Firehawk came home

[GTOger]

In late 1991, my dad & I walked into Don Carter Pontiac in Plano, TX and told the dealer to enter RPO B4U into the system. In June of 1992, Firehawk #010 (out of a total production run of 25) arrived.

For the past 5 years she has been stored in our warehouse facility outside Downtown Dallas. Today she took to the streets for the first time in 5 years, and came home to the house, where we introduced her to the ZR-1.

I've waited too long to get these images and I wanted to share them with the group here that has been so helpful with the Corvette projects.

http://mail.virtbiz.com/~cgebhardt/pics/IMG_00000419.jpg
http://mail.virtbiz.com/~cgebhardt/pics/IMG_00000423.jpg
http://mail.virtbiz.com/~cgebhardt/pics/IMG_00000428-1.jpg

[scottfab]

Absolutely beautiful car. And RED too !!!

[Coupe89]

Cool.... Any pics of the T-Ram?

[mike100]

Nice ride.:-D

Interesting-I never realized the Firehawks had ZF 6 speeds. I actually ordered and owned a 92 1LE that I ordered in 1991. Took 5 weeks to make and deliver from the Van Nuys Factory to the dealer about 100 mi south of there.

Mine had the deluxe interior and power window which I had ordered separately. $17k. I don't even want to know how much you had to pay for that firehawk. I don't think I ever saw one either.

[GTOger]

Cool.... Any pics of the T-Ram?

Here ya go, Coupe89. Sorry I have not yet properly cleaned under the hood.

http://mail.virtbiz.com/~cgebhardt/pics/t-tram.jpg

[GTOger]

Nice ride.:-D

Interesting-I never realized the Firehawks had ZF 6 speeds. I actually ordered and owned a 92 1LE that I ordered in 1991. Took 5 weeks to make and deliver from the Van Nuys Factory to the dealer about 100 mi south of there.

Mine had the deluxe interior and power window which I had ordered separately. $17k. I don't even want to know how much you had to pay for that firehawk. I don't think I ever saw one either.

Yeah, it was a little bit of a different story. There were long delays in getting that ZF in, actually. Something to do with the input shaft having to be changed from what was in the GM parts bin, IIRC. Somewhere in a file drawer there are lots of faxes back and forth with Ed Hamburger at SLP about it.

The Firehawk came first for us, so by the time we got the ZR-1, we were already well familiarized with it (and the secret reverse plunger that always vexes car washes, valets and friends). It also had the 1-4 skipshift, which was bypassed after about, oh, 150 miles.

http://mail.virtbiz.com/~cgebhardt/pics/ZF-in-hawk.jpg


The car now has just over 5500 miles on it. Which is a bit of a shame, and something I'm hoping to rectify.

[Coupe89]

I didn't know they came with a different center console
I see the cup holder is not broken too. (They snap easy)

[GTOger]

The center console was made custom by SLP in order to properly fit the shifter for the ZF. At the time we took delivery of the car, my mom drove a '91 GTA, fully loaded with every conceivable option. By contrast, the stripped-down nature of the Firehawk reminds me of the original Z-28's. No more comfort than is absolutely necessary. "We'll give you a radio with a tape player and air conditioning, but that's where we draw the line." ;)

Driving the 2 cars back to back is a trip. They are completely different. It's kind of like the difference between Bruce Lee, who will elegantly use his masterful skills to vanquish his foes one after the next and your cousin nobody in the family will talk about who just got back from prison where he learned to fight. They're both going to hurt whoever gets in their way, just with completely different styles.

[Hog]

Beautiful car(s). The F-body was not an inexpensive car, they listed at about $40,000, the same price as a 1997 LT4 Firehawk.

Nice pieces of history there.

[LGAFF]

Awesome car!

My 87 TT has the experimental intake that GM was going to use on the 1LE.

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q115/lgaff/DSCN4826_zpsd48b68aa.jpg (http://s134.photobucket.com/user/lgaff/media/DSCN4826_zpsd48b68aa.jpg.html)

[Y-me]

Wow money in the bank X2 love the third gen Firehawks.

[USAFPILOT]

I would shoot someone for that FireHawk. Let me buy it someday.

[GTOger]

I better make sure to carry when I come through Spring. :)

[USAFPILOT]

we shall duel at sunrise:cheers:

[kcl98]

Nice Hawk....!

KC

[Schrade]

Here ya go, Coupe89. Sorry I have not yet properly cleaned under the hood.

http://mail.virtbiz.com/%7Ecgebhardt/pics/t-tram.jpg

Cool mill! What are the output specs?

