i have a 1986 berlinetta v6 auto. how many 86 berlinettas were made without the digital dash. the one i have has the regular dash.

 

Rare? Probably not as rare as the triple black '71 GTO (455/4sp manual) "Judge" Ram Air IV convertible with only 62K original miles sitting in my garage for the last 20 years. J/K

Don't I wish.

I believe the (Camaro) Berlinetta was discontinued very early during the '86 model year. How rare? Probably not as rare as a L69/5sp Iroc-Z for '86. Or probably not even as rare as the short-lived replacement, Camaro LT, for '87. I'm sure the production #'s are pretty low due to the short model year of that particular model. Maybe less than 5000 units? Ask Drew or Willie. They'll know for sure.

Hope this helps.

 

Oh boy.... we've been through this before. The digital dash was introduced in the 1984 Berlinetta and continued through the 1986 model year run. Before we go into a very detailed explanation of all this, please post your VIN (minus last six digits if you do not want to display the complete VIN). If you own a 1986 Berlinetta with an analog instrument cluster, you're the only one and own a super rare car. Chances are though, you own a Sport Coupe and was "told" it was a Berlinetta when you bought it.

For 1986, the FIFTH digit tells all. If it is a "P", you've got either a Sport Coupe or Z28. If it's an "S", you've got a Berlinetta. Which do you have?

 

There's a guy I work with that has an 86 berl. with an analog dash. I keep forgetting to ask him to see his RPO codes. The car appears to be completely stock.

 

Wouldn't it be possible that if someone had problems with the digital dash, that parts being rare, and working on it being a pita, that installing a regular dash in place of the original one might be the easiest and cheapest route? Or maybe I'm missing something in my logic?

 

We need to use a little common sense here. Think of corporate GM and money grubbing (how to minimize cost). Let's start by looking at the original base prices in 1986.

Sport Coupe -- $9349.00
Berlinetta -- $12,316.00
Z28 -- 12,316.00

The major portion of the price difference between the Sport Coupe and Berlinetta is the instrument cluster, which includes digital hardware, including the stereo and air conditioning. So let's say (hypothetically) that a Berlinetta was produced with analog hardware. Knowing that there is no such thing as "digital hardware delete", how can the consumer justify the price difference of almost $3000? I deduce this by using a little common sense.

Now let's look at all the Camaro reference books that have been published. Not one reference states a Berlinetta (1984 - 1986) could be purchased with analog hardware.

So be assured that no original 1984 - 1986 Berlinetta has analog hardware.

Certainly, this could have happened. But I believe the labor involved in swapping the entire dash, including wiring would have cost much more than replacing a defective part(s). This would include items such as the ECM, air conditioning (electronics), dash, instrument cluster, center console, wiper controls, headlamp controls, vehicle speed sensor, speedometer (yes, the 1984 - 1986 Berlinetta does not use a mechanical speedo), etc., etc., etc., not to mention the labor cost.

I sure would like see the original poster's VIN... It would decide this once and for all.

Willie

 

Like Willie said; If your car is a Berlinetta, Your ZIN should have a fifth digit as an 'S' code rather than the 'P' code for all other Camaro's (RS, Sport Coupe, IROC-Z, whatever,......)

There is no such thing as an 84-86 Berlinetta with an analog dash unless it is custom...... the berlinetta interior can be swapped into any Camaro and I even kow A guy that has started to install it into an 87 Monte SS. I can't wait to see those pictures !

I have installed a Z-28 analog interior into an 85 Brerlinetta before - Making it an "ANALOG" 85 Berlinetta - But that was custom work !!!!! (And a Hell of a lot harder than just fixing any problems the dash cluster may have had too ! )



A LOT of people think thier sports coupe is a Berlinetta becasue it says "BERLINETTA" on thier license plate bracket,....... it's a common error. I drove almost 200 miles to look at a Berlinetta for sale yesterday just to find out the car was a sports coup with Berlinetta wheels on it !

 

I was wondering about that. I didn't realize that much needed to be swapped out.

I think that since our topic starter hasn't replied that we have our answer.

 

Totally in agreement. I'm speculating, but he's probably fuming now that he realizes the car he bought was "sold" to him as a Berlinetta and it's "only" a Sport Coupe. Either that or he has a genuine GM one-of-a-kind that NO references state exist and he's in hog heaven.....na....

Willie

 

I don't know if I'd be upset to find out I bought a car with berlinetta badges and it turned out to be a sport coupe. I'd just take the badging off and enjoy it. I mean realistically the berlinetta is just a sport coupe decked out in extreme tacky-ness from the factory with a Z28 price tag. No offense to Berlinetta owners but gold trim just does not look right on a Camaro. Berlinetta's rank up there with red interior... unless they're mint they look like ***.

