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History / OriginalityGot a question about 1982-1992 Camaro or Firebird history? Have a question about original parts, options, RPO codes, when something was available, or how to document your car? Those questions, answers, and much more!
Today I had the opportunity to speak to my car's original owner. I tracked him down by googling his name, a very old world Greek name so it wasn't very difficult to determine that the person I found in a six year old Reading Pennsylvania newspaper article was probably him. I should mention I found his name and address on the back inner cover of the warranty booklet. I then attempted to find him on Facebook but struck out locating anyone with his name. However, in the newspaper article he was pictured with his sister and I was able to find someone with her name on Facebook. I took a chance and sent that person a private message via FB messenger and three weeks later (yesterday) I finally received a response from her. She said that the car was her brothers "baby," was always parked in the garage and never driven in bad weather. She passed him my phone number and today he called me. He says he went down to Bob Fisher Chevy on June 28,1989 in Reading Pa. to look at buying a new Chevy Blazer but saw the IROC parked under a tent in front of the dealership. He asked his salesman friend Ralph Schneider about it and Ralph tossed him the keys and told him to drive it and when he returned he would sell it to him! He drove the car and says he was impressed with the handling and performance and that when he returned his friend was already filling out the paperwork. He bought the car and it remained with him for the next 17 years during which time he only put 10,000 miles on it. According to him the car came with acrylic ttops which explains the acrylic ttop care information brochure that I received with the rest of the paperwork when I purchased the car. Some years later his salesman friend mentioned to him that there was a "silent recall" on the acrylic tops and urged him to complain to the service department that they leaked, so that they would be replaced with glass tops. Apparently silent recalls are not made public but dealers are aware and can replace items free of charge if there is a customer complaint. He says he adored the car and that he only drove it in the summers when the weather was good. He asked me if the "saddlebag" was still wrapped in plastic which was a reference to the ttop bag. He informed me that he never removed the ttops so he saw no reason to remove the plastic from around the bag. I informed him that yes at some point my seller must have removed the plastic as it was no longer there. I asked about any fender benders, repaints or engine issues and he assured me the car was sold just way he originally bought it. I asked why he sold it and he replied that he got married in 2006 and to make his new bride happy he sold the car to clear out some space in the garage. Today he realizes selling the car and marrying her were the two biggest mistakes of his life as he just went through a bad divorce. He sold the car on eBay to the owner of a Chrysler dealership in Bonham, Texas and he always assumed that this person still owned the car after all these years. The car fax shows the dealer flipped the car to a Cadillac dealer in Olympia Washington where it was purchased and where it remained from 2007 until 2011 when my seller purchased it and brought it with him to Vancouver, Washington. It remained in Vancouver until 2015 at which time I purchased the car and brought it to Texas. I was really excited to have found the original owner and to have the opportunity to speak to him and to get some background on my car. I have his phone number and have emailed him some current pics of the car which he was happy to see, we plan to stay in touch and possibly meet up at some point and go for a drive in our car.
Last edited by GASPEDDLER; 09-11-2017 at 07:39 PM.
I had the opportunity to speak with the 2nd owner of my '82 Pace Car. He had the car from 1984-1990. He said that he traded in the car when the decals were all peeling off and the paint was faded. That explains the repaint! The car was bought new in North Dakota, and resold in ND in 1990. From there, it ended up in NY, then MN, then AZ and now Florida.
It's cool getting some history on your car, huh? Enjoy it. I bought my '87 from a 19 year old after he got the car when his mother passed. I guess I won't be able to ever talk to her.
I had the opportunity to speak with the 2nd owner of my '82 Pace Car. He had the car from 1984-1990. He said that he traded in the car when the decals were all peeling off and the paint was faded. That explains the repaint! The car was bought new in North Dakota, and resold in ND in 1990. From there, it ended up in NY, then MN, then AZ and now Florida.
It's cool getting some history on your car, huh? Enjoy it. I bought my '87 from a 19 year old after he got the car when his mother passed. I guess I won't be able to ever talk to her.
Yes it was very cool, it felt as if though we were catching up or discussing a person and not a car. I keep in touch with the second owner through email
and send him pics from car shows or when the car pics up an award. These two gentleman have never met but both of them took amazing care of this car and I assured both of them that I would do the same.
I know this is gasspeddlers post, but I know the story of my car. The original owner wanted a future show car, so she ordered it with every option available on the coupe in 1987. She kept the mileage down, so it would have even more value. Unfortunately, she passed away before the car had what she wanted it for. Her 19 year old son inherited the car and listed it for sale. He had 4 callers first thing in the morning the day it was posted. I was the only one that mentioned my intentions for the car were to be a show car, so he held the sale until i got there. He let me drive the car home that day with a check, not cash. A few weeks later, he came to my house asking if we could go to the bank to cash the check, as he didn't have enough funds to cover the value should it bounce. We went to my bank, cashed it, and he drove away. The last time I saw him, he was 20, and it was at a car show. This was in 2001. He said his mother would be proud.
