toomanybirds

iTrader: (1)

On Ebay now, when it ends, I'll post the results so that we have another price reference. I know the car is "rare" and "desirable" I just hope I'm not missing something that makes this car crazy valuable and I later read about the million dollar Formula somebody bought off Ebay for pennies on the dollar....did that once already with a fully loaded 1972 Buick Gran Sport Stage 1 convertible, factory four speed car that turned out to be a one of one ever built and was worth high five figures when I sold it, but hey, I got four figures and a really cool story.....
Oh, and the axle tube on this car indicates an EX6 casting number and I can't find that anywhere....also has bilsteins in the rear, not sure if they are factory....

toomanybirds

iTrader: (1)

OOPS, my dyslexia kicked in, that axle code I cannot find is 6 EX ......sorry.

PurelyPMD

iTrader: (3)

Link...http://www.ebay.com/itm/272614718536...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

okfoz

I am not sure if it has come up before, but if you want even more rare.
1989 Formula LB9/MM5 ASC Convertible. https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/d...6364/overview/

I have considered selling my 1989 Formula 350 convertible, for that car... That way I can reduce one car in my family by also selling my wife's 87 Formula LB9/MM5 Hardtop. Then I could go out and buy the 2018 Camaro Exorcist.

It is quite the deal if you ask me.

Oneof42

I have an 88 formula lb9/mm5 in the medium metallic blue with t-tops and an 89 formula 350 convertible in white. I'd love to have a blue 5sp with the convertible top, but not sure any were made.

okfoz

According to what I have, there were no Formula LB9 cars with a Blue top in 1989. It seemed like the blue cars and the white cars could have gotten a blue top. Any other color I think would be strange.

T-top350 has the closest thing you will probably find he has the last remaining Blue Top Formula 350 Convertible. There was one other, but it was salvaged in 1992, and no other records, so it was apparently not rebuilt.

I should go through the Autocheck & carfax stuff again and see what is left out there. I did it only for the Formula 350 stuff, and that was it.

toomanybirds

iTrader: (1)

PurelyPMD:
Thanks for posting the link, I appreciate that. I figured most people from here scour Ebay already, but the link is appreciated. Over 90 watchers on that auction, so the end might get interesting.

toomanybirds

iTrader: (1)

okfoz: funny you should mention the Exorcist...my son just mentioned that car to me and told me to sell off some of my cars to get that one...I told him I'd likely wrap it around the first pole I came across....
also, I checked out that link to the convertible 5 speed...that feels like a fine price to me, but I think the convertibles might be tougher to sell, I've had a 1991 Trans Am convertible with 26,000 original miles I've been casually trying to sell for two years now.....granted it is a little pricier than the Formula, but I haven't even had anyone look at it, well, no, I had a dealer look at it and he wanted to flip it for $18k, but I prefer to sell it to someone that wants the car for themselves versus allowing it to be used as car bait, so I turned down his offer of $12k, other than him, nobody......
regards!

okfoz

Part of the reason why I didn't trade my Formula 350 Conv for the LB9/MM5 is in part because you could get the combination any other year, on a Camaro or a Firebird. 1989 was the only year you could get an ASC convertible with the 350. That car has been for sale for several months now... It looks like a repaint, but I am not 100% sure on that. The car has been in Michigan it's entire life, at least it was originally sold in MI, that is neither here nor there.

John

PurelyPMD

iTrader: (3)

How many of the 5spd drop tops did they build John?

ray jr

iTrader: (2)

did you sell the car ?

PurelyPMD

iTrader: (3)

$6,100 was the final bid - says sold.

toomanybirds

iTrader: (1)

Purely PMD is all over it; I just came to give the update. Car sold at $6,100.00 and buyer was local and picked it up today. He wasn't a "Firebird guy" or so he said, but claimed to be a collector of a bunch of different make cars....old Cadillac, Lincoln and Ferrari were the brands he mentioned. I didn't feel like he appreciated the car, and guess what, two hours after he drove off with it he sent me a text to say he found another Firebird he liked better and would be selling this car....my wife just laughed, she had called it from the get go, he was just looking to flip the car. Anyway, it is out of my way and we have another price for reference. I truly felt it would sell for more, I figured no less than $6,500.00 and I really feel like it was worth that, but with 2,000 views and 144 people watching it, I guess I know better now. Regards all.

ray jr

iTrader: (2)

congrads on the sale .. i think you did good on the price you sold it for .. as far as the guy buying it to flip it , he's not going to get much more for it ..

