As I mentioned in another thread a couple days ago, my fiance and I went to look at a '92 RS 305 yesterday. With 82k miles on it, it seemed like a decent deal for $3,000. I hadn't driven a 3rd gen in 3 years since selling both my '89 RS and '89 Formula, so I figured it'd be fun to see what I'd be getting myself into.

1/4 mile down the road....CRASH, BANG, SQUWAK...ah, the memories

Anyway, this is not a 3rd gen bashing thread. There are some real, inherent advantages to the design of the third gen that I'd really love to see in the next car...

1) Long hood that you can SEE. Do whatever you want with lengthening the wheelbase, but to me, a muscle car needs a long hood to it. It gave me a feeling of power, even in a 170hp 305
2) As big of t-tops as GM can get. Is it just me, or is it amazing to drive a 3rd and 4th back-to-back and marvel at how much bigger a 3rd gens t-tops are???? I love it!
3) High grade cloth...even on the door panels. This RS has the upgraded "custom cloth," and there is no doubt in my mind the seats and door panels are far classier looking than the mouse fir cloth and cheap vinyl door panels 4th gens have. With the way GM is trending these days, I think this will be covered though
4) Stance. 3rd gens are lower than I remember Maybe its because this car has a manual seat and I have the power seat in the Z jacked up a little, but it sure appears a 3rd gen has the right tire-fender clearance, and just feels meaner.
5) Muscular, heritage styling. I'd love to see the tri-color tailamps that have been part of Camaros since 1978 (except for '93-'96). Give me the muscular wheel arches of a 3rd gen. Throw some first gen character lines in for good measure. It wasn't until looking at a 3rd gen closely that I could really see where you could incorporate 1st, 3rd and some 2nd in for good measure (lets face it...we aren't getting a jelly beaned hatchback again, aka 4th gen).

I test drove it again today, with the full intention of buying it. He came down to $2,500, and all that's broken is the factory CD player, a driver PW motor, an oil leak (I think it may be as small as the distributor shaft seal, but can't tell) and some rust repair. And therein lies the problem...its rotted through where the driver floorboard meets the rocker panel, and extends for about 9". The cost and hassle of fixing that, added to the fact that the car is PURPLE (this is New England...unless you're a male making a, uh, "political statement," you don't dare drive a purple car ) and would be a nightmare to change the color, I passed on it. Otherwise, the car was clean, just needing light surface rust fixed, fresh paint, carpet and dash pad.

But getting back to the point, if they do retro right and give the car some serious t-tops, the right stance, a long hood and don't make it exactly like a '69, I could even love it too. And I will say one thing...my Z28 feels like a Cadillac next to this RS. If the 5th gen progresses as much over the 4th as a 4th did over a 3rd, I can't wait to see what GM has in store.

Until then, as soon as I find the right one, I'll be CRASH....SQUAK....BANG'ing over New England potholes ASAP. I knew I shouldn't have driven a 3rd gen again I'm saving for an IROC now, because I want a 3rd gen again so bad I can't see straight!! And at least they never made a purple IROC

 

Hey now, purple isn't so bad (Hawaiian Orchid is the technical name for the purple on my Cavy )
It actually does suck driving it knowing that but oh well, it's a winter beater.

I agree with what you said. I especially like the 3rd gen seats personally. Low to the ground, but have that right feel. That and they're more comfortable than my Z's seats.

 

Welcome to the "retro is not so bad" camp!!

 

If they 'do retro right', it'll look just like a '69...

..hence the '05 Mustang looks exactly like a '68.

No retro.

 

Yeah, what he said falchulk, don't get too excited now!! I still don't want a '69 Camaro for '08, thanks very much!

unvc,
You live in Cincinati...you can get away with purple. In New England? A straight male really, really does not drive a purple car. And no, I'm really not kidding here...your whole life comes into question when you're seen in it I love 3rd gens...but not that much!!

 

I think that what you really want is a '75 Cadillac Eldorado. Now there's a long hood for ya.

You mean like the 2nd generation?


Cloth strikes me as very mid-70s type of move. Bad taste. Real muscle cars always had vinyl seats. BMW calls their vinyl "leatherette." Make vinyl seats standard equipment, but call it "leatherette."

In the original muscle car era, there weren't very many tire sizes. You could go to most any gas station and get a new set of tires from inventory!

Of course, modern tires and wheels tend to be far larger - and modern wheel wells tend to filled to overflowing with rubber.

You really do love the 1970s?

I'd say that modern cars are gaining to many "character lines." Everything from the Chevy Malibu to the new Mercedes S-class is getting weird sheet metal creases wheel openings.