I know this is gasspeddlers post, but I know the story of my car. The original owner wanted a future show car, so she ordered it with every option available on the coupe in 1987. She kept the mileage down, so it would have even more value. Unfortunately, she passed away before the car had what she wanted it for. Her 19 year old son inherited the car and listed it for sale. He had 4 callers first thing in the morning the day it was posted. I was the only one that mentioned my intentions for the car were to be a show car, so he held the sale until i got there. He let me drive the car home that day with a check, not cash. A few weeks later, he came to my house asking if we could go to the bank to cash the check, as he didn't have enough funds to cover the value should it bounce. We went to my bank, cashed it, and he drove away. The last time I saw him, he was 20, and it was at a car show. This was in 2001. He said his mother would be proud.
Very cool story Scott! Today while speaking with the first owner I mentioned that the my seller had as many questions for me as I had for him!
He wanted to know my intentions as well and kept repeating to me that this car was unique. I didn't realize how unique or what I had actually bought until it arrived. i'm not one to buy anything sight unseen, but his line of questioning led me believe he could be trusted. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Last edited by GASPEDDLER; 07-31-2017 at 01:17 PM.
Next time you talk with him, ask him if he has any old pictures of the car - always neat to see how it looked back in the day.
I asked about pictures early on in our hour long conversation but he didn't think he had anything. He's packing up his place currently due to his divorce and I asked him to keep and eye out for paperwork and photos, he said he would. Also, I emailed my seller and informed him that I had tracked down the original owner. My seller was ecstatic and thanked me for "filling in the gap between past and present" for him. I'm sure that like me, he always wondered why someone would treasure a car for almost twenty years and then suddenly sell it.
Very cool! I love hearing/reading about stuff like this. Sucks he had to sell to make the now ex-wife happy.
**When I first started going out with my soon to be wife I told her straight up "Don't ever come between me and my Mustang and everything will be fine"
Really Cool stories guys. I often wondered what I would have to say if I ever let the TA go. Unfortunately it's Willed to my Granddaughter when this old geezer hits the road.
I love this story gaspeddler! I have a picture from the day my car was delivered on 2/1/1992 with the original owner sitting in it with the biggest smile! It was special ordered and took a long time to come, but judging from the look on her face, it must've been worth the wait!
Originally Posted by PurelyPMD
Next time you talk with him, ask him if he has any old pictures of the car - always neat to see how it looked back in the day.
That's great that you guys were able to find the original owners of your cars. Wish I could. I know that my GTA was purchased at a long-defunct dealership in Simi Valley (which is the town over from me). The dealership must have went under a long time ago because I've never been able to find any information on the dealership other than one mention in a comment about old Simi Valley. All I can find out about the car is that it was repo'd from the previous owner in Long Beach shortly before I bought it. I have the invoice from GM on it which is why I know it was bought at Al Piano Pontiac.
As far as the T/A convertible, all I know is that it was originally purchased in Colorado and moved to Florida sometime in 2008 before I bought it last year. Can't find any other info on it. Any tips/tricks you guys know?
bought my 91 gta from the original buyer. He was my old 1SG and we talked cars any chance we got. One day i got a call that his 'girl' was gettin destroyed by the cali sunshine and wanted to know if wanted to come get it. I knew nothing of it, and thought it was an iroc or some body style like that, so i had planned on pulling the engine and parting the car out. I posted a 'for sale' add on the drive home with the car on the trailer, and i received about 50 comments or questions in a few hours. knew right then i had something kinda special. looked it up, and its a fully optioned ws6 gta full leather, leather steering wheel/shift ****, near perfect interior, almost 100% original, well taken care of. ---today, about a year later, its been stripped, repainted, and slowly getting rebuilt, a mild restoration if you will. I'll be driving it to sand diego soon to let the original owner take his girl for a spin...
He was a GM engineer, who worked at the Tech Center in Warren. He ordered the car just the way he wanted it, taking delivery through Rinke Pontiac. His wife had a yellow Formula of roughly the same vintage. These were both pleasure vehicles. Always garaged and well cared for, and GM dealer maintained with GM parts. But they were driven, including getting caught in an occasional rain shower, etc. He finally had to give the car up when he could not get in and out of it anymore. He sold it to the dealer I bought it from.
My cars original owner was obviously a ladies man judging from all the "let's call them accessories" I found when I pulled the original Ultima seats out. Not to mention the postcards you use to get at Panama City Beach back in the 80s.......you know the ones. I have his name and I do want to try and track him down. Hate to tell him what the red necks did to it before I took possession of it. He should be happy to know I am slowly returning it to its former glory and it's still being used for lots of fun.......just a lil more family oriented fun. At least until I can get both kids gone at the same time one night makes you wonder the stories these cars could tell if they could talk
That's pretty cool, the thing about these cars, the V8 performance models, no one bought one for practicality. You bought one because that's what you wanted. So you tend to find the folks that owned a lot of them were enthusiasts or really liked the cars.
