A Traumatized Mind

I was helping my buddy move today and were droping stuff off at his moms and putting in the garage. When he opens the door i see the ugly brown third gen sitting there well upon closer inspection i noticed it was a convertible and he told me it was a hard top. Ive havent seen that many convertibles period so to see a hard top kind made my day even though he said it was a 4 banger. I was hoping someone would actually know how many of these cars were made and how much it might be worth because or if it actually came from the factory that way.

GETGONE

iTrader: (5)

Sounds like being a 4 banger it was an early 80's car 83-85ish. They did not make factory convertables. There was at least one aftermarket company that whacked the roofs off and made them into convertables. I have not seen a hard top one ever. They have all been soft tops. They're definately not as nice as the real factory verts that came out in 1990. It sounds like a pretty rare car because of the combination but it's not worth that much. Aftermarket conversions usually hurt the value of a car rather than help it.

badjuju342

iTrader: (3)

ASC did all the conversions on Camaros from '87 to '92

GETGONE

iTrader: (5)

Are you sure it's ASC? I thought it was some other company I hadn't heard of. The ones I have seen look pretty poor quality to be ASC conversions.

A Traumatized Mind

thanks for the help i had a feeling that they didnt make convertibles

toddztoyz

I would have to say you are wrong there! Of course this is just my opnion, which even at a dollar a pound still ain't worth much!! i have one of those thirdgen Autoform cars and for the most part with the top down is just as nice as the ASC cars and as far as what is worth, most of the cars I have seen across the country have sold for somewhere between $14,000 to $21,000. My car with only 28,700 miles appaised for over $20,000. I have not seen too many ASC cars that would bring that kind of money.

GETGONE

iTrader: (5)

I'm going by personal experience on the 3rd gen verts I have seen in person. They all look like hack jobs to me. I don't remember a single one being done by ASC. The factory verts just look more refined and well thought out.

toddztoyz

Thats why I Love living in America!!!! Because we all can have our own opinions without recourse. No, seriously my reply to you was a little on the harsh side and I apologize for that, I am just very passionate about my little 3rd gen vert. From your perspective I can see where you see some things on the car as being a bit crude, I just see it as being part of its nostalgia. The one thing I love about this car is that when I take her out, there is not a single time when somebody doesn't stop me to ask about it. It is very fun to drive and she definitely draws a crowd at the car shows. Again GETGONE I can appreciate your opinion.

GETGONE

iTrader: (5)

I haven't seen your car so maybe it's better than the ones I've seen locally. I seem to run across one about every 5 years or so....that's how rare they are.

toddztoyz

Yeah, I am not real sure about some of the other conversions, Badjuju342 seems to be pretty well versed on these things. I know of the one I have built by Autoform Corp. But I have read some info on these other companies that also built convertible third gens, like Autodyne Corporation, Coach Builders Limited, American Custom Coachworks, as wellas Choo - Choo customs. I was even told that ASC did some pre87 conversions using the same kit they marketed through GM in 87. I am not sure of the accuracy of this list but this is what I have in my notes.

joshtownsend

iTrader: (16)

Well those cars did have hard tops........to a point. toddztoyz you can verify that. The top were a hard top covered in fabric and the sides were fabric that buttoned down on the sides. Was one out the worst designs ever. Things never stayed buttoned after 70 mph or so. No as far as the design goes. It looks good. I would not say great. But good. You most likey would not see one out if you were driving one... I say likey because that happened to me one night. Now as far as the price I bought mine with 83000 miles on it for $4000 in 99 and sold it for $2000 in 2002. The car was in real good shape. The cars are only worth what someone will pay for them. I think $20000 is way over priced and I have never seen one go for more than $10000 and trust me I look. I dont beilive this is a collectors car simply because they didnt do it from the factory and I have never seem any info from GM "that was liget" backing the cliam of how many there were and it was a limited number or so on. Plus most collectors only want cars with low miles less than 10000 or so with matching numbers and so on. The cars are ok. There are far more than people bieleve. Seeing as they did both camaros and firebirds and in 83 and 84 and i think 82 also but I dont remember right now. I said all that to say this. Thay are fun cars, engine sucks chassis sucks and the top design sucks. No one can argure with that. But if you just want to but the top down and drive around and have people look at you and talk about batman" god i hated that" than this is the car for you. toddztoyz your car is nice I would say enjoy it. I enjoyed mine. I enjoyed talking about it, for the most part. One question Do you ever put the top up? I put mine up 2 times i think.

