'89 IROC Vert

I've been watching the value of TTAs lately (I'm still considering selling the convertible and buying one). It seems like a 20k-30k mile one has been dropping in price - I'm seeing them sell for lower and lower on e-bay.

Anyone see this same thing, or is it just happenstance?

08141980

I don't see cars as "investments"... The worse thing you can do is store a car in a time capsule in my book. With the price of gasoline climbing possibly to $3 a gallon by summer time...I believe that the price for most of these collectable cars will decrease slightly. Holy Grail examples (Hemi, 454 LS-6, BOSS 302s, 69 Z-28) will always command a high price...but everything else will decrease as less, and less people will be lining up for their Muscle car fix. Look at the light side...if the cars price decreases slightly...more and more people will be able to afford a blistering TTA with it's GNX performance. You can in reasonable "mind" modify and drive a TTA without feeling too guilty. The GNX brothers on the other hand will probably stick these cars in the garage and not enjoy the vehicle due to the low production numbers and "high collectability" of a 547 car run.

P.S> The TTA and me are bonded.

92GTA

iTrader: (11)

They are going down in value because lately they has saturated the market IMO. They are for sale everywhere. Every other person seems to have a low milage one and they are fairly new cars, it will be years before they start to go up in value. People aren't rushing to buy them now because they know that in 10 or 20 years you will still be able to find one with less than 20K miles without a problem. Also because there are so many on the market now people are having to sell them for less and less if they really need the money and that brings the overall viewed market value down...

MdFormula350

i want one for a weekend cruiser / racer!!

Air_Adam

If their values are dropping, it probably won't be by much and definitely not for very long.

90 GTA Black

I may be missing the mark with this comment but who would want one. My idea of a Trans Am is not 6 cyl automatic no matter how fast it is.

92GTA

iTrader: (11)

Got me

I owned one and didn't care much for the brown/white color combo. It was pretty quick though and the potential for 11's with a stock bottom end is there and very obtainable so allot of people buy it as base for further mods...

TTA 1387

Some people's idea of a Trans Am also stopped with the 2nd gen. 3rd and 4th gens aren't powered by Pontiac.

Goes both ways...

TTA 1387

I think its because its the best all around TA until the LS1 4th gens.

Case in point: Last year while driving to the F-Body Memphis event, I got 30 mpg. Ripped off 118mph blasts on the drag strip. Went around part of the road coarse at crazy speeds. Did the 0-100-0 shootout. Packed up and drove home, 27mpg with the A/C on.

Kind of hard for another 3rd gen to that

CamaroFreak406

Ya I think you did miss the mark. TTA are awesome cars no matter how many cylinders they have. The body styling is the same as a normal TA but the engine would rip you to shreads. I love TTA's I wish they made more of them so there would be more around "Boost is Good, No I'm wrong, Boost is Freakin' Great"

Later, Garrett

Redarrow1

Yep, since the day they rolled off the showroom floor. Most cars that are specifically marketed as "Collectors Items" are quickly grabbed up by people that lock them in garages and never drive them. The market is flooded. I'd bet you that for every mint 1985 H.O. T/A with a 5spd anyone finds, I can find three mint TTA's. I'm not saying they're not awsome cars, just I wouldn't pay a crazy amount of money for one either.

90 GTA Black

Hey, I stand corrected. I have never driven in one or even seen one for that matter. And yes, it took me 20 years to get over the fact that there was a chev engine in the TA before I bought mine 90. Actually, I bought the 90 GTA as a daily driver while I work on my second gen projects. Since buying the GTA, I haven't touched the second gens - the 3rd gen is way too much fun and I have been spending all my time on it.

kizz

iTrader: (1)

someone correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the 89 TTA's the fastert firebird EVER, even faster than LS1's? Hands down, faster than any other thirdgen except maybe a Firehawk. could be wrong. Take a fully loaded LS1 4th gen and race it against a TTA (TTA was loaded pretty much by default), and I'd be really surprised if they weren't within a tenth or two from each other on the 1/4mi. That little 3.8 V6 is a sleeper if ever there was one. I'm not a huge TTA fan per se, but gotta give credit where it's due. 90 GTA you did miss the point.

