If you ordered a 1988 Z28 in Canada without C60 air conditioning and with G92 performance gear ratio would that alone trigger a 1LE build?

 

I've also wondered this about the Pontiac Trans Am. The 1988 Trans Am below was owned by member here @lugercollector and has since been sold. I wondered to myself when I first saw his Trans Am for sale "Why isn't this Trans Am a 1LE car?"

Quebec 1988 Trans Am performance package/really nice - Third Generation F-Body Message Boards

I think in 1988 the cars had to also be option Level 0 to trigger the 1LE option.

I think the reason why his Trans Am isn't also a 1LE car is because it has too high of an option level to trigger the 1LE option for 1988.

 

"Factory AC delete". I always find that phrase amusing with these cars. I wonder if manual windows was the trigger for 1LE ?

 

This particular car has the FZAB Base Group 0 "no charge" interior. Other than physically looking at the car in person to see if it has the duel piston front disk brakes how else would you know for sure? I've seen the SPID sheet it is a hard top and it has the "8" in the Vin for a 350, the "J" in the 10th digit for 1988, G92, K 68 alternator, J65 brakes, no striping above the lower ground effects, but does have the fog lights. I have heard that 2 of the 1988 1LE came with fog lights, and that the SPID did not have the 1LE on the SPID. Any ideas?

 

So its a 350 with a T5 ? is that what you are saying ?

 

It doesn't have a T5. Where did you see that? It is an MXO automatic.

 

The SPID would clearly identify if it is one one of the 4 1LE's built in '88.

 

Here are some links about the 2 1988 1LE that had fog lights and some of the 111 1989 1LE. I've also heard that the 4 1988 1LE did not have 1LE on the SPID since that designation wasn't used to identify them till the 111 1LE that were delivered in 1989. Can anybody verify this? If anybody out there has one of these would you check your SPID and let us know?

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/hist...ro-iroc-z.html
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/hist...es-number.html
https://www.hagerty.com/media/market...ou-can-afford/https://barnfinds.com/rare-19k-mile-...camaro-iroc-z/
https://barnfinds.com/rare-1le-1989-...camaro-iroc-z/

 

We have the records on 3 or 4 of the 1988 1LE Camaros from a member. 1LE does appear on the build sheet.

 

That car of lugarcollector was a 1989 car and is a 1LE

 

I don't get how you say his car is an 1989 1LE car. He says the car is a 1988 model and has posted a picture of the SPID label which clearly shows it's not a 1LE car because there is no 1LE RPO code.

The 10 digit of the VIN is a J which is 1988.


10th digit of VIN indicates 1988 model year and there is no 1LE RPO code.

 

My Bad! I guess I should have looked at the link first. BUT the car I was referring to was lugarcollectors white 1989 1LE R7U car he had, I didnt realize he had 2 Trans ams. sorry for the confusion

 

that car is also too early.

 

In 88, there was no trigger for 1LE. They were GM ordered. 1989 was similar. In canada all 76 were GM ordered. In the usa, they had to be ordered as a 1LE. For 90-up, if you had the right combinations then it could trigger 1LE, but there are many examples without 1LE. So its still a bit of a mystery.

The majority of 1LE were race spec or police. But for sure in 91 there were many street examples.

The funny cars are Pontiac 1LE with T tops. How does that work? It was almost triggered by the light weight options that were typical on cc1 t top cars.

Oddly none of the 88 1LE cars have shown up at an auction.

Mark.

 

The Pontiac 1LE with CC1 are a result of the Firehawk program opening that up. There was one 1998 T/A sold many years ago. I have the VIN and pictures of the car.

 

The problem with 1988 is Pontiac officially only claimed a single 1LE Trans Am for the model year. There are rumors of more, but the official Pontiac report only shows one. It does not specify what options came on it either. Therefore, nearly 37 years later it might be kind of hard to decipher how it came to be, whether it was simply a test car or a customer's car etc. I am not sure if anyone has ever come up with it either.

 

This old bird?

 

I know in 1989, when I ordered my Firebird, I was considering the 1LE. It was available for factory order. If I speced 1LE, it deletes the A/C automatically. That's a clear memory. I needed the A/C, so I ordered a Formula, with the LB9 and T5. N10 came automatically, as well as the gear ration. 2 months later, I had my car.

The magazines were wrong back in 1989, stating various "facts", which are clearly wrong about the 1LE. Like the 18 gallon fuel tank with a swinging pickup. The spoked spare tire, etc.

 

When I had a car in High Performance Pontiac, the writer was pretty clear that a good story was more important than the truth.

And yes they got a lot wrong about 1LEs. Especially the early cars. How many times did you read they were for IMSA and Firehawk? Mark and a few others here have done more than anyone I’ve seen to set that record straight.

 

I read those magazines every month back in the 80's & 90's. I treated the information as gospel. There was no internet, no formal way to get information. Especially insider information such as 1LE. So the magazines were my reference.
I wanted that 18 gallon gas tank badly, got all the 1LE part #'s from the magazines. Only to find out it's a standard 15.5 gallon tank, with a deeper cup. But I needed a gas tank anyway, because my VIN was not in the recall. So I'm happy with the tank, as there is no more cornering starvation. But the inaccurate information kills me.

 

That 18 gallon gas tank and special swinging fuel pickup is even in the 1989 Pontiac dealer brochure on the Turbo TA.

It's also in this forum's Tech Data section along with a bunch of other misinformation that has never been corrected here on this forum.

 

I probably still have that brochure in my basement. and yes, that rings a bell. Just incorrect information, and false marketing. I was intrigued by the TTA back in 1989, but white and beige seats were not my thing. I'm happy I opted for the Formula hard top, LB9 T5 WS6. Black interiors are my thing, till this very day.

 

Yes a good story is more important than the facts! There are more odd things associated with 1LE than real things!

An 88 1LE will make its way to the auction block one day ...

Mark.

 

We all did. Back to 1LE's, when presented with evidence that contradicted what was in the magazines, I picked the wrong side, thinking they must have fact checked this. Not realizing it was just guys like Freiburger bs'ing their way through everything.