that color combo too it's really nice.

Lonnie P

Thanks 1ATony,
It is an uncommon color for sure. Since new, I have never seen another 3rd gen locally in that color. Not sure how many were made, but it definitely was not popular.

FormulaL98

In addition to this, my car is an 88 350 car with a 9/87 build date. I have a pic of the car with the firebird emblems on it however I'm deployed and can not get it right now. Trust me I have the sun fade marks left on the fenders from them lol.

1991Formula350

Totally a gorgeous looking car! Thanks for sharing those beautiful photos of that classic beauty!

Neil350

iTrader: (1)

Some thing over the years I have found very interesting, there tends to be a greater amount of the base engine cars that survived. It's not rare at all when you see a clean low mile one on ebay for it to almost always be a 305 TBI car. I am sure every one could think of a different reason for that. Thanks for sharing that car, looks great.

Bullydawg

iTrader: (7)

My 88 Formula 350 is a 10/87 build if I recall correctly and mine doesn't have the emblem. I know my car was build in 87, just can't remember the month, and like you, I am oversea's and can't check.

okfoz

I think the most reasonable explanation would be that there were more of them made... For the most part there was more V6 than L03/LG4 than LB9 than L98... So just by the numbers, there would be more V6 cars left... I think another issue is most people are holding onto the nice or low miles 350 or LB9/M5 cars...

I find it amazing the number of people that I have met with a Formula or Trans Am with the LO3 and say it is the "HO" engine...

Neil350

iTrader: (1)

Another thing might be most the L98 cars most likely fell in to the hands of guys looking for cars to mod, whereas the 305 TBI cars may have been over looked. I've wanted a third gen Formula 350 for years, one day I'll pull the trigger and pick one up. Main thing now is you almost have to search nation wide to find a clean example.

Van Nuys born

That's a beauty, all right.... looks brand new

FinallyGotMyZ

Wow, nice car!

okfoz

Here are some things to look for...

If you like T-tops Look for either a 1989, 91 or 92 Formula 350 with T-tops 1989 is by far the most common year for the combination.

If you like the unusual, try and find an 89 Formula 350 Convertible... only 42 of those made... Neat car really.