Photography Credit: J.G. Pasterjak
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We lived through the ’80s and ’90s and spent a lot of time with the era’s greatest hits–drove them, raced them, even knew them when they still had that new car smell. We fondly remember shopping for Kamei air dams, Hella lamps and 14-inch tires.
But were the cars of those times really that rad?
We wondered that ourselves, so we ditched the rose-colored glasses for a few to take a look back. Were they all winners, or did a few duds get released? Let’s slip on some Vans, break out the vinyl and take a trip back in time.
This week, we're looking back at the third-generation GM F-Body.
For the third generation of the Firebird and Camaro, GM trimmed the mullet a bit, but these cars were still born to party. Unfortunately, contemporary emissions controls and engine management choked the life out of them for much of their run.
My personal connection to them was my 1984 Trans-Am–not even four years old at the time–featuring a carbureted 305 with a whopping 190 horsepower. Later, port-injected 305s added some power and torque, and the L98 350 was finally available toward the end of the run, although it was never offered with a manual transmission.
The powertrains were kind of these cars’ ultimate downfall, as the electronically controlled carbs and early attempts at injection proved largely unreliable in the long run. The engines feature more vacuum plumbing than a Bissell factory, and every one of those lines is a drivability issue waiting to happen–unless the fragile ignition module burns out first. (Fortunately, though, these F-body cars typically outhandled Mustangs of the era.)
These days, good examples are fetching real money, and bad examples–of which there are very, very, very many–usually have extremely ambitious asking prices. Luckily, there’s a good aftermarket out there for everything from sheet metal to interior resto bits. And modern LS powerplants bolt right in, of course, making it easy to live out your Whitesnake-blasting dreams with appropriate power accompaniment.
Verdict: The dream car of Himalaya operators everywhere in 1987 is now an emerging collectible hotrod with lots of performance potential thanks to modern power.
My 2nd car was an '84 Camaro sport coupe, no AC, auto, 305 with carb. In 1987 as a 20yr old I was loving life. Next car was another '84 same options but with AC after deciding to move to New Orleans after the Navy and I got out of the car w/o AC and went NOPE.
At least this one someone had stuck part of the Z-28 ground effects on it.
Sweet. I bought at the bottom of the depreciation curve and only had to sit on it for 20 years to be able to make my money back!
As my first car, thirdgen trans ams will always be my favorite regardless of how terrible they are.
This was to be expected as us GenX'ers hit our peak earning years and our nostalgia goes into overdrive. It's happening with Fox Mustangs, as well.
Some of these cars can be had cheap, but old age has not treated most of them well.
iansane said:Sweet. I bought at the bottom of the depreciation curve and only had to sit on it for 20 years to be able to make my money back!
As my first car, thirdgen trans ams will always be my favorite regardless of how terrible they are.
I passed a car a lot like that the other day on I-4. It was good to see it out and about.
Noddaz said:Some of these cars can be had cheap, but old age has not treated most of them well.
I have a friend that's somewhat looking and it seems we're at the point now where you have absolute basket cases that people want 5k for or really nice examples for 12-20k. It's crazy.
I do have to admit that those cars are some of the best Vegas GM ever built... 
These are the coveted cars of my youth, and I feel like I have a deep personal connection to them. Growing up, we had friends and family with a variety of 3rd Gens:
-My mom's friend had a black 1982 Z28 with T-Tops. She used to take us to the beach in that thing all the time, and it ruled. I still remember getting yelled at to put towels down on the seats and not to get sand in the car.
-Dad's slightly nutty friend that we'll call "Crazy Bobby" had an electric blue 1988 IROC 350. I once spent some extended time as a 6 year old stuffed in the spare tire well on the way to a theme park in a neighboring state because "he forgot he'd take me too" when he was babysitting my sister and I. That was the last time Crazy Bobby babysat us. Also, that was when I was introduced to what a Flowmaster was, because I heard that transverse V8 soundtrack all day long. Explains a lot about who I am today, actually. Crazy Bobby may or may not have gone to prison on unrelated crimes a few months later....
-My sister's ex-husband (and by extension, my sister) had a 1988 light blue Firebird Formula WS6 with the TPI 305 and an automatic. My sister would take me on Saturday mornings to do my paper route in that thing sometimes, and then we would go to breakfast after. That car was fun and had a great factory sound system with this weird "gain" slider on the dash that would make the Hair Metal sound extra hairy.
Around 2001, I bought a basket case 1983 Z28 for $300 out of the old weekly Want Ad magazine. That thing had the LG4 305, a T-5 manual, T-Tops, and the optional composite "lightweight" hood. It even came with a 350 plucked out of a 1988 GMC van! I ditched it because the title that I was promised when I bought it never materialized and I ended up replacing it with my 2nd Gen Trans Am. I wish I kept that one, because it was solid and had a lot going for it. If I had to get another one, I'd go with an IROC, preferably a blue one like Crazy Bobby had. As terrible a babysitter as he was, he had great taste in cars!
20th anniversary Trans Am
I would love to have a 20th Anniversary Trans-Am, as I drove a test mule while working for Joe Varde's IMSA Firestone Firehawk team when he combined teams with Prototype Automotive Services out of Farmington Hills, Mi.
I was still a teenager, and they sent me out in the boss's test mule, a 1986 T/A with the V6 turbo, and a laptop in the passenger seat, to get some non-detergent oil to break in some motors on the dyno for our upcoming race at Road America.
Had some guy pull up next to me at a light in a brand new Corvette. Didn't know a thing about turbo lag, or holding the brakes with the left and giving it a little gas, but I still managed to run him down rather quickly. I like to think he went directly to where he bought it and complained about it being slower than a Trans-Am.
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