@5thT/A ; Thank you for the greeting and kind words for my Formula. I am very glad to have found this forum, it seems a wealth of information and it is always a privilege to be able to learn from those with a broader wisdom.
I have much experience in all things late second gen Camaro, but less so with its Pontiac cousin. My Dad was a Chevy - Olds -GMC dealer, 1968 to 1981, in a small SC town, growing up, so I naturally was drawn to those cool looking Z28s, as I came of age in the mid 70’s. Worked in the parts department there as the stock boy, but was always bugging the service mechanics, many of whom drove Camaros, to tell me what they were doing / how they were fixing this or that. Always had to be around whenever a delivery of new Camaros arrived and was unloaded from the car trailers, nothing like watching six shiny new 1980 Z28s rolling down the ramp and into the parking area! The color and stripe combos that year were fantastic. And, besides, Firebirds, even though a GM product, was the competition across town, same as a Mustang or Mopar, and thus verboten!
First car was a ‘69 Camaro Sport Coupe convertible with a tired 350ci sbc and a TH350 trans, nice cruiser. About a year after I got it, one rainy Sunday afternoon on the way to my girlfriend’s, I wrapped it around a power pole when taking a turn a bit to fast and the rear end slid around as I over corrected the steering - not a very experienced and a bit to cocky a driver then…
Mostly unhurt, save my teenage pride, I sulked around town for the next ten months driving a puke green Oldsmobile Omega, mid 70s something, with a wheezy straight six and three on the tree trans, a trade in off my Dad’s lot. Talk about humbling. My best buddy at the time had a ‘68 Sport Coupe Camaro with a 327 2bbl and the two speed power glide. We’d trade weeks driving to and from school, of course we both much preferred the weeks he got to drive, lol!
Worked and saved my dinero that summer and fall, and in the spring of 1980, in a deal with my Dad, he paid half the invoice price, and I the other, for a charcoal gray on black, ‘80 Z28. It had a TH350 auto, and posi rear with a 3.42 ring and pinion gearing, Of course the LM-1 V8, and the ‘new for that model year ‘ air induction hood, truly sinister looking, lol. Yes, I wanted a 4 speed, but none on the lot that day and I was an impatient 18 year old, plus, this Z was the cheapest - a/c, tilt, pwr windows, N90 rims, that’s it for options. Another buddy had a charcoal gray with red interior and T-tops, red stripes, we’d go cruising round the main drag together, thinking we were just the coolest, har har.
Drove the ‘80 all through remaining portion of senior year, college, 4 year tour in the USAF, and afterwards, till met my beautiful wife in 1993, marriage, careers, life takes over, y’all know how that goes… The big Z28, Babydoll, took a further and further back seat in my life, till one day in 2005, I just couldn’t watch her waste away and didn’t have money or time to properly care for her. Sold her on eBay, of all things, somewhat fortunate that a guy from Ft Lauderdale area got her. I wouldn’t have wanted to see her tooling around the local scene with someone else at the wheel…
Fast forward to 2021, I’m in my second year of early retirement, enjoying life, learning to balance keeping busy without over committing, focusing on hobbies and interests I now have time, and funds for. I never regretted the decision to sell Babydoll, but did often miss driving and tinkering with her, so one spring day in May, I located Big Blue, a ‘79 Z28, original 350 V8 and TH 350 tranny, one repaint in original code 24, bright blue on light blue I vinyl interior, ~ 38,000 miles, about five hours drive away, just north of Atlanta. Travelled up there, looked him over, test drove, made the deal, brought him home that night on a rented U-Haul. And just like that, I was back into F-bodies again….
Evidently, Camaros, and I suspect Firebirds, too, are kinda like Lays ‘tater chips… ya can’t have just one. Next thing I know, it’s January of 2023, and I’m now in possession of three late second gen Camaros, and building what has since been dubbed the Camaro Barn to house them in. Funny how life goes…then I came across this cool looking ‘79 Formula, Francine, and ya know, there’s no guilt now about going over to the dark side, like before, in my youth, so I figured the time was now. Always have admired the T/As, a bit to outlandish look for my taste, but the lines, power and handling I always respected. I decided Formulas were the perfect fit for me, should I ever pursue one, more subtle, less flashy, somehow more conservative, like me, ha, yet still has the grunt if needed - at least from a 1979 era perspective…
Guess that brings me up to the here and now, the abbreviated version, believe it or not. Well I’m long winded anyways, but ya did ask for a story, hope it wasn’t tmi, 5th T/A, et all…
Btw, you have a really sharp looking ‘80 Trans Am! Pontiac 461? Is that a 0.30 bored 455? Wow, bet he runs real strong! That reminds me of the rest of my story, includes my little brother’s 81 turbo SE, but that’ll be for another tall tale…
Cheers!
