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History / OriginalityGot a question about 1982-1992 Camaro or Firebird history? Have a question about original parts, options, RPO codes, when something was available, or how to document your car? Those questions, answers, and much more!
So before everyone gets on my case about the LG4, I had the same roller cam LG4 in my former '87 IROC 'vert. It was a willing, torquey engine, let down by it CAFE friendly tuned 700R4 and 2.73 rear. This one has a 5 speed and what I'd guess to be a 3.23 rear. Should be fairly fun.
No AC though. I'm one of those people with the top down and AC cranked, especially if I'm going to work and don't want to show up sweaty.
Anyway, I see a couple of things, like broken grill behind the license plate bracket and a scraped trim ring on the front driver's side wheel. And I wonder if that power antenna still works?
That’s a pretty cool, rare car.. Nice interior too..
Probably never find another one
I almost bought another one about 4 or 5 years ago. It was a 5 speed base vert like this one. Lower miles too, but not as low as this one. It was red metallic. I could have bought it for 5K.
Did this car just sell for $9K a couple weeks ago? Looks like the grill wasn't broken then. Some better pics of it here. Looks like some scratches on the nose.
Cool Sport Coupe for sure. This looks like an aftermarket conversion convertible. Is this an ASC conversion?
6th digit of the VIN is s 3, so was as "factory" as GM got. Meaning ASC did the conversion for GM but this rolled off the line knowing it was going to ASC.
Cars with the 6th digit of 2 were dealer or customer orders through ASC.
Sport Coupe and Formula convertibles always look 'funny' because the rocker reinforcements added by ASC aren't hidden by ground effects. It's too bad because it ruins the old school muscle car styling of the non-gfx cars.
So I asked for more pics including the SPID. This is in fact an M39 T5 with a 3.23 gear. The power antenna doesn't work and the dashpad is damaged. Also, the undercarriage isn't what you might expect for a 2000 mile car.
Well, we all know how easy it is to fix the antenna issue, so that's not really an issue. The dash is a different story as a replacement pad will run around $400. The undercarriage being coated could just be holding dirt that gets attracted to it. A good pressure washing 'could' clean t up.
BTW, I've been documenting the convertibles and I didn't have this one, so I added it to my list. It is the only manual trans SC/LT I've documented, so now I question how reliable my documentation is on SC/LT counts. I've been more focused on IROC-Z versus Z28 and categorized everything else as an LT. I forgot that you could get the SC as a vert. Now I need to go over each of those and hope that I can redefine some of the LTs as SCs for a more refined count.
I'd like to know how this seller knows he has 1 of 7 produced.
It really can't be overstated how bad undercoating looks. It may do a fantastic job of protecting whatever it's covering, but it's worse than the plastic covers on Grandma's couch. Not only does it ugly things up, but it's not even an effective solution for preventing catastrophic rust. An undercoated car will still rot out if exposed to salt and sand applied to snowy roads.
Unless I were the original owner, I would never trust an odometer that low to be actual miles. 5 digit odometer, 2,000 miles isn't even a summer or two of only enjoying the car on nice days and never leaving town in it. 102,000 on the other hand, is 20k miles a year of 'Driver' status, for 5 years. Assuming a car is maintained, washed and waxed frequently, and garaged, I could easily see it lasting 5 years in that condition. The condition sure looks more like a nice, clean 100k car, than a 2,000 mile car. Even without the latest pics I wouldn't trust the mileage.
Who sticks a gold Berlinetta fender badge on a bumper cover of a 2k mile car? Seems odd that it doesn't have the black insert decal across the back bumper too. Maybe 87 didn't have the stripe on Sport Coupes? 86 did, the 87 brochure doesn't show the rear bumper cover on the Sport Coupe. In the dashpad crack photo, is that a run or chipping (aftermarket?) paint on the A pillar? More flaking paint by the door hinge? I'm sorry, I'm just not buying the 'actual miles'. There's a saying, buy the X not the story. Buy the Car, not the story that the mileage is freakishly low.
The underside pics are not promising.. even if the dirt cleans off, you wouldn’t get that much dirt under your car in 2000 miles..
Looks like a 102k mile well maintained car to me..
Hopefully the state inspection records would show something.. If the car was on the road it would have to be inspected and mileage recorded.. I wouldn’t know what it’s like to be in one of those states that don’t inspect cars.. Mass even records that stuff for my 30 year old car even though they are more lenient on classics and I don’t have emissions testing anymore..
The underside pics are not promising.. even if the dirt cleans off, you wouldn’t get that much dirt under your car in 2000 miles..
Looks like a 102k mile well maintained car to me..
Hopefully the state inspection records would show something.. If the car was on the road it would have to be inspected and mileage recorded.. I wouldn’t know what it’s like to be in one of those states that don’t inspect cars.. Mass even records that stuff for my 30 year old car even though they are more lenient on classics and I don’t have emissions testing anymore..