And the wheel color-matching trim - sharp. They OEM? Same as Impala SS rims?

http://mail.virtbiz.com/~cgebhardt/pics/IMG_00000423.jpg

Solid Black would be nastier yUP!!!

[Y-me]

Cool mill! What are the output specs?

And the wheel color-matching trim - sharp. They OEM? Same as Impala SS rims?

http://mail.virtbiz.com/~cgebhardt/pics/IMG_00000423.jpg

Solid Black would be nastier yUP!!!

As my Rum fogged memory recalls, it was 350hp the wheels with matching color is stock and they made like 20 of them.

[Y-me]

I better make sure to carry when I come through Spring. :)

Youuuuuuu.....may have several people to worry about.

[Vetman]

beautiful pair....wish.....

[RHanselman]

Very nice...

I might add one of these to my stable... And you thought Pontiac was dead!

http://i1132.photobucket.com/albums/m578/rhanselman/FB.jpg

http://i1132.photobucket.com/albums/m578/rhanselman/FB2.jpg

[t5irocz]

Absolutely incredible car!!!!! So glad you were able to get her out of storage. We chatted about your car via PMs a while back, it's gorgeous!!!!!!! Thanks so much for posting the pictures!! It's honestly an all-time dream car for me. As I mentioned before, if for any reason you end up deciding to sell it at some point in the future, please keep me in mind.

I got my 87 IROC out for it's last ride of the season, a fall foliage trip last week. I broke 11k original miles on it, loved each tick of the odometer :)

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o79/t5irocz/IMG_1535_zps19abe010.jpg (http://s117.photobucket.com/user/t5irocz/media/IMG_1535_zps19abe010.jpg.html)

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o79/t5irocz/IMG_1522_zpsdcf37ce2.jpg (http://s117.photobucket.com/user/t5irocz/media/IMG_1522_zpsdcf37ce2.jpg.html)

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o79/t5irocz/IMG_1496_zps6c4fc8c1.jpg (http://s117.photobucket.com/user/t5irocz/media/IMG_1496_zps6c4fc8c1.jpg.html)

[mike100]

Lost track of my 92 1LE at about 150k miles. Sold it to a friend who sold it to a cousin in Hollywood somewhere. last regged in 2005...crashed? parted out? Everybody who owned it drove the hell out of it. It got rebuilt with forged pistons and had a vortec supercharger with 3.73's.

Notice the fog lamp delete: that's a 1LE Z28 tell-tale:
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c265/mschrameck/Camaros/SCAN0004_zps64321079.jpg (http://s29.photobucket.com/user/mschrameck/media/Camaros/SCAN0004_zps64321079.jpg.html)

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c265/mschrameck/Camaros/SCAN0003_zpsc76c495a.jpg (http://s29.photobucket.com/user/mschrameck/media/Camaros/SCAN0003_zpsc76c495a.jpg.html)

I remember sh!#t!ng bricks at the $290 monthly I had on it, haha.

[t5irocz]

Lost track of my 92 1LE at about 150k miles. Sold it to a friend who sold it to a cousin in Hollywood somewhere. last regged in 2005...crashed? parted out? Everybody who owned it drove the hell out of it. It got rebuilt with forged pistons and had a vortec supercharger with 3.73's.

Notice the fog lamp delete: that's a 1LE Z28 tell-tale:
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c265/mschrameck/Camaros/SCAN0004_zps64321079.jpg (http://s29.photobucket.com/user/mschrameck/media/Camaros/SCAN0004_zps64321079.jpg.html)

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c265/mschrameck/Camaros/SCAN0003_zpsc76c495a.jpg (http://s29.photobucket.com/user/mschrameck/media/Camaros/SCAN0003_zpsc76c495a.jpg.html)

I remember sh!#t!ng bricks at the $290 monthly I had on it, haha.

Neat car! The heritage 1LEs are unusual. was yous a 5.0 5-speed or 350/auto?

There is one in the GM heritage center, white with red stripes I believe. I have a line on a low mileage one that i'm hoping to see in the next week or so. Really want to get another low-mile f-body.

[mike100]

Neat car! The heritage 1LEs are unusual. was yous a 5.0 5-speed or 350/auto?

There is one in the GM heritage center, white with red stripes I believe. I have a line on a low mileage one that i'm hoping to see in the next week or so. Really want to get another low-mile f-body.

