I'm constantly on the lookout....and this gem popped up near me at a price that I just couldn't resist. It's not a car I would ever hunt for, but the price, condition and miles were just in the sweet spot for me.

The car is a 1989 Camaro RS Convertible. 305, auto. And just turned 28k miles on the way home yesterday. The thing is SUPER clean. It has a couple bird crap stains in the clearcoat, and a little scrape/ding behind the driver's rear wheel. She's an all original car. It's had seat covers on it since new. The door pulls have some bulging issues, but other than that, the red interior looks brand new. The backside of the wheels even look new. Now I just don't know what to do with it....it's too nice to really mess with.

Here she is....

 

 

Very nice, Darin!

 

The thing runs and drives like new. Everything works, etc.

 

Thanks Charlie! I took that black pinstripe off it tonight after work. I just couldn't deal with it lol

 

I just noticed in the pic of the rear of the car, it looks like a ding in the deck lid. Dammit my PDR buddy was just at the shop today. I didn't even see that before lol. Looks like I have a job for him when he comes next week

 

Very nice! You make me feel better about my addiction. My wife makes me feel like I am the only person on the planet that buys cars on a whim and that I am crazy for needing 2-3 cars at a time....

 

You mean there are people that don't???

I did sell the Corvette tonight....so that kinda makes my fiance feel better lol

 

If you get the itch to buy another, I have a C6 i'm going to move late this summer......"maybe".....as with you, I'll probably change my mind on that also! Again, nice car, great find!

 

Nice

 

Man you find some nice cars, in that condition hard to turn away.

 

Thanks fellas.

So, I am REALLY wanting to paint the headlight buckets black. Dammit I hate to mess with such a nice car...but I just think it needs to be done. Thoughts??

 

I vote, no.

 

Man, you know I am a purist as well. That's why I am having trouble with doing it. I want to because I hate body color buckets, but the purist tells me to leave it alone, lol

 

I wonder what the odds are of finding some mint, original red floor mats? The rears are there, but unfortunately the fronts are MIA.

She had a set of pretty sweet period correct HEARTBEAT OF AMERICA mats in it that are perfect condition that will probably see nothing more than the inside of a closet lol

 

Well you did put stripes on a stripe delete car 🤷🏻‍♂️😬

If it’s that original I vote a no as well. Fix the blemishes and clean it up well. Then sit back, crack a beer, and remind yourself if the top goes down, the price goes up! 👍🏻

 

I always hated the body colored light buckets too, I vote no on painting them as well, just a thought though, maybe you could find a good vinyl guy and just do them in vinyl, that way it's not permanent. Or possibly Plastidip, I've seen a lot of cool stuff done with that and it peels off as well.

 

And people say I have a problem...

Nice car!! Leave it stock, fix the imperfections, enjoy it, and then flip it when\if you get tired of it or the urge to modify it gets too great. I would not do anything that is not "correct" as it will hurt the value. I struggle with the headlight bucket thing on my B4C, but just keep telling myself that is how it is supposed to be...

 

LS swap time?

 

I couldn't pass that up either, if the price was good. That's really nice. Not a huge fan of the interior color, but that wouldn't keep me from buying it.

I wouldn't paint the headlight buckets. I'd be reluctant to mess with such a nice car. And personally, I think they look better as they are.

 

I got all of the original paperwork from when the car was sold new, too. I was going through it all last night after my fiance went to bed, and I saw that the original owners of the car are from the same town my fiance is from. So I asked her this morning if she knew who they were......and she said "yes".......and I asked her if she remembered them having a bright red Camaro convertible, and she said "yeeeessss". So the original owners of the car, are one of her childhood best friends parents lol. Small world...

 

Hahaha yep, I did.......but only because it could be easily reversed

 

Well it WOULD make a killer car for that lol

 

Damn it I want to find one like that. One drawback of living in a smaller town is that there aren't a big variety of used cars for sale. Hilton Head is small, and the "big" nearby town is Savannah, not exactly a metropolis.

