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  #21  
Old 11-30-2022, 10:18 AM
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unruhjonny unruhjonny is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 1965gp View Post
I secretly want a turbo sunbird every time I see one in a junkyard. But only with the half flip up lights.
Lol.

You're in a safe place.

It's been more than a decade since I have seen one in a scrapyard.

They were neat cars, but if you put a same year Grand Am beside it, you will realize why the 1985+ GA's were some of the highest volume selling cars of thier time;
IIRC the Subird's 2.0L Turbo drivetrain was available to 1987-1989 Grand Am's - but starting in 1988 the Quad4 was also available - and they were faster

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1970 Formula 400
Carousel Red paint on Black standard interior
A no-engine, no-transmission, no-wheel option car.
Quite likely one of few '70 Muncie three speed Formula 400's left.


1991 Grand Am: 14.4 @ 93.7mph (DA corrected) (retired DD, stock appearing)
2009 Cobalt SS: 13.9 @ 103mph (current DD; makes something north of 300hp & 350ft/lbs)
  #22  
Old 11-30-2022, 10:42 AM
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vertigto vertigto is offline
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Had a 3rd gen TA (LG4) which handled pretty nicely, but was obviously slow. Much preferred my 4th gen 97 WS6 Ram Air TA.

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1970 GTO (Granada Gold) - 400 / TH400
  #23  
Old 11-30-2022, 11:11 AM
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Mr_GTO Mr_GTO is offline
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Nice! I had a 1988 Maui Blue Formula 350. Totally stripped car. No options at all. No cruise, no power windows, it did have AC because it wasn't a 1LE. I always thought that car handled better than my 99 Trans Am. It was a fun car. I put a SLP Two On the Left exhaust on it and man it sounded so good. Miss that car. Prices on mint ones are now through the roof.

  #24  
Old 11-30-2022, 02:43 PM
1965gp 1965gp is offline
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Mr GTO just reminded me that I have an extra SLP two on the left set up that I bought as a spare for my 95 Firehawk.

Oh man that would really look right on this car! I planned on saving it but omg that would add to the cool factor of the car.

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  #25  
Old 11-30-2022, 05:53 PM
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Originally Posted by 1965gp View Post
Mr GTO just reminded me that I have an extra SLP two on the left set up that I bought as a spare for my 95 Firehawk.

Oh man that would really look right on this car! I planned on saving it but omg that would add to the cool factor of the car.
And if you can find them they are stupid expensive. I Magnaflow with a similar pipe set up would work but that 2OTL sounds so damn good. There are clips on YouTube of the exhaust set up. I remember leaving my college campus in the mid 90's after I graduated and driving up the main drag and seeing a lot of people look at the car as I drove by.

  #26  
Old 11-30-2022, 08:01 PM
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unruhjonny unruhjonny is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 1965gp View Post
... I have (a) 95 Firehawk.
...
drool...

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1970 Formula 400
Carousel Red paint on Black standard interior
A no-engine, no-transmission, no-wheel option car.
Quite likely one of few '70 Muncie three speed Formula 400's left.


1991 Grand Am: 14.4 @ 93.7mph (DA corrected) (retired DD, stock appearing)
2009 Cobalt SS: 13.9 @ 103mph (current DD; makes something north of 300hp & 350ft/lbs)
  #27  
Old 12-01-2022, 12:25 AM
1965gp 1965gp is offline
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This is my Firehawk next to my dads 89 TTA at the Trans Am nationals several years ago. This car has seen 186,000 miles of pure abuse. It’s a 6 speed hardtop car with full bolt on’s and headers. It’s a fun mid 13 sec car.
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  #28  
Old 12-01-2022, 11:28 AM
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unruhjonny unruhjonny is offline
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awesome!
I think the 93-97 Firehawk / 96-97 Formula WS6 is the best looking of the fourth gen cars;
If I were to add one to my (already full) little garage, it would have to be a cloth interior, six speed hard top (read: no t-roof).

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1970 Formula 400
Carousel Red paint on Black standard interior
A no-engine, no-transmission, no-wheel option car.
Quite likely one of few '70 Muncie three speed Formula 400's left.


1991 Grand Am: 14.4 @ 93.7mph (DA corrected) (retired DD, stock appearing)
2009 Cobalt SS: 13.9 @ 103mph (current DD; makes something north of 300hp & 350ft/lbs)
  #29  
Old 12-01-2022, 11:10 PM
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CraigGT37 CraigGT37 is offline
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I worked at a small Buick/Pontiac dealership in 1993. They still had posters up from the 3rd gen F-bodies in addition to the new 93's coming out. One of the posters was a yellow Formula. We had a customer that was passing through town from out of state that had a check engine light come on. His car was identical to the poster. He talked to the sales manager about the poster, and they gave it to him. The sales manager and the customer both knew that the yellow F-body was a low production number car then.