GTA1990

iTrader: (1)

Nice car and agreed, think you did well as the seller. Further proof that these cars are going up in value...

toomanybirds

iTrader: (1)

GTA1990: Thanks for your input. I figure it must have sold okay since so many people looked at it and were watching it, so that must be the market price. It is just that I like these cars and maybe have an inflated opinion of what they are worth. Also, I'm a little worried about the market value because I'll be posting another of my cars in a week or so, and it better get much more money than this one did. It is a black 1992 Formula 5.7 with factory t tops and factory cd with around 70,000 miles as I recall and I may even have to put a reserve on it just to be sure, but we'll see. Regards!

PurelyPMD

iTrader: (3)

I don't think we should take this price strictly on face value, we cannot discount those who would not buy it at any price based on the condition of the transmission.

Most buyers coming into this market would simply walk away from a stick car that had already lost a gear. Had it been in perfect working order I'd expect we could see a value several thousands higher.

Credit to toomanybirds for his honesty in the listing.

TTOP350

iTrader: (8)

....

GTA1990

iTrader: (1)

Completely agree PurelyPMD. Your average buyer would likely be turned off by the gearbox point (or otherwise punitively impact their bid); for it still to achieve a low 6k bid shows to me these cars are going up.

Would be interested to see how the L98 formula does. T-tops, end of line, materially less than 100k on the clock; a lot going for it

JimRockford

According to Standard Catalog of Firebird 14.1 percent on the 1989 models were ordered with manual transmissions. It doesn't go into more detail than that,as far as what engine and trans combos were made.
Sorry you sold your original. Glad you found another,similar,too bad it's not a t-top though.
If someone loves you,they are going to let you have and enjoy things that make you happy.

okfoz

According to "Automotive news" The number I have is 8,495 5 speeds for 1989 out of 64,406. That is 13.1897%.

Ward's Automotive Yearbook has the 14.1 number where the Standard Catalog of Firebird got their number

JimRockford

Thanks for the info OkFoz,guess the firebird catalog has its numbers slightly off.

Most People today don't want stick shift cars or know how to even drive one. .i had a friend trying to sell a manual shift car and when the buyers would come by and see it wasn't an automatic they would be pissed,even though it said "manual trans" online.
When I was looking around online,mustangs,firebirds and camaros with stick shifts tended to be less money and didn't sell. I'd see the same ads forever. Apparently selecting a manual transmission severely limits its resale crowd. I personally can drive either,and sticks can be fun,but not in our rush hour stop and go traffic. Which is most of the time now.

I also know that in most cases in California,if you wanted the big motor you had no choice but to get an automatic. It wasn't offered any other way.

According to this article from 2016 less than 3 percent of cars sold in the USA are stick shifts,and performance car company's like Lamborghini and Ferrari offer only automatics on most cars. Funny how times have changed

https://www.google.com/amp/www.latim...story,amp.html

"Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Alfa Romeo, Volvo, Lexus, Chrysler and Buick no longer offer a single model with manual transmission. Audi, Jaguar, Cadillac and GMC offer only one."

TTOP350

iTrader: (8)

People have become lazy due in part to an over abundance of convenience.. Go obese people of USA!!!! (I like food too)

PurelyPMD

iTrader: (3)

JimRockford

I am sure there are people so lazy out there that they cant wait for completely self driving cars to become available so that they can sit and text and watch tv instead of being bothered by actually having to push a gas pedal and steer a wheel.

okfoz

Personally I love driving. There are times, like long trips where it becomes a bore, but to overcome I stop in at a Cracker Barrel and rent a book on CD for the trip... I want nothing to do with self driving cars. I will admit I like some of the features of my 2007 Tahoe, but there is nothing like jamming through the gears. I would never use a manual for a drag race or for an every day driver, but just to go out and feel connected to the car, nothing beats it.