It's pretty much obvious to anyone who goes to car shows that certain cars become THE car to modify. Usually the different models are about a decade apart. Like the aformentioned 1955 to 1957 Chevy, then the 1967 to 1969 Camaro.
Now, I wanna be clear by what I mean by "Hot Rodded Cars". I don't mean restored classic musclecar that have been made faster. I mean a model where people will buy any relatively clean version of the car, toss the engine and go from there. Ford more or less started the trend, first with the old hot-rod T's, then the 1949 to 1951 Fords and Mercs. Then once the Mustang came along people pretty much went with those cars and never looked back. Even today people will buy a 1980-something Mustang 4 banger that some grandma drove, ditch the 4 and put in a V8. It's not about making a fast car faster, but about building your own car from scratch based on a specific model.
Chrysler has been really absent from having one specific model that people hot-rod. Everyone loves the Roadrunners and Duster 340's and 'Cudas, but you don't really see people buying base cars to do anything but make replicas of higher end models. Like, if someone buys a Belvedere, it's not to modify, but to make a bargain Roadrunner.
With Chevrolet it really started with the 1955 to 1957 Chevy, then it was the 1961 to 1964 Impala, THEN the 1967 to 1969 Camaro. After that it gets a little fuzzy... Hot Rod Magazine suggested that the 1978-81 Malibu would be the next big "thing" but I don't really think so. No one seems to really care about the Monte-Carlos either unless they're making a low-rider. The El Camino has a following, but ir's more of a cult. They suggested that maybe the 1978-82 Corvette would be the next car people want to modify. After all it's not really a classic, it's dirt cheap and you can pretty much drop any GM engine in the thing. Plus the fiberglass body gives a lot of room to be creative in that respect. It's a good guess. Mine would probably be the 1982 to 1992 Camaro, for the same reasons as the Vette. No one really likes those cars. None are classics. All are cheap and you have an assload of parts for them.
However, if I started thinking outside the box of Hot-Rod Magazine's RWD/V8 mindset, I'd say the 1995-2004 Cavalier is much more likely to be the true car to follow in the footsteps that those other Hot-Rods set up. They fit all the criteria except for the drive wheels and number of cylinders but a lot more people are into them than are into the breadbox 1978-81 Malibus. Also, as most of you know, you can swap just about anything into a J-body.
I dunno... what do you think?
The problem is that the 80's sucked for cars...other than a few models, in general, it was a BS decade.
If anything...It'll be the Civic.
As much as some people would hate to admit it...that car is what kind of started up the "Tuner Scene" or whatever.
I thought side companies made these cars not Chevy.
I would prefer everone do what Im doing, actually taking an original and restoring it instead of these kit cars with an original firewall spouting that they are real cars.
Kit cars have been around for a while.
How many steps to heaven, Doc?
...Ah, metaphysics.
i say the 78-81 malibu's will be worth somthing somday
Mikedirntrulez: There are some collector 3rd Gen's, just not that many. Off the top of my head I can think of 6 models.
In order of worth:
1991-92 Pontiac Firehawk
1989 Pontiac Trans Am Turbo Pace Car
1986-92 Camaro/Firebird Convertible
1986-92 1LE 3rd Gen
1990 Camaro Iroc Z (it was only made from Sept 1989 to Dec, 31st 1989 when the rights to the name ran out)
1992 Camaro Heritage model
1986-92 Camaro/Firebird with a factory 350
The Firehawk and Trans Am Turbo are worth a lot, the rest are "so-so". I can't imagine someone paying more than 20k for a 1LE unless it had like under 1000 miles on it. Even the 1990 Corvette ZR1 isn't worth more than 20k.
There's also a handful of one-offs that were never made into anything more than preproduction test mules like the 1982 Trans Am 301 Turbo and the 1988 454 Camaro (Back when they were thinking of dropping the 454SS engine into more than just a truck) that should be worth quite a few bucks if they're still around.
3rd gen f-body all the way
"Formerly known as Jammit - JBO member since 1998" JBOM | CSS.net
GN
05 M6 YJ GTO 1 of 447 12.767@109.93
1983 hurst/olds cutlass
1984 mustang svo
1985-90 camaro iroc/iroc-z
1986 shelby charger
1986 daytona turbo-z(hell yeah)
1987 buick grand national
1989 saleen mustang
1990 chevy ss 454 pickup
1991 gmc syclone
1993 daytona iroc r/t(i wish)
see-who says there weren't any fun cars in the 80's
People say that what doesn't kill you in this life
will make you stronger. I'm not sure if that is true
or not, but i do know one thing-You have to learn from
it and it has to make you better.......it has to.......
you forgot the Tubo TA
05 M6 YJ GTO 1 of 447 12.767@109.93
^^^oh yeah duh how did i forget that one especially since i'm a pontiac fan
People say that what doesn't kill you in this life
will make you stronger. I'm not sure if that is true
or not, but i do know one thing-You have to learn from
it and it has to make you better.......it has to.......
if you go buy sales 2nd gen f-bodys were very popular,they had no balls but they kept pontiac afloat. there were very few 400 4sp fourmulas in 79, and 2nd gen turbo t/a's. imo the f-bodys were way more popular than the malibu for the 78-81 years.
maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow....... but some day
I think the 78+ malibu's have alreadly dried up... As well as almost all the chevelles and nova's and monte carlo's. You can barely find any half way decent old 2 door car for under a few grand anymore. The 3rd gen and 4th gen f bodies are becoming real popular to build because they're cheap and make power.
straying away from chevy
The Fox body stang is the new 55 chevy...
as far as CHEVYs are concerned.....its the 80s Fbods or the 95+ Jbods.