It was the 305 on the 5 speed manual. Which turned out to be a good choice later on for unexpected reasons. I ordered it with the heritage appearance pkg, the 1LE and the required group of stuff with that, body side moldings, power hatch release, power windows, and the deluxe interior. All the group convenience packages were bundled with a/c so the only way to get anything was ala-carte. it cost more though...I think the base car was about $14.5-$15k and optioned up was $17-ish (invoice).

The MY 92 Z28 came with the optional T5 ratios- it was always so much quicker than my friends 89 iroc with the tall overdrive ratio. I do not know if it was strictly a 1le thing or if the last couple of years of f-body had the revised ratios on the 5 spd option. the rpo code was different. When the car got supercharged, the parts matched very well since peak efficiency of the blower came it at peak torque accentuating the TPI powerband perfectly. It would roll with an early viper on the freeway. Didn't hurt that it only weighed about 3280 lbs if I recall correctly.

[t5irocz]

Very nice!!

[ghlkal]

Wow, the ZR-1 and the Firehawk together are beautiful. Very nice stable!


I was going to post a pic of my Z and my Pontiac (Grand Prix GXP), but after seeing your Z and Pontiac ... not to mention the other cool rides in this thread ... I'll pass ;)

[Hog]

It was the 305 on the 5 speed manual. Which turned out to be a good choice later on for unexpected reasons. I ordered it with the heritage appearance pkg, the 1LE and the required group of stuff with that, body side moldings, power hatch release, power windows, and the deluxe interior. All the group convenience packages were bundled with a/c so the only way to get anything was ala-carte. it cost more though...I think the base car was about $14.5-$15k and optioned up was $17-ish (invoice).

The MY 92 Z28 came with the optional T5 ratios- it was always so much quicker than my friends 89 iroc with the tall overdrive ratio. I do not know if it was strictly a 1le thing or if the last couple of years of f-body had the revised ratios on the 5 spd option. the rpo code was different. When the car got supercharged, the parts matched very well since peak efficiency of the blower came it at peak torque accentuating the TPI powerband perfectly. It would roll with an early viper on the freeway. Didn't hurt that it only weighed about 3280 lbs if I recall correctly.

there were a couple 305 engines in 89, 1 with the "good" cam and one with the crappy cam, If the 89 Iroc had the G92 option with dual ca6t on the 305. This would make the 305 have 230hp/300 lb/ft torque with 3.45 rear gears, while the other TPI non G92 car would be 220hp/290 lb/ft with the 3.08 rear gear.
Then the autos got the crappy cam and 195hp/295lb/ft engine with the 2.73 rearend. Blah.

The only way to get a ILE car with A/C was to order the B4C cop car option. Straight 1LE cars necessitated rpo C41 (a/c delete).
Sounds like your 92 was a dual cat car with 230hp/300lb/ft torque and if its a manual trans it got 3.42's to begin with. More power, much better gearing than the 1989 Iroc your friend had.
I cant find anything about an IROCZ manul trans that had special trans gearing.??

I always liked the 85 IROZ, it came with the best of the 16x8" rims, Iroc decals(IMO) and the 85 IROC-Z package was a full load, not segmented like it was in later years.
My buddy has a 1990 IROCZ auto with 15"rims and a drum brake rear end, very poor optioning.

IROCZ's had decent 0.34 cd's and pulled off 0.90g cornering. Unoptioned 87 IROCZ's weighed 3250lbs with a 305/manual trans combo.
Formula 305 5.0 5-Speed 3383lbs
IROC-Z 350 5.7 Automatic Overdrive 3341 lbs
GTA 350 5.7 Automatic Overdrive 3476lbs
Formula 305 5.0 5-Speed3,383
Formula 305 5.0 5-Speed3,383
Formula 305 5.0 5-Speed3,383

Too bad they didnt run the 1992 Collecter Edition with the ZF6 six sppeed and 270hp TPI engine.
That one off LT5 powered F-body is cool.http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb373/Paul_Schermerhorn/lt5camaro.jpg (http://s1202.photobucket.com/user/Paul_Schermerhorn/media/lt5camaro.jpg.html)

[Y-me]

there were a couple 305 engines in 89, 1 with the "good" cam and one with the crappy cam, If the 89 Iroc had the G92 option with dual ca6t on the 305. This would make the 305 have 230hp/300 lb/ft torque with 3.45 rear gears, while the other TPI non G92 car would be 220hp/290 lb/ft with the 3.08 rear gear.
Then the autos got the crappy cam and 195hp/295lb/ft engine with the 2.73 rearend. Blah.

