schooler

What do you think is the most RARE F-body model produced:

Category #1; "Factory" Available thru Chev. or Pont. (can be ordered)
Category #2; Dealership modified.

Be serious; wack job "options" such as a special order, Lime green, WS6 automatic, without AC, manual 4 wheel drum brakes, graphics delete, cowhide seats; doesn't count as 1 or 1, the rarest of the rare!

I'd say;
Catagory 1: 1997 Hurst Firebird (9 produced)
Category 2: a "Blackbird" car??? just a guess.

PowerPro01

1995 Firebird Formula 1LE...TWO built...and we have the WHITE one...the other was green...

schooler

I found this on another site; I don't know if its correct or not, FWIW.

How did a person go about buying a 1LE back in the day??? From what I just read, the "1LE" is an option that could be purchased on Pontiac and Chev. F bodies. Am I correct?

Year Model # produced

1988 Trans Am 1LE 3
1989 Trans Am 1LE 26
1990 Trans Am 1LE 4
1991 Formula 1LE 46
1991 Trans Am 1LE 62
1992 Formula 1LE 22
1992 Trans Am 1LE 9
1993 Formula 1LE 3
1994 Firebird 1LE 0
1995 Formula 1LE 2
1996 Formula 1LE 10
1997 Formula 1LE 14
1998 Formula 1LE 14
1999 Formula 1LE 20
2000 Firebird 1LE 0 (not available)
2001 Firehawk 1LE 60

blk01gmmg

lol i thought he said F-body's not just T/A's

PowerPro01

Yes, available on both, but more prevalent on Camaro than Firebird...

How??? Took a personal, pleading letter to Maureen Kempston-Darkes, then-Pres. of GM Canada, and the assistance of Earl Dickenson who ran GM Motorsports Canada (including overseeing the GM/Player's Challenge for R7U F-Bodies), to get this "can't be built" car built...and ONE other was ordered in the U.S., according to Jim Mattison of Pontiac Historical Services.

BTW, Dickenson also wangled us a body-in-white in '98 to build a certain infamous "Firehawk Lite" that finished 2nd Overall in the '98 One Lap of America (a playground the 1LE also enjoyed in '95-'96-'97...after it was featured as "Project Formula 350" early in GM High Tech Performance Magazine's history...but that's a whole 'nother story...).

PowerPro01

Chevrolet
Data courtesy of editor of Super Chevy Magazine

Year
Model
# produced

1988 Camaro IROC Z 1LE 4
1989 Camaro IROC Z 1LE 111
1990 Camaro IROC Z 1LE 62
1991 Camaro Z28 1LE 478
1992 Camaro Z28 1LE 705
1993 Camaro Z28 1LE 19 Document
1994 Camaro Z28 1LE 135
1995 Camaro Z28 1LE 106
1996 Camaro Z28 1LE 55
1997 Camaro Z28 1LE 48
1998 Camaro Z28 1LE 129* Click here for breakdown
1999 Camaro Z28 1LE 74** Click here for breakdown

2000 Camaro Z28 1LE 0 (not available)
2001 Camaro SS 1LE 80 Click here for breakdown
2002 Camaro SS 1LE
* 99 was a number that floated around for a long time as the 1998 1LE production, but the breakdown from GM shows 129 1LE cars were built
** 82 was a number that floated around for a long time as the 1998 1LE production, but the breakdown from GM shows 74 1LE cars were built

PowerPro01

http://www.playerschallengeseries.ca/First.htm

Total R7U production, Camaro and Firebird, 1986-'92 = 497

Camaros (all years)= 388

Firebirds (all years)= 109

Total production, ALL Firebird 1LE's = 295

Total production, ALL Camaro 1LE's = 2006!!

EchoMirage

iTrader: (3)

funny everyone always forgets there are many more f-bodies made then just 3rd and 4th gens. if you really want the RAREST....the 1968 Z28 convertable camaro, made especially for (pete estes i think), a then high-up in chevy brass. im sure someone else will post up.

FYI, NO Z28s were ever made convertables. this was a ragtop that was specifically made into a Z28 right on the chevy assembly line.

so for absolute rare, you could call it a 1-of-1, or even a 1-of-none, since it was never offered to the public.

PowerPro01

1-of-none IS the apt descriptor...

http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f...o-stolen-7106/

NOT an RPO/SPO Model and, at best, a really murky lineage...

EVERY COPO car's features have pre-determined Part #'s...that's how a COPO order was constructed, quoting GM Part #'s, as substitutes for RPO equipment...and those don't exist ANYWHERE for this car. And cross rams were stuffed in the trunk and dealer-installed. And NO cowl hoods, from GM, were ever made of 'glass. There's no Part#...no #, NOT "production"...

Every part of a 9560 ZL1 came from pre-existing vehicles, and had GM Part #'s. Go to NAPA and order parts for your '68 Z28 Convert. and see what happens...but you CAN order parts for your ZL1...

I think you'll find this car was, in fact, "upgraded" somewhere other than the Norwood Assembly line... It might have been made for Estes, but NOT on "the line"...