 

Man I always love to hear stories like this. 👍🏻

And I was just giving you a hard time about the decals. I thought that car looked great either way. I like someone’s idea about the vinyl wrap. Seems like it would work and be non invasive and easily reversed. The black head light buckets for me are much like the stripes. I’ve seen cars I thought they looked great on and cars that look great without them. And vice versa lol

 

cool. Maybe they have some odds and ends.


also, fwiw, I’d vinyl wrap the buckets for headlights

 

I would definitely paint the headlight buckets. Makes a huge difference in the look and it's not going to affect the value of the car. I would even go as far as changing out the grille and adding fog lights, but that's just me.

 

I'm All For Originality They Came From The Factory Body Color Keep Them That Way.

 

Another for using vinyl wrap for the headlight buckets. 3m and all the major vinyl manufactures make satin black which would be real close to the factory paint. Use knifeless tape to layout the line where the black ends on the red. You can make real nice curves in the corners with this stuff.

 

I think it's looks better in red.

 

I love the red wheels against that red body paint. Was one like it local for many years I always thought it looked real nice. Good score Darin.
Id also wrap those headlight buckets because the solid never looked right to me either.

 

I personally like the body color buckets but the vinyl idea sounds great. Beautiful car , I'm glad it found someone who appreciates it.

 

Thanks for all the replies, advice, compliments, etc!

I have decided to leave the headlight buckets alone. If anything, maybe wrap them, but I'm not going to paint them....nothing irreversible.

So Shelly (my fiance) sent a pic of the car to her friend today whose parents bought it new....and she replied that she "didn't remember it with the black on it", so evidently a later owner added the stripes.... and not the original owners. Said they used the car in homecoming parades, etc.

 

The car also has an aftermarket antenna, which I hate. I looked at the window sticker and it came from the factory with a power antenna, so it evidently quit working at some point and replaced with an aftermarket one. I have an original one in my 91 RS parts car....so I'm tempted to replace it with an OEM, non power one. They are such a bastard to change, though

 

You can see between the spokes how clean the inside of the wheels are....

 

Darin, coming from a purist, I say paint the headlight buckets! Now, if you don't want to paint them, have them wrapped in satin vinyl. You get to keep it original while at the same time, getting the look you want for cheap. And fix the front fenders. The driver side looks like it's bowing out some.

 

Whoa! I would have bet my life savings, first born child, left kidney, titles to my cars, etc that you would have said the exact opposite! LMAO

That fender does sit just a little farther out from the door. I think it maybe looks worse in pictures....it is VERY close in person. The vert fenders are a little harder to line up...they don't have the bottom mount on the pinch weld with that big honkin' brace under there. I'll get everything dialed in

 

I think I can smell the newness of that interior from here. You are a hero to me and many others no doubt. Enjoy being its next caretaker and keep on scoping 'em out.

 

I had an '88 Sport Coupe, with the shorty spoiler, that I added the IROC-Z hood, rear spoiler and black painted buckets to. I also replaced the silver center caps with the black ones. It made the car more of what I wanted, but I didn't upbadge in any way. I still had the "Camaro" rocker emblems. This is "just" an RS. If it were me, the headlights would get blacked out with vinyl to preserve the originality, but it also continues the heritage edition look that was started with the application of the stripes.

 

 

I put new wheels on the car tonight.....and I about crapped when I took the factory wheels off. The lug nuts look like brand new under the plastic covers, and the back sides of the wheels are even cleaner than I thought they'd be. I didn't even wipe anything down....they were this clean on the car

 

I got a smoking deal on a set of IROC-Z wheels that have been refinished. I thought I'd see how they look on the red with the red interior. I don't hate it.....but still a little mixed on how I like them. I think I'll look for a set of gray 88-90 IROC-Z wheels. I sure like the stance better!!

 

Here's another before pic....

 

I wish you lived closer to me. I have a set of OER 16" IROC-Z replica wheels I bought for the '82. Still in the box!

 

Those wheels look mint! How did you find them?

 

Yep, they are GORGEOUS. I found them on craigslist. A catholic priest from Sioux Falls had them! He has a killer LS swapped IROC that he put Hawks 17's on! $350 for the wheels AND tires!!

 

Awesome deal!

 

Now I'm back to wanting to wrap the headlight buckets lol

 

Yep, I wish you were closer, too!

Those would look killer on your pace car, though!

 

Gorgeous car! I'd leave it stock. I prefer the red wheels, on that IROC Z .