The only way to get a ILE car with A/C was to order the B4C cop car option. Straight 1LE cars necessitated rpo C41 (a/c delete).
Sounds like your 92 was a dual cat car with 230hp/300lb/ft torque and if its a manual trans it got 3.42's to begin with. More power, much better gearing than the 1989 Iroc your friend had.
I cant find anything about an IROCZ manul trans that had special trans gearing.??

I always liked the 85 IROZ, it came with the best of the 16x8" rims, Iroc decals(IMO) and the 85 IROC-Z package was a full load, not segmented like it was in later years.
My buddy has a 1990 IROCZ auto with 15"rims and a drum brake rear end, very poor optioning.

IROCZ's had decent 0.34 cd's and pulled off 0.90g cornering. Unoptioned 87 IROCZ's weighed 3250lbs with a 305/manual trans combo.
Formula 305 5.0 5-Speed 3383lbs
IROC-Z 350 5.7 Automatic Overdrive 3341 lbs
GTA 350 5.7 Automatic Overdrive 3476lbs
Formula 305 5.0 5-Speed3,383
Formula 305 5.0 5-Speed3,383
Formula 305 5.0 5-Speed3,383

Too bad they didnt run the 1992 Collecter Edition with the ZF6 six sppeed and 270hp TPI engine.
That one off LT5 powered F-body is cool.http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb373/Paul_Schermerhorn/lt5camaro.jpg (http://s1202.photobucket.com/user/Paul_Schermerhorn/media/lt5camaro.jpg.html)

I want to do this with a 91-92 Formula one day.

[t5irocz]

I just took delivery of a 5k original mile 1LE '91 Z28 :) Figured this was a good spot to post up a couple pics :) LOVE this car! 100% original and very well maintained over the years.

16k miles combined:
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o79/t5irocz/IMG_2038_zps899bfc20.jpg (http://s117.photobucket.com/user/t5irocz/media/IMG_2038_zps899bfc20.jpg.html)
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o79/t5irocz/16909114-700-0_zpse48b8c46.jpg (http://s117.photobucket.com/user/t5irocz/media/16909114-700-0_zpse48b8c46.jpg.html)
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o79/t5irocz/16909112-700-0_zps73044ddd.jpg (http://s117.photobucket.com/user/t5irocz/media/16909112-700-0_zps73044ddd.jpg.html)
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o79/t5irocz/16909111-700-0_zps4ba10a69.jpg (http://s117.photobucket.com/user/t5irocz/media/16909111-700-0_zps4ba10a69.jpg.html)

[t5irocz]

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o79/t5irocz/16909115-700-0_zps10af17cf.jpg (http://s117.photobucket.com/user/t5irocz/media/16909115-700-0_zps10af17cf.jpg.html)
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o79/t5irocz/16909110-700-0_zps85f1fcb3.jpg (http://s117.photobucket.com/user/t5irocz/media/16909110-700-0_zps85f1fcb3.jpg.html)

[Pete]

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o79/t5irocz/16909115-700-0_zps10af17cf.jpg (http://s117.photobucket.com/user/t5irocz/media/16909115-700-0_zps10af17cf.jpg.html)
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o79/t5irocz/16909110-700-0_zps85f1fcb3.jpg (http://s117.photobucket.com/user/t5irocz/media/16909110-700-0_zps85f1fcb3.jpg.html)

Great find
You are one lucky guy.
Very nice 1LE can I ask what it cost and where can I find one.

Pete

[mike100]

roll up windows in a Z-28: awesome!

Even my 1LE had power windows as I ordered it as a separate line item option to include it.

Curious on impressions compared to standard IROC. 1LE is supposed to have milder spring rates combined with heavier bars and strut/shock valving. The spring rates are in part due to lighter curb weight from what I recall. Can you feel the difference?

[t5irocz]

Thanks guys!! Pete, I searched for years to find this one. I wanted a hardtop 350 car, original paint, original tires, detailed since day 1 and not just left in a damp storage bin. I traded one of my cars towards it and a reasonable amount of cash on top of it, it was very well worth it. Car came out of Ohio. Love this car!

Mike, yeah this one has the deluxe cloth interior and the 350, that's about it... The radio delete was a $165 credit :)

I'm dying to drive it, but the lovely salt flats wont permit for it until April... Both cars will go on the road at the same time, i'll let you know when I finally get to drive it :)