I snagged this car out in Western MA the weekend of January that New England got its first ***-kicking of the season from snow. Finally got the car on the road two weeks ago and so far, so good - especially after sitting since last August until I purchased.


The deets:

1988 Formula w/ T-tops
Black exterior with gray interior
138K miles
WS6 suspension package (pretty sure)
305 TBI
Automatic

The PO had exterior repainted in the last few years over what Carfax tells me was a body that was never hit. After the paint, the "Formula" badging was never replaced and I kind of like it the way it is now. Kind of a Formula sleeper.

Interior is about a 7 or 8 out of 10 - the usual suspects like cracked dash and torn up driver seat apply but otherwise it presents really well. Air blows ice cold and the heat works well.

I haven't found the factory build sheet with all the options listed but the car does show up as a Formula under a VIN search and it does have "Performance Suspension" badging and "WS6 suspension" caps on the rims so I'm pretty sure it's got the WS6 package.

The engine runs smooth as a kitten, I think it was rebuilt but I don't have documents to prove. It's really quiet, especially with stock exhaust! Tranny has nice firm positive-feeling shifts. New fuel lines and fuel tank, plus all new brakes and brake lines were installed sometime in the past few years.

After a desperately-needed spin-balance the car clears 100mph with negligible chassis vibration (the UJoints are definitely worn and would probably smooth this out I think). Cruising on the highway almost feels like floating.

I'm really impressed with my new car and also happy to have found this forum. This marks my first GM (after owning a 1966 Mustang, 4 E30 BMWs and an E39 BMW over the past 16 years) and I'm definitely looking forward to driving this car and fixing it up as I go.

Rob

 

Cool car! Keep us posted and let us know if you are looking for any parts. Put some steeper gears in it and it will feel like a different car all together. Factory 2.73 gears should have never been put in a "sports car".

 

Welcome to the 3rd Gen! The RPO's are located in the center console if intact. It will tell you what was delivered with the car. Looks like the oxidation preserved the paint pretty nice!

 

Cool car. Nice find. Welcome to the formula world. Just drove mine for the first time this year. Glad to be back in it!

 

Welcome aboard 88Black Formula!

That's a great looking car. I look forward to following your progress with it.

 

just picked mine up in south CT. 1988 firebird, 305 tbi, non t-top. got aftermarket suspension with air ride, trans am wheel leather racing seats. good little car, quick as hell

 

Thanks for the head's up. I checked there but no dice. It looks like it was never there - no outline from the sticker or any glue residue. I've seen posts referencing something under the seats as an alt location.

I was considering taking the info overload approach too - PHS Historic Services (http://www.phs-online.com/) offers a VIN lookup service for $65 yielding:

• copy of the factory invoice or billing history
• a letter decoding the options (when necessary)
• a copy of a dealer order form for that year

 

I guess so, or maybe the car was in a flat black primer? The dad of the girl I bought the car from owned a body shop and from what I was told it was a full repaint with an extra coat of clear. The work was pretty good I think. Lots of attention to details, fresh paint in the jambs, trim was removed, spoiler or possibly the whole hatch cover looks like it was from a donor car and repainted too - I see patches of red where a sprayer may not have reached. The underside of the car actually looks like they did a light spray of gloss black while it was on a lift as well.