Hi Everyone,

I'm not new to F-bodies but I stick mainly to 1st and 2nd gen Camaors. However I have owned several 3rd gens but it was back when they were new cars or near new, not now that they are classics. That must make me old too lol. Anyway on to my question; Today I stopped at a guys house who had a 1986 IROC sitting our front. I've seen the car sitting their for more than a year and thought I would stop to see if it was anything he wanted to sell as I wouldn't mind finding a 3rd gen again. The guy answered the door and was very nice saying that if the price was right he would sell the car. Then he went into the old story of how it's one of one and is a factory 350 car....yes I know about the so called 50 or so cars built in 86 to test the 350 before production started in 1987 and how they were never released to the public. He stated this is one of those cars ( which I didn't believe) however he started talking about a tag under the hood that shows it is car #11 of the 50 and it doesn't have a factory VIN plate located in dash and in fact doesn't even have the oblong hole to mount a VIN. Well he was nice enough to let me look at the car somewhat. Here is what I found, the dash indeed has no spot to mount a VIN tag in it. Where the tag would mount is just metal. So has anyone ever seen such a thing? Could that dash area have been replaced and never punched for a VIN tag to be mounted? Next was the tag under the hood. It was an oblong tag mounted to the radiator core support on the drivers side. This tag had 00011 stamped into it, does anyone know that this tag might be? I've seen on early 3rd gen cars at least a metal tag (called a trim tag on 1st and 2nd gen cars) mounted in the center of the radiator core support that showed some of the options on the car such as paint/ t-tops and other things. This car didn't have one, so did they put those on 86 cars? The owner states that the only VIN on the car is on a metal tag placed in the driver side door jam (like a 67) but we couldn't get the door open to see it. I know that it probably not what he says it is but I don't know enough about 3rd gens to know why the car is the way it is. Any help is appreciated.
thanks.

 

Could be a theft recovery. The VIN in the door jamb could be state issued.

 

Without pictures to prove the statements, and not knowing exactly what tag you're referring to, it's hard to say. There is a tag on the radiator support that has the factory build number that's tied to the build sheet. This tag is for assembly line identification only and is not a sequence number.

 

I had thought of that but all the theft recoveries i've seen when the VIN tag in the dash was removed there is still the hole where the VIN tag was. This is blocked off as it there was never a tag. Ill try and get some pictures in the next day or two and share them so you can see what im talking about. I d ok nt buy the guys story but there are strange things about the car.

 

Is there a title for the car, or a previous bill of sale? That should have some sort of VIN on it, factory or not. Odd that you say that it looks like it never had a VIN tag. GM makes a certain number of "test" cars before actual production cars every year, but they're not supposed to get into the hands of the public. It's much more likely that it's a theft recovery, particularly with it being an '86; IIRC, third gens frequently topped the list of most frequently stolen cars until they went to VATS in 1989.

 

Yeah i had thought about the theft factor but i thought if it was stollen and the VIN removed then it would have a hole where the VIN was. Im going back buy the owners house and will take some pictures of the spot where the VIN would be. Ill take a few others of other tags on the car and see if i can get the driver's side door open to see the tag on it. I'll also see if I cam get a picture of the sticker in the console as it should have a VIN on it also. I have a hard time believing that it is anything other than an 86 IROC but you don't know if you dont check. Ill post pictures when i get them and those of you that are experts maybe can help figure it out.
Thanks for all the replies.

 

In for the drama on this one. Get more info and pics. Please