 

< NO offense taken >

I hope that as a moderator here on ThirdGen that you realize there is WAY more to a Berlinetta than the car just being a Sports Coupe with gold trim -----



Personal opinions aside, the fact remains that the Berlinettas were highly superior to the Sports coupe in almost every way. Remember that the BASE Z28 was a V8 and the BASE Berlinetta was a V-6 car. With a BASE starting price for a Berlinetta being EQUAL to that of a Z28 there is obviously more to the car than some fancy gold trim



John in RI
Webmaster@Berlinetta.Info

 

Ok, lets see if we can list the differences...

Berlinetta has the following difference over the sport coupe.

exterior:
aluminum wheels (gold)
Berlinetta badges (gold)
Gold striped taillights
specific turn signals

Most of the above is IMHO tacky, gold 14" wheels... hmm...

interior:
custom level interior
various interior options specific to the berlinetta
digital cash and swivel radio (84-up)

Drivetrain:
nothing that wasn't available on Sport Coupe for less money.

Suspension:
softer ride components then Sport Coupe.

So, from my opinion, all the parts of the interior worth having can be found in a junkyard, and added for very little $$$. The rest of the parts aren't worth having. Berlinettas have thier following, and their place in history, and when they're in good shape they look like nice cars, altho they portray GM's perpetuation of tackyness from the 2nd gen camaro's. I'd imagine more people want an either high performance flashy thirdgen, or a cleaner thirdgen, but who looks for a luxury thirdgen? I'm sure that I'm not the only one that feels this way. Feel free to point out anythign that really justifies the expense of the Berlinetta over the base sport coupe.

Just for the record, I would probably buy a Berlinetta if the price was right, but I'd take all the gold trim off and put on different wheels, etc.

 

Sorry-I have to agree with Drew on this one-if you want a luxury car - then go buy a luxury car (with the gold trim of course). Camaro wasn't meant to be the smoothest riding vehicle on the road, so putting a softer suspension on makes no sense. Part of driving a Camaro is actually DRIVING the car. Camaro was built in a way that the driver gets an awful lot of feedback- and I'm not referring to the feedback you'd get from swivel stereos and top of the line gadgets to play with when you're driving down the highway. Just Chevy's attempt to sell a Camaro model to a slightly older crowd at the time. Most of the young crowd that would go out and buy a cool fast car didn't have $ then (they were lucky to have a job). #@$%^$# recessions.

 

Yea, If you want a lux cruiser don't buy a chevy!

 

My buddy had a 79 berl. Those were even more odd than the thirdgen berls. The "luxury" car had no power accessories at all! The only premium options were the cloth seats, chrome headlight bezel & grill and color-matched honeycomb wheels. They matched that vomit-green exterior perfectly! What an odd car.

 

No offense but I love my '84 Berlinetta she has a stock 305 too not a v-6 as earlier stated but I do hate all the gold and it is coming off soon. They are kinda rare and I got mine for a great price so I like them

 

From my point of view not every rare car is a desireble car.And i don't really think cosmetic upgrades by itself makes a car desireble.Berlinetta is a very nice example of that.There are also dealer upgrades like MSE T/A, Bandit Firebird or Firebird XS.At least Berlinetta is a factory model.But for me they only have cosmetic stuff that i can do better myself.Recaros are also rare but being rare itself doesn't mean anything and golden trims, golden badges and recaro seats itself doesn't make the car that desireble if you ask me from my point of view.But before i got the car all i wanted was a 82-84 t/a with working bulge hood , 4 barrel carlburator, t-top and black-gold color combo.So i found the exact car i wanted and it's a recaro and it's a super rare and desireble car ONLY for me (and maybe some other freaks like me)and i'm aware of it.And i don't expect to make thousands of dollars with the recaro in 10 years.Today most Firebird and Camaro's on e-bay are getting sold as rare.It's gettin really funny day by day.Ugly car is an ugly car even if it's rare.It really suprises me how much money they are paying to cars like those from time to time.So there's demand also.

 

And don't get me wrong i'm not trying to say all berlinetta's or other dealer optioned third gens ugly.But there are extremely ugly ones and they are being sold with really absurd price tags.

 

I know it's been a while since Anyone replied or Posted to this thread, nearly 13 years. I own 2 Berlinetta's & i have never had a problem with them except the Cluster went down in My 85.
I'm inclined to agree with John in RI, they are more superior, i mean lets compare apples with apples. The trim in all the sports coupes are just so bland & plain. The Berlinetta is in a league of it's own.
Today, I can't even find a Cluster on Ebay for a Berlinetta, & yet, the market is still flooded with the plain ol & bland looking guage clusters. The Berlinetta are well worth their weight in gold.