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  #30  
Old 12-02-2022, 10:39 AM
1965gp 1965gp is offline
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That 95 Firehawk was incredibly light on its feet. Being a hard top it felt very solid and being a six speed it was easy and fun to toss around. With the headers, cat delete and a few other add ons it drove similar to a LS WS6 car but felt smaller if that makes any sense?

Very cool story about the yellow Formula poster- that’s awesome. Hard to believe they advertised it so much but sold so few. I wonder if that was by design? You rarely saw them sitting on lots.

Here are a few more pics my friend finished editing.
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  #31  
Old 12-02-2022, 11:40 AM
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unruhjonny unruhjonny is offline
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I think it was a typical advertising tactic to use a more flamboyant(?) colour to advertize a given performance car;
the advertisement would get noticed on the merits of flamboyancy, and then people would order a more sedate version of the car.

as a side note, I still have the magazine somewhere;
The fourth gen WS6 mule was a yellow Formula and iirc yellow was only available on the fourth gen for 1993 & 2002;
So the WS6 mule was a 1993 model year research and design (Pontiac owned) car.

Correction, 1994, not 1993.
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__________________
1970 Formula 400
Carousel Red paint on Black standard interior
A no-engine, no-transmission, no-wheel option car.
Quite likely one of few '70 Muncie three speed Formula 400's left.


1991 Grand Am: 14.4 @ 93.7mph (DA corrected) (retired DD, stock appearing)
2009 Cobalt SS: 13.9 @ 103mph (current DD; makes something north of 300hp & 350ft/lbs)

Last edited by unruhjonny; 12-02-2022 at 11:50 AM.
  #32  
Old 12-02-2022, 01:07 PM
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ta6point6 ta6point6 is offline
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Nice Formula and I especially like the rims and rear spoiler. I had a 90 red Firebird with a V-6 but it had the aeropackage with it. Those rubber bumpers front and back kind of distract from the Formulas and stock Firebirds in my opinion. The running lights in the aeropackage just gave it a sleeker look. The biggest problem I found with my 3rd gen is the rear end is just so light. In the slightest rain the rear end would walk out even with the little v-6 motor.

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going bandit-Reynolds style
  #33  
Old 12-02-2022, 02:56 PM
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unruhjonny unruhjonny is offline
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Those rubber bumpers front and back kind of distract from the Formulas and stock Firebirds in my opinion....
I get it.

The Tran Am was made to stand out (in an age of zero decals/stripes) from the "lesser" cars via the hood and ground effects;
With the Formula's return, it paid homage to the second gen Formulas, in that they were by all outward appearance (except for the hood) a dead ringer for a base model car;
By the time the GTA package came out, a "regular" Trans Am would have filled the spot of a buyer who might have previously wanted a Formula, AND wanted some of the aero parts.

I liked that the Formula package came back (although at first I was ignorant to it because I was only ten in 1987) - and by the time the fourth gen debuted, I absolutely knew how to tell them all apart.
I loved how the fourth gen "Trans Am" tail lamps found their way to the Formula as a singular body-panel-distinction from the base cars - just like the hoods were the distinction for second and third gen cars BUT most have forgotten that the filler between the tail lamps was different for all three models;
"Firebird" for base cars
"Formula" for Formula's
"Trans Am" for Trans Am's
I attribute the fact that so few know of this to the fact that the imprint faded with time.

__________________
1970 Formula 400
Carousel Red paint on Black standard interior
A no-engine, no-transmission, no-wheel option car.
Quite likely one of few '70 Muncie three speed Formula 400's left.


1991 Grand Am: 14.4 @ 93.7mph (DA corrected) (retired DD, stock appearing)
2009 Cobalt SS: 13.9 @ 103mph (current DD; makes something north of 300hp & 350ft/lbs)
  #34  
Old 12-02-2022, 11:51 PM
chevymad chevymad is offline
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Can I show mine off? This is our 87. It was my wife's first car back in 91. Her dad and I picked it out for her. I even took her to prom in it. It's been totalled once, repainted twice, and has lots of miles. Right now it has the motor from my first car (327 from a 68 impala). Edelbrock heads and efi. It currently lives a life of luxury in the garage.
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  #35  
Old 12-03-2022, 01:07 AM
1965gp 1965gp is offline
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Damn that is a nice looking car.the bumper pads blend right in looking much sleeker.