badjuju342

iTrader: (3)

To clarify things here: Several companies did convertible conversions including Autoform and Choo-Choo Customs. These cars will predate 1987 models. A hardtop convertible is quite possible as several smaller companies did limited conversions also. However , from 1987 -1992 , ASC did factory approved conversions for GM exclusively. There never was a convertible that rolled off the assembly line as such.These cars started life as a T-top car then were shipped out to ASC then to the respective dealerships that ordered them. If you look in the left door jamb , you will see a small decal that shows the ASC logo.

sunsetz28

iTrader: (1)

Are you saying that GM never made a factory 3rd gen vert, or that they never made a factory hard-top vert?

toddztoyz

Seriously, My car appraised for $20300. This is also what I have the car insured for. I had to go through all this before I could get the car insured as a collectable. Anything happens to my Z28, I get a check for $20,300, which still won't replace the car. My car is all original, except for the few upgrades that I did ( I have everything to put it back to original ), all paper work, includeing the original window sticker, build sheet and parts books from Autoform Corp. I even have the original owners purchase paper work where he payed $16,859.43 for the car.

By todays standards, the conversion is pretty crude, but for 1984, I would say it was pretty inovative. just about every thing that was changed or removed was reused some where else. My car started life as a hardtop coupe. The rear seat fabric was reused as the headliner on the new top, the coat hooks in the b pillars are reused as the rear hold for the top, the hatch motor release was reused and relocated to the front of the hard tonneau, the hatch support struts are reversed and are used to support the hard tonneau, the hatch release button is used to release the hard tonneau, the dome light is relocated to the water fall between the seats. You get the point. When you consider the technology that was available in the 80's, I would have to say that this was pretty damn good. I have worked in this industry before I got my nice cushy govt. job and it is very difficult to design something that uses off the shelf parts, not to mention reuse what came with the car. Just my opinion.

badjuju342

iTrader: (3)

Both. The 3rd gen convertibles were all conversions, they were factory aproved but not factory built. The only convertibles that rolled off of a GM assembly line were the 1st and 4th gens. I've seen pics of a 2nd gen 'vert , this was also a conversion. Here's an interesting thread with a sales brochure from GM , note the ASC logo. Incidentally , the moderator of that thread can tell you just about anything you want to know about any 3rd gen:

http://thirdgen.org/techbb2/showthre...hreadid=151279

toddztoyz

I came across a 2nd gen convertible several years ago. I am not sure where it was done at, but it was done pretty well. The only thing is that the 2nd gen cars were not really made to have that topless look, you know what I mean? The lines just did not look right, of course this is just my opinion and I am not putting down anyone who has one, they are still very unique, just not my cup of tea.

sunsetz28

iTrader: (1)

That's quite interesting. I thought that the convertibles were factory made. There are quite a few here in San Diego. I see one about once a month at least. Thanks for the info.

badjuju342

iTrader: (3)

I'm digging for info on the hardtop kit now. I've never heard of this but anything is possible , I'll let you know what I find out and who made this ASAP.

toddztoyz

Thanks for the info Badjuju342, I forgot that I was a member of the ThirdGen.com board too. I can only sit behind a computer for so long before I go crazy. Know what I mean!!!

By the way, I found this and the seller is calling it a Stelleto, but this is an autoform car for sure unless somebody else made a helluva knock off kit.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/83-Ca...QQcmdZViewItem

badjuju342

iTrader: (3)

That sure looks like an Autoform to me , I hope somebody does a nice job of restoring it when they buy it.