A firebird and a camaro is basicly the same car. The reason I chose a firebird is because there wasn't as many made. When you go to a car show you will always see a first generation camaro. (Usually several) You may see a first generation firebird, but not as many. Seeing a 1967 firebird is scarse.
If buying a firebird or camaro to restore Be sure to know the commonly overlooked places for rust.
I have looked at nearly 100 cars priced under $5000.00. All were ruted out around the roof where the glass seals. The car I bought looked good untill I removed the glass.I will need to replace the roof skin. The chrome strips and sealer hides this area. My advice If you can't see it assume you will need to repair it.
Also look at the bottom of the doors close to the front. This is a common rust spot that is overlooked.
Check the firewall around the wiper motor. Water get inside and lays. Mice also build nest here which holds the moisture in.
These areas can be fixed by a good bodyman without to much trouble. Just make sure you know what you are getting into.
If the rear frame rails and the rocker panels are rusted out avoid the car.These are very difficult to replace and keep the car strait. Small holes can be repaired. Large holes staw away.
Remember this when buying any car to restore. Small bubbles often turn into large holes. A little bondo and paint (primer) can hide big problems. If I smell fresh paint I look problems.
Goodluck.

Fourteen years have passed since this car was new. With 64,676 original miles on it, it seemed to be a mixed bag. Sure, it'd be relatively low in overall wear and tear mechanically as long as that wasn't the reason it sat a lot. The downside is that there are quite a few issues that come with a vehicle that isn't driven enough.

As long as you're willing to address with your time and or money the things that will need to be done to make it a daily driver again, such a car can be brought back. Seals dry out (and then leak); interior degradation may occur (falling headliner, mold, grunge); paint may suffer from falling detritus from being parked under a tree, or the acids in bird droppings may cause pitting in the paint; rubber (tires, hoses, belts) breaks down and dry rots; plastics become brittle under the hood and inside the interior; electronics can go bad from repeated summers and winters of expansion and contraction of the PCBs (printed circuit boards). If you're patient enough to address these issues (and are probably wise enough to have a real daily driver car while you work on your 'new' car) you should be in fine shape. Your reward is a car you can enjoy and show off to family and friends.

Several words of caution are warranted. Not everyone is cut out to work on cars. If you have more money than know-how or patience, you may want to seek the expertise of someone with lots of experience in automotive repair. I advise against accepting the help of a friend with a socket set that says he/she can help you out. Despite their good intentions, you may have to pay someone who has received a real paycheck for working on cars before to fix the problem that resulted from a repair gone wrong.

Second, be patient if you've bought a pleasure vehicle like mine. Take care of the core mechanical issues before you spend $2200.00 on a set of rims or combination of cat-back or other cheap exhaust or intake parts to make it loud and pretty. The average thief will gladly remove your rims overnight when you're broken down on the side of the road with a broken timing belt or seized engine. Then you're out the 'upgrade' parts and you've got a salvage-grade vehicle instead of one that would have "needed some remedial maintenance" before giving you 100,000 miles of good times. Don't be fooled with promises of 60 horsepower for $20.00 on any auction site or online catalog. Use good sense. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

As for my car, I've spent about $800.00 so far beyond the purchase price. I've addressed 2 minor oil leaks and spent about 70 hours 1)fixing oil leaks and 2)cleaning and reconditioning the interior for the cost of a couple of gaskets and lot of my own sweat. I got a professional to redo the headliner and sunvisors. I also had a professional outfit charge the A/C system after I diagnosed the issues (remember- I've fixed cars for a living, so I'm qualified, but yet let someone who STILL does it for a living do it!) NEVER tamper with your A/C system if you are not professionally trained- it is only ONE of many automotive systems that can severely injure or kill you.

Beyond that, I've done minor alterations to the air intake system. An aluminum elbow and GOOD quality SLP cold air kit. Next, I'll do headers and (emissions-compliant) dual exhausts. You can look up most of what you need to know by looking in online forums. Listen to the folks with experience. You'll know good experience when you hear it. Good Luck!

we already own 1 71firebird so we wanted another one for me. while this one needs some work due to age, it is a diamond in the rough, we are extremely happy with our purchase.

I bought the 98 firebird becuase it was a good price and it has a tough engine. The looks of the car is what is the best. these cars were built well and it being a 10 year old american car you'd think its about to fall apart but not the camaros and firebirds. very fast especially with the 6 speed.

Very unusual car! Never have I seen a Trans AM with bright red exterior and red leather interior. Great highway performance with that LT1 engine. I feel like I got a great deal however the A/C went out and it cost me 1K to get it fixed. I was fortunant that the car was here local so I could go see it and test drive it before I bid on it. I'm glad I found it on E-BAY!!!

What a great car, 31K miles and eight years old. Very fun car to drive and still can get 28 MPG on the freeway. Seats are a little rough on the back, but overall a great car.

the way it looks and its very fast, not good for kids, i love it and i don't think i will ever sale it. The t-tops look so good when removed.

I have always liked this body style , it brings me good memories when I was growing up in the 80s. Performance can easily be improved by installing a much stronger 350 engine , which still very affordable to build.

Lover the car. If you need 4 seats it would be the Porsche cab, this or the Cobra (yeah right, pony up the $$, pun intended).

Well I spent a weekend a month ago going up to Napa in the car. Or should I say flying up to Napa. Amazingly, (at least for e) I will compare it to my modified 1994 Porsche Turbo Cab (modified to 450HP).

OK. A couple of months ago I went UP the California I5 freeway grapevine, a windy four lane concrete freeway, uphill from elevation 1000 ft to 5000 ft. In, no joke, 3 miles (20% grade). HMM. No Highway patro in sight, so up we go! 125 MPH. Yeah baby, in and out of the trucks at 30mph! Nutty, yeah.

Well, I had to do a repeat in the stock TA convertible. Stunning performance, just shy of the Turbo 6. It was a bit shy when coaxed to accelerate from 110 to 120 out of a truck walk around. Oh well. It almost also did not keep on rotation, with some roll, guess I will need to put on some stabalizers. A bit stupid on a $3k car.

OOPS! a highway patrol!!! OK time for big brakes, 120 to 60 in the blink of an eye!!! Bleed off the squared energy, Pontiac knows how to do it right.

In Napa the car did not have the bling of the Turbo cab (at least no skinny red head, settled for a skinny blond but 10 years younger). Oh well, it's all good. And no it did not get parked in front of the Meadowood, but hey, it does not get 6 MPG either (but who is trying to save money?)

So...buy it, drive it, enjoy it! It's all about me :)

These are becoming very hard to come by in good condition as with all 3rd gen f-bodies I have own there will be some need for work to make it like new there not that many to be found and the people that do have them don't want to let them go as fare as the car itself I feal really lucky to have found one in good condition the L98 is not the strongest v8 on the block but it has a lot of potential. The ws6 performance package is always a nice bonus. It has a good stiff ride and hugs the road like a Pontiac should. Overall I really love the third gen f-body and if anyone gets the opportunity to get there hands on one it will be a good investment.