I had no idea that my story would open the door to so many of your stories, please keep them coming.
It's amazing the information original owners have. When I found my car, the guy's wife doubled the price when she realized I ordered it new - imagine their surprise when I told them that the IROC they had owned for 14 years was not numbers matching and that I had blown the original motor racing a Grand National on the MA Turnpike back in 1989.
Another great story Arnold! Pretty cool to find out so much now a days with the Internet!
I'll share a quick story with my TTA.
A 65 year old woman bought it new at Whelan Pontiac Buick GMC in Freehold, NJ.
She purchased it on May 23, 1989.........which happens to be on my 27th birthday!
She had a thing with the TV show "ALF", (for those old enough to remember) and had them packed in the car and with a personalized "ALF" plate.
She held on to the car for years and then it was sold to another person that I spoke to on the phone. The car had 29300 miles on it. She sadly passed in 2012.
The car presently has 29874 miles.
Here's a few blurry photos I got with the 3 ring binder with all the cars history.
I was able to track down the original owner of my 86 Trans am. I found a small amount of his name on the back of the folder with all the dealer info in it. Turns out he lived like a block from the dealership, and he bought the car for his daughter when she graduated college. I really wish I would have asked him more questions. It was early in the morning when he called me right before work. So I was in a rush. I tried to call him back but never got a reply. It was still really cool to talk to him. He told me that the whole drivers side quarter panel was replaced 2 weeks after she got the car. It was swiped at a red light by a drunk driver so they had it replaced. I didn't even know. It was done really well. Even took the interior plastic of the car, and looked around to find a old dried up GM Parts sticker laying at the bottom of the wall of the car.
I found the original owner of my 87 Formula. He said he bought it new in 1988 off the showroom floor. Within 48 hours of ownership someone stripped the Stereo, interior and the wheels off of it.
I could look at those vintage pictures forever. I have the history on most of my cars & enjoy the chase of researching it. I think I enjoy the history behind the cars as much as the cars themselves. Couldn't care less about that 20 years ago. Still missing a few names though.
I found the original owner of my 87 Formula. He said he bought it new in 1988 off the showroom floor. Within 48 hours of ownership someone stripped the Stereo, interior and the wheels off of it.
Took them 11 days to steal mine - picked it up on 04/16, stolen the night of 04/27/87.
HOLY CRAP!! What was your interest rate on that loan? A $16k payoff with a $5600 interest on the loan!!! Looks to be around the 12% mark. I remember the '80s with the high interest on all loans. It's also nice to forget those days.
My first car, the 77 Formula (photographed in the same place) got totalled in I think September of 86, and with the insurance money I went out and bought a better condition, lower mile 77 Formula that I have no pictures of - that's the car that got traded.
Found a picture on the web - this is what it looked like which is why there are no pictures of it and why I was able to buy it so cheap - $1,000. Bahia Green, mine had a black interior.
Man what a great thread and what great stories!!!!!!! .....While my car is "well optioned" is certainly doesn't have any overly rare options, and this thread got me thinking I may not have a 1 or 20 car or anything like that, but maybe I can find the original owner and find some cool story like Arnold or Scott!!! I bought the car from a mom and pop dealer back in 1998, and it's still in business today. I work close by, so I popped in there, told them my story and asked if they could help me find the previous owner. They said that typically they would NOT give out that info, and being so old they'd have to actually find the paperwork, but the owner said if I brought the car for him to check out, and brought all my paperwork, he'd work with me to find the guy who sold it. How cool is that!? ...so he asked me if I had a copy of the carfax report. I guess in my excitement to find my car's "story" I kinda overlooked that!!!!!! I told him I'd run it, and bring that by too. So I get home, run the carfax, and....dramatic pause.......turns out my car was bought and sold six times (not counting a few commercial dealers in between) from 91 to 98. ...that's not going back all the way to 88/89, so presumably there's at least one more in there.
So my story? I can verify no one other than me has owned the car for more than 3 years at most. I've had it for 18 years. While it would be cool to meet someone else who loved it and appreciated it, and possible could claim some sort of sentimental ownership, if even in spirit, I cannot. Just didn't happen that way. I CAN say it's ALLLLL Mine!!!!!!!! ...and I probably saved it from flip/flop obscurity and a rusty stereotypical shorter than proper life.
07-02-2017, 07:12 PM
makes you wonder the stories these cars could tell if they could talk 
I guess in my excitement to find my car's "story" I kinda overlooked that!!!!!! I told him I'd run it, and bring that by too. So I get home, run the carfax, and....dramatic pause.......turns out my car was bought and sold six times (not counting a few commercial dealers in between) from 91 to 98. ...that's not going back all the way to 88/89, so presumably there's at least one more in there. 