I'm sure it would clean up nicely, but like you said, that's a lot of dirt for a 2000 miler. Unless those miles were put on in the rain and around construction sites.
If the story is remotely accurate, a dealer could have driven the car on the street for years on dealer tags, and there wouldn't be any DMV records.
The biggest POS I've ever owned has a pretty reasonably 46k "actual" miles. My 87 Iroc is at 61K and it's a total basket case. My RS has something in the low-mid 50s and is a creampuff. The Formula is still nice with 123k. Mileage is just a number, look at the true condition, don't pay extra for the odo, and you're good to go. If you aren't happy with the true condition, then don't buy.
I agree that a properly maintained vehicle can confuse the majority of people. I sold my 2006 Silverado last year and it had 160k miles on it. It looked new, inside and out, was tight with no rattles, and the undercarriage looked new. I did drive the truck in Minnesota winters a few times, but I made sure to clean it up and clean it off regularly during the winter. These pics were taken the day before I sold it.
My cousins 40k mi Shelby Cobra is trash. My 2005 GMC Sierra runs and looks like a 40k my truck. An older man bought it new and took care of it. 180k mi, Zero issues.
I hear you guys.. 140k in my Tahoe and still looks like the day I bought it with 40k.. pic was probably with 130k
The dealer always does a double take when they look at the mileage and say, “wow, it’s in great shape”
no scratches, dings, paint still looks brand new, wheels brand new.. never garaged.. Interior spotless and looks new
I just keep it vacuumed, wash the wheels regularly, leather condition the front seats every once in a while to keep them clean, slick and reduce friction.. polish and polymer sealant spring and fall.. lots of touch free carwashes in the winter..
Was thinking of trading up for a newer one, but would never get what it’s worth due to the mileage.
Last edited by 88IROCvertZ; Nov 25, 2018 at 03:31 PM.
Ok, let's not turn this into a truck thread. I posted pics of mine just to show that it's possible to have a high mileage vehicle that looks new. I don't see the point in everybody posting pics of their mint condition, high mile vehicles. Back on topic...
What do we see here? I see a damaged dash pad, missing cover on diagnostic port, rust proofing cap, crazy dirty door jamb, no factory mats and a goofy gold plaque on dash. Did I miss anything?
Did anybody mention the side view mirror is black? Or, is that a bad reflection?
I believe the base cars that year had black mirrors. Body colored was an upgrade. Anyways, there are enough fishy aspects to this car to really turn me off.
Black mirrors and trim were used on some of the early cars. Pretty sure 87 was the last year for that kind of thing. 85-87 coupes were like that. Somewhere in there, some of the coupes even had silver or gray headlight buckets and mirrors. You don't see em too often because coupes are kind of uncommon and they fly under the radar. People don't keep them nice, if they keep them at all.
From: Doghouse ······································ Car: 1989 Formula 350 Vert Engine: 350 L98 Transmission: 700R4 Axle/Gears: B&W 3.27
Car: 87 Formula T-Top, 87 Formula HT
Engine: 5.1L TPI, 5.0L TPI
Transmission: 700R4, M5
Axle/Gears: Sag 3.73, B&W 3.45
Re: Whoa!!!!! I really like this one!
Originally Posted by Drew
Black mirrors and trim were used on some of the early cars. Pretty sure 87 was the last year for that kind of thing. 85-87 coupes were like that. Somewhere in there, some of the coupes even had silver or gray headlight buckets and mirrors. You don't see em too often because coupes are kind of uncommon and they fly under the radar. People don't keep them nice, if they keep them at all.
I was looking for pics of my '83's core support for dagwood's thread and ran across these. This is the other '87 SC, LG4, T5, 'vert. These A-1 pics were snapped by the hard charging salesperson. The Enkie wheels kind of turned me off before, but now that I look at them, they are kind of cool in an '80's way. I shoulda bought this damned thing. I think it was around $6K, 3 or 4 years ago.
From: Doghouse ······································ Car: 1989 Formula 350 Vert Engine: 350 L98 Transmission: 700R4 Axle/Gears: B&W 3.27
Car: 87 Formula T-Top, 87 Formula HT
Engine: 5.1L TPI, 5.0L TPI
Transmission: 700R4, M5
Axle/Gears: Sag 3.73, B&W 3.45
Re: Whoa!!!!! I really like this one!
The "Specially built" emblems were used a lot in the 1960's. My dad special ordered a 1963 Buick Riviera and it came with a plaque like that. Also several Pontiac guys have them in their cars too...
I was looking for pics of my '83's core support for dagwood's thread and ran across these. This is the other '87 SC, LG4, T5, 'vert. These A-1 pics were snapped by the hard charging salesperson. The Enkie wheels kind of turned me off before, but now that I look at them, they are kind of cool in an '80's way. I shoulda bought this damned thing. I think it was round $6K 3 or 4 years ago.
