PONTIAC HISTORIC SERVICES
INFORMATION PACKET
_______________________________________
After some small delay, I have received my research packet from Pontiac Historic
Services. PHS initially sent me information on the wrong Firebird, they
transposed the "8" in the VIN as a "3" and so I wound up with a Trans Am that
was produced exactly 5000 units in front of mine. Imagine my surprise when
I read the printout and saw that my car was a non-WS6 car without T-tops, with a
LG4, automatic, and no Recaro. After I looked a second time and compared
VINs, I was relieved to see that the information that I held in my hand did not
match my VIN. It wasn't that my TA had been hacked together from what it
once was, the fact of the matter was that PHS had sent me information on the
wrong TA.
I wrote a snail-mail letter to PHS (since it's almost impossible to call them and they don't have email) and explained the situation. Unfortunately, not only was the info packet wrong but the wrong reproduction window price sheets had also been already shipped. PHS sent me the correct info at no extra charge and here is what I received for $85 (USD). Mind you, all of this information is lower-end photocopy grade, nothing new or original so the quality is quite poor in some instances and some graphics (such as the GM logo) merely appear as black square blocks on some sheets.
1 page welcome letter to
enthusiast from PHS stating the limitations of microfilm and age on microfilm as
well as some minor notes if you ordered info on the GTO. A hand written
note on the page informs me that my reproduction window stickers will ship
separately and are not included in this package at this time.
7 page stapled
comprehensive list of production numbers for 1967 to 2002 Firebirds, broken down
by engine and options on some years (but not all).
50 page stapled guide to
Manufacturer's Motor Vehicle Specifications for the 1986 Firebirds. This
guide lists
so much extraneous material (like the sizes of the rivets on the clutch plates)
that it is both very dry reading and very entertaining as well, depending on
your mindset and your mood. For an engineer, it's a wet dream in writing.
2 page stapled "News from
Pontiac" from the PMD public relations division detailing info on the 1986
Firebird (all models, selling high points only).
POCI Membership request
form.
6 pages, stapled, of
suggestions on how to properly store your car short and long term.
2 pages, stapled, of the
official history of the "window sticker" and why it came into being on every new
car sold in America (and abroad, later).
5 pages, stapled, including copy of work order for car, copy of build sheet (2 sheets, copy of front, copy of rear), copy of exterior color options (in black and white, almost illegible) and a copy of the interior color options (again, in black and white, and mostly illegible). For those who are questioning the last two pages included, so am I. For the price I paid, it wouldn't be that hard to run off a pair of color copies, two sheets, for the enthusiast. The pages in question are linked to here and here for those who want to see them in glorious color (courtesy of me having the good luck to snatch a 1986 dealer product manual off of Ebay). I know, I'm nit-picking but come on! I paid PHS over $80 bux for this stuff and they couldn't give me two (2 !) color copies, the only pages that needed color in the whole package? What are color copies, like fifteen cents each? That would be thirty cents out of $80 something I spent. Gripe gripe gripe. I'd be madder if I didn't have the material on hand but... the rest of the material is good though it is simply photocopies (and sometimes not exactly lined up straight with the copier). The window stickers, are, however, perfect (and in black and white but beggars can't be choosers).
Overall, short of the color copy gripe, I have no problems with the content and the package was money well spent. The work order is very hard to read as it is a poor copy. I intend to take my updated build sheet which I included in the PMD dealers manual and redo it for my car based on the cleaned up form and the information that PHS sent me (the copy of my actual build sheet). Hopefully I'll have that to share with you soon.
I also received two laminated copies of the original vehicle window sticker.
