dwillms

Hey,

I just wanted to tell you guys that I believe I have the second 1986 Trans Am listed here on ThirdGen with factory power Recaro seats. After reading some of the posts about the other car owned by Chris that had the same option, I've e-mailed him about it. Here is the story of my car:

Back in '01, I was 16, just got my license. Looking for a decent performance car, since my Dad has had all sorts of car since he was a kid (69 Beaumont SD 396, 67 Impala SS, 65 Chevy II Drag car, etc). Well, the third gen T/A's seemed like a decent route to take. That summer, my dad happened to find this 86 TA, and bought it from a guy for a decent price. It was a write-off because the car had damage in the bumper/front fender. The car was in real nice shape otherwise, and he knew it wouldn't cost much to repair.

When I first got the car, I thought the seats in them looked pretty good, but to me they didn't seem out of the ordinary because I didn't know any better. All I noticed was the "Recaro" logos, and that they had 3 switches on the side for power adjustment. After finding this great site, and searching through the message boards for different topics, one day I decided to see if my seats were anything special. Looking through my RPO's, I found the AC3 and the AS5 both listed, so that is where I started from. I guess it has turned out that there is only one other documented car so far like this, which is a LOT different than I thought I would find Reading through Car Craft/Hot Rod, you always read stories about rare finds in old barns and stuff, just never thought I would get to do that. I have no idea if these seats are special to anybody, but to me, at least if they are a rare option they are more useful than something like a CB radio would be.

Anyways, if anybody else is interested, I can take some pictures of the car and put them up here. My drivers seat is torn down the side pretty badly, but the passenger seat is in nice shape.

I live up in Canada, and I'm actually thinking of selling my car right now. I have a few other projects on the go, like a 80 Firebird Formula 455, another 86 TA that I'm thinking of putting a 455 into, and a 71 Firebird that I have a lead on. If anybody else is interested at all, you can definitely e-mail me at k.willms@sasktel.net.

Thanks for listening to my rambling,
-Dustin

85 T/A WS6

Great story Dustin !

In order to have a leg up on new model releases, factory publication services would alway list the items in a brochure or merchadiser that production planning / engineering was working on at the time.

The bad part is schedules / materials / ideas change and cars will be built with additional options not listed in publications. Not only that you will read things like "no AC3 with AS5"

On the other hand options that were intended to be built were published but never manufactured.

In my opinion you have a rare car, Im biased, but like you I was not looking for a Recaro equiped T/A or even a car for that matter when I saw mine on the lot. That makes the discovery of the treasure more fun ! In a world of look alike 3rd gens it is really neat to have one that not necessarily stands out but your know it is different and is always enjoyable to explain why.

Here is a famous 86 Recaro with a great story behing it:

Blown 86 T/A

(please no flames, Eddie is a friend and I will take it personal)


Thanks for sharing !

Don

dwillms

Yes, I have heard and read about this car before. Putting that much detail work isn't my sort of thing, but you can't give the guy anything but respect to the guy for all the time/money/etc. that he has put into his ride, even if you are not a big fan of the way it looks.

-Dustin

85 T/A WS6

So how much will you be asking for your 86 ?

dwillms

Well, it is a clean car with 140,000 KM(about 87 K miles). Up here in Canada where I live, I see lots of 86/87 TA's and Camaros with more miles for around 5000-6500 or so Canadian. So I listed it for 6200 in the paper(about $4700 US). If nobody seems interested in the car, then I'm thinking about maybe selling the Recaro's to someone who is looking for a power set, and then just picking up a cheap set of buckets and then selling the car with them.

SBlackfoot

Parting out the seats would be a shame... Don't break up a rare find.

Might I ask where in Canada you're from?

dwillms

I really would like to not have to. I would love if somebody here was interested and close enough to take the car, because then I would know it would stay original and would be in good hands. The problem is I have a few other projects on the go (86 TA with 455 possibly going in, 80 Formula 455, 71 Firebird that I'm thinking about), and money talks.

If there really is nobody looking to buy my car that cares about the Recaros or the rarity of the options, then selling the seats to somebody who cares and picking up a cheap set at the junkyard will be my best bet to maximize my value on the car.

By the way, I'm from Saskatchewan, so if anybody from around here is interested, I'd be happy to let you take a look at the car.

Thanks,
-Dustin

razor

Hey Dustin I am from Regina. I would love to have a look at the car. Where are you at?????

dwillms

Hey, thanks for asking. I'm right near Saskatoon, just a few mins. north. Are you coming up for the Draggins show? If you would like to e-mail me, I can give you more info. Thanks,

-Dustin

cam-

I have that same tan/blue grey Reccaro interior in my daily driver. It came out of a wrecked 85 TA and I love it. Comfort and style. Showing a very little wear now though :-(

GatotsuZeroshiki

Looks like I picked one up too from a high school student for 200 bucks; I didn't find the RPO codes under the center console, is there anywhere else to look?

The seats are really messed up though -- noone really knew what they had on their hands. Honestly, I think these Recaros feel better than my 4th gen Camaro seats, even in their trashed condition.

Here's a pic of the interior:







You can see my 4th gen in the background in the first pic. The history of the car's kind of murky; I haven't Carfaxed it yet, but the student bought the car from his cousin for 750 bucks; the cousin attained the car form a customer. Looks like I have my work cut out for me.

JeffW

looks like a nice project car. love to see em asved from the crusher they are getting hard to find here in Mass

85 T/A WS6

The best you can do is request PHS Documentation

PHS

Dig around for a build sheet too.

From the pics it seems you might have number 2. The bad part is foam damage, as soon as the Pallex cloth goes the foam wears at an extreme rate, sometimes beyond repair. Only an expert upholsterer can fix these and expect to pay large dollars.

Thanks for the post.

dwillms

Definitely a project I thought my seats were bad though, with them being torn just down driver's side.

I'm just teasing a little bit, I actually dig this car quite a bit. I love hearing about cars scored for cheap, even if they are quite beat. You have the nice WS6 wheels, is it a TPI? Also looks to be a five-speed.

I've heard some build sheets being found in funky places under seats etc, search on the board a little for that topic, you might get lucky.

I find my seats decently comfy, but they start to wear on me after awhile.

Have fun with it,
-Dustin

GatotsuZeroshiki

Thanks guys! I was really lucky -- did not expect to find a T/A with recaro seats when I responded to the ad. These seats are prolly gonna cost me $$$$$$$$$$$ to get them back into tip-top shape. The motor is a tired LG4 with 223K miles that makes this horrible grinding sound when it runs. Hopefully I will be able to track down an LT1/T56 (I already have an LS1, I'd like an LT1 as well.)
Heck, towing the car home cost almost as much as I paid for it.

Thanks for the help!