July 2020 COTM **Winner**
#1
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Car: '89 Firebird
Engine: 7.0L
Transmission: T56
July 2020 COTM **Winner**
Congratulations, LiquidBlue, you and your car are TGO's July 2020 Car of the Month!
Long term owners have a rather unique relationship with their car. It's not just a car to them - It is memories, and an extension of personality. When I asked for a picture of the car he sent me a picture of his wife with a partial of the car and said, "30 years, same car, same girl." And I thought to myself, that guy has his priorities straight! Congratulations on the long and happy marriage. (But I still needed a picture of the whole car. )
Read along to hear the story of LiquidBlue and his 30 year ownership of this 1990 Formula.
@LiquidBlue | 1990 Formula
Long term owners have a rather unique relationship with their car. It's not just a car to them - It is memories, and an extension of personality. When I asked for a picture of the car he sent me a picture of his wife with a partial of the car and said, "30 years, same car, same girl." And I thought to myself, that guy has his priorities straight! Congratulations on the long and happy marriage. (But I still needed a picture of the whole car. )
Read along to hear the story of LiquidBlue and his 30 year ownership of this 1990 Formula.
@LiquidBlue | 1990 Formula
To me, my Formula is symbolic of a new life, a new beginning. Had fallen on hard times and moved to Houston to start a new job and a new life. In 1992 I had enough money to buy a car. I wasn’t looking, but then I saw a Maui Blue Formula for sale and was hooked. Also purchased a Toyota Corolla with 500,000 miles on it so I wouldn’t have to use the Formula as a daily driver. By 1994 I was traveling so much, barely had time to drive it, and then in 1998 was sent overseas on work assignment. Ultimately, my entire house and the Formula went into storage (again). Thinking I’d be back in a year, I finally retrieved it from storage in 2016 and brought it back to life. People thought I was crazy for storing it for as long as I did, but they didn’t understand the symbolism of the car, or how cool Third Gens are!
My goal is to maintain factory originality or install SLP parts that could have been dealer ordered. I want it to remain vintage 1990. Since it was more or less put away in 2004, not much had changed from what the factory put on it - had a great template to work with. Just about everything on the car is from the factory, just spent time A LOT of time cleaning 65,000 miles and 30 years of dirt. Did tear down the motor for new valve seals and put on a few SLP parts in the process. Thanks to everyone at thirdgen.org that answered all my tedious questions in the process! The alternator and a/c compressor are new, but the old ones worked. Just wanted to preserve them and get them rebuilt properly. All the body seals are still factory and so is the paint. Even the factory hood shocks and headlights are still working! Got lots of plans for her, but she’s reliable and the wife and I can take it out for a spin anytime we want. Thirty years later, same car, same girl. Awesome!
My goal is to maintain factory originality or install SLP parts that could have been dealer ordered. I want it to remain vintage 1990. Since it was more or less put away in 2004, not much had changed from what the factory put on it - had a great template to work with. Just about everything on the car is from the factory, just spent time A LOT of time cleaning 65,000 miles and 30 years of dirt. Did tear down the motor for new valve seals and put on a few SLP parts in the process. Thanks to everyone at thirdgen.org that answered all my tedious questions in the process! The alternator and a/c compressor are new, but the old ones worked. Just wanted to preserve them and get them rebuilt properly. All the body seals are still factory and so is the paint. Even the factory hood shocks and headlights are still working! Got lots of plans for her, but she’s reliable and the wife and I can take it out for a spin anytime we want. Thirty years later, same car, same girl. Awesome!
The following 3 users liked this post by QwkTrip:
#6
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Car: 89 Firebird
Engine: 355 TBI
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 10 Bolt.Posi-3.73s
Re: July 2020 COTM **Winner**
Keeping the same girl and the same car says a lot! Must have knew it didn't get any better. Great car, congrats,one of my faves ive seen on the board.
#7
Member
Re: July 2020 COTM **Winner**
Great looking car and great looking lady. Congrats.
Louis
Louis
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#9
Supreme Member
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 1,986
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Car: 90 Formula / T-tops
Engine: 305 TPI
Transmission: MD8
Re: July 2020 COTM **Winner**
Thanks again guys! wasn’t trying to pimp out the wife, it’s just the photo captured the Maui Blue sheen perfectly!
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CKone (06-30-2020)
#11
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Car: 88 T/A, 91 Formula, 94 Firehawk
Engine: 400 Pontiac, 5.0 TPI, 5.7 LT1
Transmission: 700R4, T5, T56
Axle/Gears: 4.10, 3.42, 3.42
Re: July 2020 COTM **Winner**
I really love everything about this car. The color, the options, the level of preservation and presentation is all there for me. And if all that wasn’t enough a beautiful lady to boot! Great job with bringing this car back to life after years of storage! Definitely deserving of the win, let’s celebrate this Independence Day a little extra 🍻👍🏻
#12
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Location: MA
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Car: 92 & 91 Z28 1LEs, 87 IROC-Z, 90 ZR1
Engine: L98, LT5
Transmission: 700R4, 6-speed
Axle/Gears: 3.45, 3.42, 3.73, 3.27
Re: July 2020 COTM **Winner**
Magnificent car!!! Love the story and a maui blue formula will always be one of my favorites. Congrats and very well deserved!!
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