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  #36  
Old 12-03-2022, 11:08 AM
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unruhjonny unruhjonny is offline
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Originally Posted by chevymad View Post
Can I show mine off? This is our 87. ...
Details please;
Auto or stick?
Did it start out as a 305 car?
iirc 1987 was the last year you could get a carburetor - although I am unclear on which 305's were available to the Formula...

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1970 Formula 400
Carousel Red paint on Black standard interior
A no-engine, no-transmission, no-wheel option car.
Quite likely one of few '70 Muncie three speed Formula 400's left.


1991 Grand Am: 14.4 @ 93.7mph (DA corrected) (retired DD, stock appearing)
2009 Cobalt SS: 13.9 @ 103mph (current DD; makes something north of 300hp & 350ft/lbs)
  #37  
Old 12-03-2022, 12:19 PM
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Mr_GTO Mr_GTO is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by unruhjonny View Post
Details please;
Auto or stick?
Did it start out as a 305 car?
iirc 1987 was the last year you could get a carburetor - although I am unclear on which 305's were available to the Formula...
Both the TBI and TPI were available in the Formula.

  #38  
Old 12-03-2022, 01:32 PM
chevymad chevymad is offline
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It was a carb'd 305 with 700r4. I kept the CCC carb set up for years even on the 327. I eventually burned a chip that used the ZZ4 ignition curve/knock sensor but ignored any mixture adjustment. This allowed me to use a non cc carb but still use the computer for ignition and TCC control. When I switched to edelbrock heads, I couldn't find an intake that sealed well but still fit under the hood. So I ended up with edelbrock proflo4 setup. I still have the original motor. It's a bit of an oddball. TPI heads, roller cam, 1 year only intake with the carb. This car is from Norwood as well, which I think this was the last year for that plant.

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  #39  
Old 12-05-2022, 12:28 AM
joegpho joegpho is offline
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Went and found a post I made back on 2/11/2012 (!) about a 1992 1LE.
Post was:
I have never posted in this section before, but I do have some knowledge of 92 F-cars.
I almost bought one new. I will take you back to Friday, January 24th, 1992:

I had a 87' Formula 350; I had bought it off of a close friend who was sort of a silver-spoon kid, he had the car bought new for him. He rarely drove it, and I bought it in the fall of 90' with about 4400 miles on it. By the date above, the car had about 24K on it.
I lived in the NW suburbs of Chicago, but was going out for the typical Friday night with some friends; they lived in Oak Lawn, IL - south suburbs. I left the car in front of their house and let a buddy drive. Short story on that - the car was stolen that night.

Now, as a purely "therapeutic" reaction, before my buddies drove me home the next day, I visited (2) Pontiac dealers. A salesman at an Oak Lawn area dealer had to research what I wanted (he did call me later the next week saying what I wanted could be ordered), but at Sullivan Pontiac in Arlington Heights (where my 87' was bought new) - YES, if I wanted a 1LE I could get one. Additionally, I found that I could have ordered all of the other power options - just not A/C. At the time, I already knew of the 1LE package.
I was going to get a 350 Formula 1LE, dark green, with either tan cloth or leather interior and all options including 1LE and no A/C. In the end, I wanted to stay with older stuff and just save money - I had a 72 GP at the time also. There wound up being only 12 92' Formulas built with 350s and 1LE. I think all of the T/As that had 1LE were 305-5spd cars. This was as close as I ever got to ordering a car new, except for (2) of my wife's cars.

Back to today:
My 87 was a very high option car. From what I have researched, it didn't have the touch-control stereo (but did have the sub-woofer option), no 4-way manual seat.
The leather appointment group might have been an option but my car didn't have it. I have seen (1) 87 Formula at a car show that did - the group included leather-wrapped steering wheel, shifter handle and parking brake handle. It had everything else - p/windows, p/locks, p/mirrors, cruise, deluxe interior, etc.


Last edited by joegpho; 12-05-2022 at 12:40 AM. Reason: More to add
  #40  
Old 12-05-2022, 12:45 AM
joegpho joegpho is offline
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Photos of my Red over Silver 87 Formula 350 - from its "funeral".
State Farm had already paid me, and I did not have the space to buy the car from the salvage yard and fix it.
For being a GM car of the 80s - it was a good car.
The one thing it needed was the valve-stem oil seal fix; after sitting for a bit, it would always puff blue smoke upon startup.

I didn't want to make this about my loss!
1965GP - while I am not into yellow, congrats on a GREAT FIND!
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File Type: pdf 1987 Firebird - 1993 Photos2.pdf (197.4 KB, 104 views)


Last edited by joegpho; 12-05-2022 at 12:52 AM. Reason: Dumb words
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