Hello from Georgia.

[bebop4u]

Hi Guys, My name is Bobby and I am new to the Michigan FBody Association. I own a couple of F Body Pontiacs and this site seems like the place to be to get help with them. One of my cars is a 1979 (?) Trans Am / Formula (?) that I am having trouble identifying with the VIN. I was told it was a 1981 when I bought it but it only has a 13 digit VIN. Oh and by the way it is a convertible. I was told by a prospective buyer that they did in fact make about 2500 of these in 79 and or 81 but that they were not made convertible at the factory but actually outsourced. If this is one it would be a very rare bird. If anyone could help me with this the ViN is 2V87WAN108221. Thanks in advance for any assistance and God Bless.

[meissen]

Welcome to the site Bobby!

2 = Pontiac
V = Trans Am
87 = 2 door coupe
W = 455 ci 4-bbl V8 (if it's a 75 or 76) or a 301 ci 4-bbl V8 (if it's a 79 or 80)
A = 1980
N = Norwood Assembly Plant
108221 = build number

So it looks like you have yourself a 1980 Trans Am that originally came with a 301ci v8.

[81DaytonaPaceCar]

Hi Guys, My name is Bobby and I am new to the Michigan FBody Association. I own a couple of F Body Pontiacs and this site seems like the place to be to get help with them. One of my cars is a 1979 (?) Trans Am / Formula (?) that I am having trouble identifying with the VIN. I was told it was a 1981 when I bought it but it only has a 13 digit VIN. Oh and by the way it is a convertible. I was told by a prospective buyer that they did in fact make about 2500 of these in 79 and or 81 but that they were not made convertible at the factory but actually outsourced. If this is one it would be a very rare bird. If anyone could help me with this the ViN is 2V87WAN108221. Thanks in advance for any assistance and God Bless.

Welcome, Bobby, and enjoy the site!

Yes, they did make convertibles...yes, they were all outsourced, none from the factory until 1991 (first gen cars aside).

There were several "coach" builders around the country that (usually) acted as regional builders.

Yes, they are exceedingly rare. No one knows for sure the total build numbers as there was no network back then to tie all the builders together. The best guesstimates I've seen are 2500 TOTAL for 1979 through 1990, but again, it cannot be proven.

Sometimes these cars were dealer prepped cars that were sent out to the coach builder to be converted, but owners could also send their own cars to the builders for the conversion at some later point in time, just making the true number of them built even more difficult to verify.

Here is at least a partial list of the coach builders about half way down the page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coach_convertible

Get some pics up, you don't get to see these things very often!

[bebop4u]

Thanks guys for all the info. Ill try and get some picks on.

[2002Z4CSS]

Welcome! GM did not offer a convertible 2nd Gen Camaro or Firebird. If so it would have been shown in the brochures.

[92conv]

Welkom to the site, Bobby. Enjoy!!