I haven't noticed a huge decline in TTA selling prices, but if there is one, I would attribute it to the dismal economy. TTA's are unique in that they'll be plentiful for decades to come and ther price will go dramatically up, in the long term. You can't really guarantee that for any car, but TTA is as safe a bet as any.

gt

92GTA

iTrader: (11)

I have a printed road test of the 1992 Firehawk and one outside source got a amazing 12.9 out of it!!! I'd like to see a test by an outsdie source putting the TTA in the 12's BONE stock

I will admit though that most souces got a 13.2 or a 13.1 but this one magazine got a 12.9, that incredible! Remember this was also with the "beat on car" that was driven HARD by everyone and their cousin...

GTADave

Over the last 2 1/2 years since I bought mine it has appeared the prices have stayed the same or gone up a little bit. Remember these cars are far from classics, they are too young. The cars that seem to be doing really well right now are the 1st and 2nd gen cars (birds and camaros). TTA's need to at least hit the 20 year mark before they can even begin to be considered a classic.

I also agree with the comments about 20K-30K milage cars being easy to find, especially in a leather T-top car.

With the economy situation the way it is and the impending war with Iraq, my guess is we will see a drop in everything, including the old classics. The COPO Camaros, 69 TA Convertables, 70 RAIV Trans Ams should hold their own, but thats it.

Collector Cars are like a fine wine, they need alot of time before they become really valuable. So until then, drive, show and enjoy the cars, cause even today their are still better places to put your money if you are looking to invest.

Dave

Willie

iTrader: (1)

Once a car has attained "collector" status, it seems that the value is completely dependent on the economy. Like everything else, the values are cyclical. One month, it's up, then it's down again. I recall back in the late '80s (please correct as my memory isn't that good), there was a slump in the classic car market. For example, the value of a Hemi Challenger (yep, I used to be a Mopar nut), dropped like a rock, from ~$60,000 to ~$35,000. But it seems today, it's right back up again. Another example (although still somewhat loose) is my 1987 Z28 convertible. Six months ago, it was at $16,000. One month later, it was at $16,900. Today, it's down to $14,400. Why is it down so much? I believe it's the economy. That's my two cents.

90 GTA Black

The thing that I didn't like about the TTA (and a lot of TA's such as the second gen 301 Turbo and the 350 TPi) is no standard transmission. What's up with that. It seems like GM is the only manufacturer that was refusing to put in a 4 or 5 speed in their performance cars. Yeah, I know they have their excuses, I mean reasons, but their competitors made sure that a standard was available to those that wanted it.

'89 IROC Vert

Fully agree; however GM has been making bad performance choices for a long time. Currently, those bad decisions are at the lowest. A few examples:

1) Removal of F-body from line-up
2) Creating SS pickups without any power
3) Creating a 50th Vette thats just like the regular Vette
4) Creating Monte SS that are front-wheel drive

91Zman

Redarrow1

The point isn't that there ar a large amount of them. The point is of the 1500 or so produced, most were stored with the idea of collectability. Therefore, there are a lot more mint TTA specimens than a mint regular T/A or IROC. Just using these board as an example, I think there is only one or two mint low mileage bone stock regular issue F-Bodys on this board. (I know there is a maroon Iroc and someone has a Recaro T/A that are both mint and low mileage) Now there are at least 5 or 6 mint TTAs on the boards.

ctandc

Just my lowly 2 cents, but the TTA is alot like the Grand National in my opinion. Alot of people like them, and they were both pretty quick ( especially considering it was the 80's ) but there seems to be an either 'love it or hate it' with these cars.

YES, the little 3.8 Turbo cars can be built to go VERY fast without alot of mods, but they are high maintenance cars....I'm sorry, but they are. I've owned a Grand National, and it was a LOW MILE 1 owner car, it was fun...until I started racing it some and stuff started breaking, then upgrading this and that etc. Like a buddy of mine says ( who owns a TTA and (2) Turbo Regals ) "Instead of nickel and diming me death, my cars $10 and $20 me to death.."


And the comment about 11 sec 1/4 miles and 27 mpg ... that's an awesome car...but how much do you have in the drivetrain? If it's not a daily driver, how often does it get driven? And ESPECIALLY considering the majority of the TTA's have been sitting around undriven for years, when people do start to drive them some, they are prone to problems from sitting.


