So I had a discussion the other day with my fiance. It was about Third Gen Camaros. I currently own 2 88 Camaro RS's. One T-top the other hard top. And the people who are doing the T-top switch said that unless I have another RS its going to be extremely hard to find one. And I of course told him I already have another RS thats a T-top. He came out and inspected. My fiance says that the RS's are extremely rare compared to the SS, Iroc, Z-28 and such. I want someones opinion I guess or fact. If that is true. So which one is the more rare??

 

A thirdgen SS would be really rare since they didn't make any. From 89-92 every Camaro was either a RS or a Z28. In general the RS is the more common car. Essentially it was a nice way to say base model. So yeah, I wouldn't consider any RS to really be rare, except maybe the 87's.

 

RS Camaro's are not rare.

 

I would agree with Drew on this. The rarest third gen RS was the limited production 1987. It was also limited to certain geographical areas, mainly California. A little known fact is the RPO code on these cars is Z5C which you won't find on most RPO lists. They came in only red, white, and black, with color matching 15" Z28 wheels, ground effects, and a V6 engine. I've never seen an exact number of how many were built, but it was very few. Does anyone know how many 1987 RS cars were actually built?

 

I've never seen any specific numbers for the 87 RS. Aside from a small blurb in the white book it's almost as though they never existed. V6 Fbodies never get much attention. If they'd been offered with a V8 there would probably be more about them on here.

 

What some of you are forgeting is that the RS was available in limited markets in 1987 and a few more markets were added in 1988. The RS became mainstream in 1989.

Does your 1988 RS say RS anywhere on it or is it the sport coupe, which was very common in 1988? Any pics?

 

The 1LEs are the most rare. The TTAs are rare too. The RS isn't that rare at all.

There are a few 1-off cars that there are only one of. Look up member t-towner and look in his signature. Alot of them are there.

 

My 88? The red 88 my newer one doesn't have anywhere...on it that I know of that says RS. Now the white 88 T-top I believe does. I have plenty of pics on my page but none of where it actually says RS. But I can go out there tomorrow actually because I just got off work and its dark, but I can go out and take some pics. Where it said RS on the white camaro I got no clue I just remember seeing it on the body some where. And I do have the titles if that would help. I don't think you could fake a title but I got no idea. And I am looking at the titles now and it says nothing about RS on the title. I looked them up on carfax by vin# and it said nothing about either being an RS. But it did say body type was Coupe which is a duh. But yea I am curious I will probably go out tomorrow and open the drivers side of both doors and take a peak that should tell me for sure.

 

VIN numbers don't really distinguish models that clearly. VIN decoders and insurance databases usually group similar models together and list packages the car might not necessarily have.

What Scott is getting at is the 88 Sport Coupe (base model) is nearly identical to a RS, but instead of Z28, Irocz, or RS badging on the rockers and rear bumper, they just say Camaro.

 

 

there are specific numbers on the homepage here with pretty close to exact production numbers. look em up there and add em up. i dont know about the firebirds but their trans am formulas are going to be the most rare. as far as camaro third gens go, the IROC's are going to be the most rare because they were only made from 85 to 90. check em out tho, its under camaro tech data.

 

Ok I looked up info. And I couldn't get the doors open because they are frozen and I didn't have time before work. But on the dash of the red 88 it says ERS and then somethin underneath it. And the white 88 doesn;t have that but the spoilers on both I very very rarely seen I was extremely surprised to see the same spoiler on the red one. But what does ERS mean anyone know? Or is it useless? lol

 

It's useless. It means Extended Range Sound. It was a better sounding or upgraded stereo option. In original form, the 88 Sport Coupe had silver ground effects and the 88 RS had body colored ground effects. The question is, do your cars have silver ground effects or body colored? Are they still original colored or repainted? Based on your description of the rear spoiler, it sounds like the early 1988 Sport Coupe. The RS had the Z28/IROC-Z rear spoiler.

 

Here's a pic of a 88 Sport Coupe with one of the two optional spoilers.. the other was the typical 3 piece cheddar wedge. The crab claw / super mini-me 91-92 Z28 wing was specific to the 88 Sport Coupe.

 

the most rare that I heard of from "wikipedia" was the 1982 indy pace car with the aluminum 5.7L.

 

GM never sold a 82 Z28 with a 5.7 to the general public.

 

a early 90s firehawk

 

Guess that would make it rare then.

 

This is the spoiler on both my 88s.

 

The white 88 with the T-tops has the original everything on it. And yes the ground effects are silver and its never been painted. The red 88 may have been painted but I think he left the ground effects the same...I know he "tried" to do some touch up work..hence the big black blotches on the doors. But the ground effects on both are silver. I mean I am happy to have my two Camaros wether they are extremely rare or not but I just thought it would be interesting. The white 88 Camaro only has 86,136 miles on the body and motor. But the PO's did not take care of it worth a . So the red one even though it has many miles on the body would be the better bet for me. When I get done with both cars...I plan to part out the white 88. But this Third Gen Camaro history is interesting lol keep going.

 

Then your 88's are Sport Coupes... ie base models. AKA Camaro's.
In 89 the RS became the base model. Really the only difference was instead of saying CAMARO on the moldings and whatnot, the RS says RS, and the GFX are painted body color.

 

Here are the pics you asked for. I am pretty sure that Drew is right but I am just posting these because I can lol.
Below is the red 88.






Below is of course the white 88 T-top.










The Bad Side.




The Good Side.

 

and even more rare-early 90s firehawk convertible

 

The silver GFX (gold was optional IIRC), black/silver stripe, and 15" gray 5 spoke wheels are all clues. The 'CAMARO' script on the rockers, and the spoiler is a dead giveaway. They're one year only cars, but aside from the badging and spoiler they're pretty much a RS.

 

Thanks Drew really interesting stuff.