 

I had my Z28's seats and doors covered in leather like Vinyl. When I had the car detailed the guys were just staring at it. They said they could tell it was custom because GM does not use leather this nice. I told them that it was really vinyl and they freaked out. It cost me a thousand to do, I think a 300$ price hike for GM to do this at the factory would be justified.

 

There are many different qualities of vinyl - and many different qualities of leather.

A relatively expensive vinyl will last just about forever. The cheap stuff (think about a 1980-something economy car) rapidly cracks and falls to pieces.

I recently saw a 1970 Chevelle with an all original interior. After 35 years, the plastic dash cover, carpet, and even the vinyl seats were in perfect condition. (Of course, it was only a stripped Malibu - not the SS 396 of everyone's dreams.)

Personally, I like the appearance of the vinyl (aka "leatherette") in 3 and 5-series BMWs better than the optional leather - and BMW leather is nice stuff as well.

To take it a step further, I'd argue that vinyl is really the traditional A-M-E-R-I-C-A-N interior material. The British always had burled walnut wood trim and fine quality leather in their "quality motorcars," but we Americans always had painted metal dashboards and vinyl seats.

 

Another vote for good cloth coming back. Good cloth also lasts just about forever. I'm thinking early Fiero and 3rd gen TA seats, the heavy woven stuff.

But yes, admittedly, good vinyl does last forever. The 66 Corvette has original vinyl seats, door panels, and dash--no cracks, tears, or other problems.

 

Unless it can fool me into thinking it's something else, I really don't want to see vinyl coming back. Just saying it makes it sound cheap.

I'd love to see a seat made from some sort of high tensile mesh fabric or pastic like these HermanMiller chairs (and somethings been done similarly in past concept cars....real concept cars, not styling previews of next year's release):

http://www.hermanmiller.com/CDA/SSA/...440-p8,00.html

http://www.hermanmiller.com/CDA/SSA/...0-p205,00.html

Obviously there will need to be beefier seat frame, but something along these lines I think could be very successful, especially as part of a performance/race specific package (Z28? ).

 

You really love acting like an idiot in every single thread, don't you?

1) Long, flat hood like that '05 Mustang you love so much. '75 Eldorado? Yeah, we aren't being an *** here at all, are we?

2) I like cloth. Vinyl reminds me of a Chevette my parents had in the late '70s. If it isn't leather, don't make it look like leather and have it be something else. Leatherette is a joke. Call it what it is...vinyl. It reminds me off ricers that want to pretend they have leather seats in their cars.

3) Who said anything about tire sizes? Who cares about '70s tires? I said stance. The older car had a better stance than the newer car, so uhm...whats your point?

4) You really love to derail every single thread you enter.

 

Yes, this also brings back memories of my past ownership of a 88 Firebird Formula. But in my case, it was more like CRASH, BANG, SQUWAK, and then BOOM!! There goes the checkbook!

 

Ouch...that sucks. Over 3 years later, my Formula still lives on somewhere. It was last seen by me at a local used car hut 3 mos ago with 136k on it, covered in tree sap with a horrible tranny leak and a bad exhaust. I could have bought it back for $400. I looked it over closely, and saw the once-fine LR floorboard had a fist-sized hole in it.

Some cars you regret selling, and wish you had back. Some cars you don't want back. This Formula is one of them.

R.I.P. my RS...I never should have sold that car, and I know it was "treed" about 6 mos after I sold it in 2002

 

That makes me wonder what happened to my old cars. I used to see my '91 Cavalier RS Convert (quadruple white, kind of rare) around town, but I haven't seen it in about 8 years. My old Caprice LT1 was never seen again when I traded it in, probably ended up somewhere in the middle east.

I would like to see fender flares return on the Camaro, for a muscluar look. They also help with the illusion of a tighter tire/fender gap, but flares also make the illusion of tires and wheels looking smaller than they are.

 

Well, I've sold 4 of my own cars and traded in one...'87 Skyhawk, '89 Camaro, '89 Formula, '95 Grand Am and '02 Grand Am GT...and my fiance's '93 Probe. The Camaro was totaled, the Formula is somewhere hopefully being resurrected, the '95 Grand Am is still with the girl I sold it to who is quite happy with it still with 180k miles on it, the '02 Grand Am GT was purchased from my dealership by a kid who I played Little League with (and works one building over from me...I see it every day!!!), and the '87 Skyhawk still lives on in NJ somewhere with a friend's mother.

I originally bought the '87 Skyhawk from my grandmother in '99 for $500 as a winter beater for the RS. I never, ever thought the Skyhawk would outlive the RS