Hi everyone,

I think I ought to introduce myself first:
My name is Oskar and I'm a V8 enthusiast living near Berlin, Germany. I've owned several US cars, both old and new, over the years and since last month I'm the proud owner of an 84 Z28E (exported to Austria directly from the factory) which is in great shape. I've just passed inspection and I'm planning to make several upgrades to the car, mainly suspension-wise. The engine (aftermarket) has enough HP for now. Concerning the interior, I want to weld in a roll cage, install bucket seats and various extra gauges as well as replace the door panels with sheet metal.
I'm registering the car as a "historic" car (in order to save on tax and insurance; if I registered this car just like any other then I'd be looking at 2000$+ in taxes and insurance per year instead of about $200 with a historic registration). And that's where it gets tricky. In order to qualify as a "historic" car, it needs to be 30 years or older, in good shape and rather rarely seen on German roads (check, check and check). Also, such a car needs to be in its original state, any modifications need to be modifications common of the era (the year of the car's production plus ten years, in this case 1984 - 1994) and found on STREET cars. This means tubular A-arms, coil overs, 20" rims, LS swap etc. are a big no-no. In order to keep my historic registration, I need photographic evidence that roll cages, extra gauges, sheet metal door panels and bucket seats were found on 3rd Gen F-Bodies before around 1994.

AND THAT'S WHERE I NEED YOUR HELP. If you have any pics of your 3rd Gen equipped with one or more of the things listed and if the picture was taken in 1994 or earlier then please post them here. The more the better. Ideally, there's a date on the foto (older cameras often added them to the pic) but if there isn't any then please post them anyway (you can tell by a picture's quality whether a pic is from the 2010s or the 1980s). And also add a pic in which your car is seen with the registration plate (of course you can black out the number but one should be able to see that the car was registered for the street).
This is not only a help to me but many other US car enthusiasts struggling with the same issue over here. Thanks!

 

It's also helpful if you post pictures of other modifications to the body, interior, suspension etc.

 

Guten Tag Oskar, welcome to TGO!

There really was no "Factory Roll Cage" got the camaro. The best you could find for the camaro would be the roll cage from a Players series car. HOWEVER SLP did offer a Roll cage in the Firebird Firehawks. I think they might have been bolt in but I do not know.

http://www.legendarymotorcar.com/inv...hawk-1581.aspx here is a Firehawk with the roll cage...

One thing you might consider is try looking for old Magazine articles, and pull things from there, there may be ads and such or old catalogs you might find. If you get a hold of a SLP catalog from the 80's that would open your options up too.

John

 

Thanks for the tipp, I just googled 1980s magazine covers from Hot Rod Magazine and Popular Hot Rodding and found one 1986 issue with a cover pic showing a 3rd gen Camaro with a roll cage and registration plate on the front cover. And a 1984 issue showing a Camaro with what looks like 18" rims, interesting.
What other magazines from the era are worth checking out?

 

There is actually quite a few on this website. https://www.thirdgen.org/media-articles/
Hot Rod,
Car Craft (sometimes called Camaro Craft)
Camaro Coral
Camar Enthusiest
Camaro Greats
Car & Driver (usually new cars, not many mods)
Chevy High Performance
Motor Trend (Usually new cars, not many mods)
Muscle Car Enthusiest
Muscle Cars
Muscle Machines
Musclecar Review
Popular Science
Road & Track
Super Chevy
Super Rod

https://www.thirdgen.org/media-articles/