I know the numbers are vague, but I just picked up a 1990 Formula, black and silver two-tone, with T-tops, black cloth interior, LB9, and the 5 speed which also gives it all the go-fast goodies like dual cats, deep gears, limited-slip, four-wheel disc brakes, and engine oil cooler.



Looking at the Firebird information book by Robert Casey, in 1990 it states that there were just 7 of these color combination / interior combination / manual transmission cars produced. I know that's not an exact number but I was wondering if the other six or so black and silver, two-tone, black cloth interior, and 5 speed Formulas were on here or in some member's garage? I'd like to see the other sister cars to mine ... I'd like to see which also had T-tops and the LB9. I'm going on the belief that even though there are 7 cars like mine (give or take, I know the numbers are fuzzy), some of those would be L03/M5 as well.

So ... does anyone else have one of these low production number Formulas on the forum? If it is actually that low, I figure that there were casualties to that number in the last 31 years and that not all 7 would have survived but if there's another '90 Formula like mine with a stick in it and this color scheme, let me know, please. Post your ride here because I'd like to see it.

 

That's a great combo and should run in the very low 14s! As you stated, can't be many left.

 

Keep in mind that you can bring just about any car to be 1 of (single digit) vehicle if you do options on top of options. I was able to do this with my Blazer.

Not sure exactly where Robert came with the 7 figure but Compnine shows it's 1 of 5 as:

1990 Formula
LB9 (305 TPI)
MM5 (5-speed)
41U (Black exterior)
19I/C (Black cloth interior)
CC1 (T-Top)
78A (Stripe kit)

Take away the 305 TPI and 5-speed and the figure goes to 31.

Options will matter, but so will condition.

 

That's a great looking Formula!

 

Terrific looking car! I didn't know that they still did two-tone in 1990.

1990 was a short production year; the refreshed 1991s were in production in January or February of 1990. So you're starting with a low number of Firebirds (just over 20K I think) to begin with. So an unusually optioned 1990 has a good chance of being very rare.

 

Thanks for the update. Robert has 7 and CompNine has 5, that's interesting. I knew it was low production based on the options ... I was just curious if anyone else on 3GO had the sister to this car with these options. It would be nice to know that at least two or more of this "class" were still out there surviving after 31 long and hard years.

Also, is it wrong to think that the LB9/5M cars were special ordered rather than just some dealer putting in a general order. It's been my experience that dealers usually ordered the cheapest cars they could stock the lot with ... i.e. base Formulas with L03s, 4A, rear drums, non limited slip 2.73s. With so few of these LB9/5M cars appearing in 1990, again was it just chance that a dealer ordered it this way or is it more likely someone knew what they were doing and spec'ed it out before ordering it special?

 

Yes, that's wrong thinking. Different dealers were motivated in different ways. Some cared about a performance image, some were dialed into the "hot options" like your car. Others, clueless, or as you suggest, ordered cheaper cars.

Many dealers ordered a basic spec and hoped to sell it, or DX it it to another dealer who ordered the "right car". Dealer Exchanges were - and still are common.

 

Keep in mind you're quoting the car as a whole (trim and powertrain). When you start to do that you can make any car a low production car. I'm not saying your car isn't a low production but of the 1990 Formulas in Compnine's database, they show 353 had the LB9/MM5 combo while 775 had the auto. It's when you add the color and other options does it drop to double or single digits and that's fairly typical.

As far as the order question, I agree with Big&BadGTA. I don't know if you can tell for certain if your car was special ordered or a stock unit as I don't see that info on the invoice of an example car, unless it's discrete.

 

Around here 99% of Thirdgens at dealerships were LG4s then later L03 cars with autos.. Rarely ever seen 350 cars and if it was TPI it was an automatic. I had a friend whose 86 or 87 IIRC was swapped to the 350 HO at the dealership and he always argued it was "factory." Ive never drove a 5spd TPI car but I have several 5.0 HO cars and was pretty impressed in fact they felt better than the 350 Auto cars to me.

 

I wasn't going to drill it down past the two-tone paint, black cloth interior, T-tops and the LB9 / 5M. I agree that you can have a "rare" car if you've got the only Formula that didn't have a cigarette lighter or passenger sun visor vanity mirror but that's grabbing at straws. I was just curious if any of the other 5 or 7 black on silver, black cloth interior, T-tops and LB9/5M cars were here or members' cars or if someone had once had one identical to mine (but maybe wrecked it or sold it, etc.). I didn't buy the car because it was rare ... didn't really know it until I got it back home and started looking at the options, etc. It's a keeper, and when I keep something money really isn't a factor in it. It's just kind of neat to have a relatively low production model like this ... and I was just curious if any of the others in the same group of base options (colors / T-tops / drive-train) were on here or not.

Thanks for all of the information and the comments. It's nice to look out into my garage and see the Formula and the TA parked side by side.

 

I love the 2 tone '87-'90 Formulas. I need to keep my eyes out for one.

 

[QUOTE=Black Echo;6433431]I know the numbers are vague, but I just picked up a 1990 Formula, black and silver two-tone, with T-tops, black cloth interior, LB9, and the 5 speed which also gives it all the go-fast goodies like dual cats, deep gears, limited-slip, four-wheel disc brakes, and engine oil cooler.



Looking at the Firebird information book by Robert Casey, in 1990 it states that there were just 7 of these color combination / interior combination / manual transmission cars produced. I know that's not an exact number but I was wondering if the other six or so black and silver, two-tone, black cloth interior, and 5 speed Formulas were on here or in some member's garage? I'd like to see the other sister cars to mine ... I'd like to see which also had T-tops and the LB9. I'm going on the belief that even though there are 7 cars like mine (give or take, I know the numbers are fuzzy), some of those would be L03/M5 as well.

So ... does anyone else have one of these low production number Formulas on the forum? If it is actually that low, I figure that there were casualties to that number in the last 31 years and that not all 7 would have survived but if there's another '90 Formula like mine with a stick in it and this color scheme, let me know, please. Post your ride here because I'd like to see

 

I had a 90 Firebird with a TBI 5 speed I bought in the mid nineties. I took me until last year to locate another 1990 Firebird Formula TPI 5 speed , just bought the same optioned car (minus the paint, I have a red one). I know there are not many 90’s out there with those RPO codes! You have a beautiful car!!

 

Of the 7, 6 of them had the LB9 and 5 of those 6 had the CC1 T-Tops.

 

That is such a nice car.

I actually thought two-tones ended before 1990. I had two '90 Formulas, once white, one Maui blue. But they were both monochrome and automatics.

 

Its not a '90 Formula, but I have a black '91 Trans Am (not two tone) with all of the same options as your formula with the addition of SLP runners.

 

Robert Casey's book is spot on for 86,88,89 & 90 for production numbers. Only 91 & 92 are off because of lack of complete datasets.