___________________________________________________________________
cannon mother-@!#$ fodder wrote:you are only here by my good graces. normally, when some dip@!#$ noob such as yourself registers a duplicate account to bypass the posting limit, they are permabanned without any chance of reprieve. if you want your second chance taken away, keep up the bull@!#$, i'll happily reban your noob ass. keep that in mind next time you talk @!#$ about the mods here.
this man is my hero
stock gt wrote:if you go buy sales 2nd gen f-bodys were very popular,they had no balls but they kept pontiac afloat. there were very few 400 4sp fourmulas in 79, and 2nd gen turbo t/a's. imo the f-bodys were way more popular than the malibu for the 78-81 years.
but as far as hot rod potential goes, they Malibu's are alot more high hp friendly..seeing as you have a nice full frame under you insted of the unibody, their lighter also
CavFire (tabs) aka tabasco wrote:as far as CHEVYs are concerned.....its the 80s Fbods or the 95+ Jbods.
Dude
You read everything I wrote. Rock on. *high five*
hehehe
Seriously though, there's some good ideas being tossed around in here. The thing about hot-rodding is that it's a "clean slate" type of modification. You can't care about the car's original power or whatall, you're changing everything anyway.
As for cheapness, most 1976 to 1982 cars are still around for under 10k It's the way it should be. They're slow as mollasses and need to be tinkered with to be fast. Still, some have potential. Just not for the blingers that buy Musclecars today. Those guys want ready made cars that only need oil changes. That's why when you, rarely, see a musclecar on eBay or whatever that needs restoration it's cheap most of the time. Blingers want newish cars, not junkers and they certainly don't know how to fix them in any case.
I think Hot-Rod made a mistake thinking the Malibu was the big thing because well... it's kinda ugly. It's not Ford Fairmount ugly, but it's up there. F-Bodies are beautiful looking cars no matter what the generation.
In any case, I still have a 1987 Camaro Berlinetta T-Top 454 as my own personal project in the back of my mind. I even have the slotted mags for it and the GTS read taillight covers bought. Who knows? One day eh?
Hows about the 95ish impala ss.
05 M6 YJ GTO 1 of 447 12.767@109.93
I'd vote Fiero, but then again, I've always been a little tweaked.
I'd say there's already a "hot rod" following that's gone after the above mentioned: 2nd Gen Camaros. Maybe it was a Southern IL/IN thing, but it always seemed there was a relatively intact '71-72 Camaro with either an I6 or smaller V8 for sale that screamed "Use me for my potential". I can see how the late 70s/early 80s Malibus might develop a Nova-ish cult following, but I can't see them becoming obscenely popular due to their bland-ish styling. As far as "modern" cars go, 3rd Gen F-bodies are probably the first that come to mind.
Knoxfire wrote:Mikedirntrulez: There are some collector 3rd Gen's, just not that many. Off the top of my head I can think of 6 models.
In order of worth:
1991-92 Pontiac Firehawk
1989 Pontiac Trans Am Turbo Pace Car
1986-92 Camaro/Firebird Convertible
1986-92 1LE 3rd Gen
1990 Camaro Iroc Z (it was only made from Sept 1989 to Dec, 31st 1989 when the rights to the name ran out)
1992 Camaro Heritage model
1986-92 Camaro/Firebird with a factory 350
The Firehawk and Trans Am Turbo are worth a lot, the rest are "so-so". I can't imagine someone paying more than 20k for a 1LE unless it had like under 1000 miles on it. Even the 1990 Corvette ZR1 isn't worth more than 20k.
There's also a handful of one-offs that were never made into anything more than preproduction test mules like the 1982 Trans Am 301 Turbo and the 1988 454 Camaro (Back when they were thinking of dropping the 454SS engine into more than just a truck) that should be worth quite a few bucks if they're still around.
http://www.barrett-jackson.com/events/scottsdale/vehicles/cardetail_list.asp?id=181839
That one went for $40,000.
You think 6 variations of a car model that ran 10 years isn't that many?
I can think of SEVERAL cars that had a longer run than a 3rd gen f-body that wont be rare even in 100 years.
Like I said above, get a 1990 IROC-Z right now with low miles and hold onto it, you'll be glad you did.
^^ there was also a Sunfire that sold for $80,000
Barret Jackson isn't an acurate representation of what a car will typically sell for.