As for price drops, there's no real "market trend"...if anything, online stuff like Ebay has caused some values to inflate, and make every schmuck with a '79 Firebird Espirit 301 think it's a $5000 collector car....

But, times like these are the times to buy the low mile, garaged collectible cars...reason being, alot of the people who can afford to buy a $25k car brand new, and then store it, and NOT drive it, they are upper income. And times like these are when that bracket gets hit hard... 401k's take a hit, anything involved with the stock market etc...so they are getting rid of non-essentials for liquid assets ( read $$$$ ).


Guess it's still like my Dad always said.. " it's only worth what somebody will pay for it..."

A88GTANotchback

I second that notion

TTA 1387

Mine hasn't nickel and dimed me...yet. I had to put a rear main seal in when I bought it. But that is common with a turbo Buick. Changed the chip to a Thrasher 92 and hit the track. Went 13.0 on a crappy set of Firestone's.

I drove it to Memphis01 and got 29mpg. Ran 12.6. Same setup as before but with Nitto Drag Radials. Didn't have anymore money in that setup than when I bought it.

Last year, I did a little modfest. New PT51 turbo, MSD 50# injectors, Walbro 340 fuel pump, valve springs, 3" downpipe and SLP cat back exhaust. I needed a converter badly as I couldn't spool at the line. That has been changed this year along with a rebuilt trans because it started flaring on the 2-3 shift. Times should be a little better this year

Mine isn't a daily driver but in two years I've put 17k miles on it. I drive it at least 100 miles a week, weather permitting. So it has seen the road many times.

Mine was one of those collector cars. The original owner bought it and put some mods from ATR on it back in '89(K&N, thermostat, valve cover breather). I think it was a track car. The second owner bought it in '96 with very little miles. Within 2K miles, one Gatorback blew out and he put the Firestone's on. He drove for 1.5 years and let sit again until I bought it. The car had 17K miles on it when I bought it. It wasn't pristine but clean. Except for the Exxon Valdez under the car At least my car was never going to rust

That said, it was nice enough to be displayed in the Corvette Museum at the F-Body 35th Anniversary event. Proud of that

Sorry for the long post...

90 GTA Black

Don't forget the 35th anniversary TA. What were they thinking!!
I just realized that you said currently but that was the worst send off to a great car line that I can think of except, perhaps, the 74 GTO.

92GTA

iTrader: (11)

There was no 35th Anniv. Trans Am The last Annv. Trans Am was the 99 30th...

There was a 35th Anniv. Firebird, the Yellow one with the Black crap on it...

What's wrong with the 50th Vette? Aside from an ugly color IMO, it's just fine, how could you have made it any better?

Mr. TurboTA

Easy!

ZO6!!!!!


Later,

George

92GTA

iTrader: (11)

Hey George, nice to see you back!

Sure you could have used the ZO6 for the 50th but how many would you sell if that was the only 50th? Aren't all of the '03 vettes considered 50th's anyway?

Mr. TurboTA

In a way.
But the purple color choice is the 50th Anniversary's only color!
GM has usually had every option as standard for Anniversary cars, even the optional engines in that car line. I'm sure that they all would have sold with the ZO6 engine! Maybe faster!!!

Later,

George

'89 IROC Vert

Chevy just needs to do something that sets the 50th Vette apart from the others. I like the color, but how about a special cam/heads/intake? Something!

Kaps

Umm, Isnt the 50th annaversary vettes getting 427ci ?? I know there are only going to be 50 made and I think its a $50,000 OPTION LOL I think lingefelter (lol SP) is bieng contracted to do it.. But maybe chevy has a diff 50th ann that you guys are talking about. I think it was in motor trend

'89 IROC Vert

The $50,000 50th anniversary Vette with the 427 is made my Goldstrund - a Vette racer from years past. The car is no way associated with a factory optioned Vette - just the same as any Lingenfelter.

Kaps

oh, I could of sworn it said it was a factory deal like the Berger camaros and what not. I could be wrong... now if I only had $120,000...

92GTA

iTrader: (11)

Berger Camaro's aren't factory...

Kaps

well, they are GM licensed specail edition, like a yenko or a third gen convertible, they are "factory" but TECHNICALLY not since it leaves the factory regular edition... I get what your saying...