LateBrakeU2

iTrader: (3)

Sorry,respectfully beg to differ on that call pilgrim. That was a real car that came down the real line and was the only first gen(second.or third for that matter) RPO Z28 period. Estes was a convertible freak,Piggins knew if Pete didn't O.K. the Z28 for 69 production they could just mail in the Trans Am championship to Ford. Piggins had this car built in the same fashion that he got the 9560 & 61 cars backdoored through Gibb etc.
The paperwork was stolen, but copies were made prior. It may have had a few ancillary items thrown on at engineering( all crossrams were dealer installed) but make no mistake had this car not been built the Z28 would have been a two year RPO instead of one that spanned five decades of production. If rare is equated to valuation this car is the most valuable and historically significant camaro ever built. It was appraised at 1.4 mil five years ago,there isn't a ZL1 out there that comes within 500k of that car and there were sixty nine of those 9560 's built.

One the 1LE's, the fourth gens were pretty much limited to autocross application,the third gen's were purpose built and GM didn't allow any W66's in SSGT and very few if any in Players cup if memory serves. We did run Formula's in Firehawk GS in the late 90's,but they didn't start as 1LE's. Don't get me wrong, i'm probably one of the biggest fan's of these mostly unknown RPO cars and always looking for a clean low mile one.

I miss my 88,one of four built

PowerPro01

At the risk of a thread hijack, the original question, here, was:

What do you think is the most RARE F-body model produced:

Category #1; "Factory" Available thru Chev. or Pont. (can be ordered)
Category #2; Dealership modified.

Frankly, Category #1 is the ONLY one that really matters...

REGARDLESS of whether or not the "ESTES Z28 CONVERT." is or isn't legit, it qualifies as NEITHER of the above... It's a specially-crafted one-off, built God-knows-where/how by God-knows-who. Piggins isn't around, nor is "Pete"...and Pete's son does NOT recall the car...and at age 18 at the time, you'd think he would...

1LEs "qualify"...and '95 saw exactly TWO built. Verified, WITHOUT "qualification"...

As to 3rd Gen vs. 4th Gen, I personally sold 3 R7U's which, after a stop at an outside contractor's shop in Oshawa, were delivered with a roll cage and side-exit exhaust as part of the "package" from GM. Pretty daring stuff for the '80's, and a testament to GM Motorsports Canada and their "crew" of Martin Chenhall, Earl Dickenson (the guy who brought Ron Fellows to the attention of Herb Fishel), and Bill Ball.

LateBrakeU2

iTrader: (3)

Regardless of Pete's son remembering it or not the historians do. Pete had many of these special cars built for him as the engineers wanted to influence his decision in what made the cut or not. When you start to break down the intital question into categories the wheels come off as it's down to perception. Here's another thread if you have a few spare hours to pick pepper out of fly sheet.)
https://ls1tech.com/forums/special-e...ever-made.html

If the statement was limited to what was the rarest plant built Fbod this car is a one of one. Now relative to the 1LE' s they probably are the closest link to the COPO cars no doubt. Had it not been for John Heinricy the RPO would never had made it to production.

schooler

I started to read that thread....then thought about jumping off a building.
WAY to nit-picky on what qualifies as "Rare".

For EXAMPLE (numbers not correct, but to illustrate a point)
98 Trans Am 1 of 15000
convert makes it: 1 of 6000
red makes it: 1 of 2500
cloth seats makes it: 1 of 150
blue stripe makes it: 1 of 3
in my driveway makes it: 1 of 1 - - the worlds most rare car!! yahoo

By the number breakdown? ok...rare. But i'd consider it 1 of 6000.

Let reboot here. How about we limit the question to the most rare PRODUCTION MODEL Car. Must be a MODEL name. For example, a Camaro with an SS package is know as a Camaro SS. Lets say you buy all the options seperate, now you have highly optioned Camaro, not a Camaro SS. If the factory made 20000 Camaros, you have 1 of 20000, even if you added all the SS options. if the factory made 500 Camaro SS's, you have 1 of 500.

To Qualify; the model name MUST be somewhere, in PRINT and marketed as a package, complete car. So a Firebird, which is 1 or 1 for a special color....doesnt' count. It doesn't change the model description.

Z28/2002

iTrader: (27)

this could be a pissing match that has no end


Dealer Modified-

1 of 1- GMMG Collector Edition 2002 Formula

wake00

iTrader: (2)

Agreed

Our '02 Berger is 1-of-1...

regblkss

94 sunfire yellow firehawk made only 16.

schooler

I'm sure its a real nice car...and yes, pretty special. But I'm talking MODEL PRODUCTION as the criteria.

How many Firehawks were made in 94? Total for the model.
Breaking it down by color is only OK if the top line of the window sticker says: Model: Yellow Firehawk

OK...I'm officially sorry I started this thread.

NW-99SS

iTrader: (6)

How about the 1970 1/2 Camaro SS LS6? There was an article about one that was made in the Camaro Performers magazine, and I believe Smoky Yunick was the original owner.

I would consider that one of the rarest Camaros on the planet, and as I recall it also had factory documentation. As far as being available to the general public, well if Yunick had it, then probably not

Frozen WS6

Ok. Are you going to nit pick the question of dealer modified vs gm modified. John Moss built some one of one camaros during his time there. Which have now been auctioned off to the public. My opinion is that they should still count. Also since there were no two Baldwin Motion cars that were the same. They were all one of one cars and are worth as much or more then Yenkos.
Baldwin Motion camaros were ordered in a phase 1, 2, or 3 and sold at Baldwin Chevrolet. Sent over to Joel Rosin at Motion Performance for mods that the owner speced out. The phase 3 cars were guaranteed to run 11's in the quarter or your money back. To this day they have never had to refund anyone.

Mrjockos

the only 2003 firebird/trans am gm ever made? white with blue striping