GM has always had a way for customers to use the option list to tailor a car to their interests.  This concept is readily apparent if you look at the history of the Camaro.  From beach cruiser Camaro convertibles with an inline six and a Powerglide to a rip-snorting Z-28 with all the go-fast goodies, you could make a first-generation Camaro into the car you needed and wanted.  That tradition carried on through the next three generations.  Now that we are looking at these cars as collectibles, prospective buyers can usually find the car of their dreams if they search long enough.  If you are in the market for a nearly perfect third-generation Camaro to enjoy, you would be hard-pressed to find a better example than this 1989 Chevrolet Camaro RS convertible for sale on eBay in sunny San Diego, California.  With just 23,000 miles on the odometer, this perpetually pampered Camaro is pristine in every way.  Bidding sitting at $8,750 with just one day to go.  You can either play the bid-and-wait game or you can buy it now for $14,999.  Is this a fair price for an almost-showroom-new Camaro convertible with a V-8 under the hood?

Produced from 1982 through 1992, the third generation of Chevrolet’s Camaro was one of the most successful muscle cars ever built.  An amazing 1,567,657 of these cars were built by the time the last one rolled out of the factory.  During that amazing run, the Camaro was all things to all people.  It was powered by three different types of engines: an inline four, a v-6, and the venerable small block Chevrolet V-8.  These engines carried different horsepower numbers depending upon the options chosen and the year of manufacture.  Customers could also choose between a manual or automatic transmission and even, from 1987 on, a convertible version.

While the famous IROC-Z is the Camaro most coveted by performance enthusiasts, the convertible versions have a lot of potential to be sleepers as these cars become more collectible.  Only 31,439 convertibles were made over their six-year run.  Absent from the Camaro lineup since 1969, the convertibles were T-top cars sent to American Sunroof Company to have the tops chopped off, reinforcements installed, and a convertible top fitted.  They could be ordered with most trim options, and even as an IROC-Z.

The 1989 Camaro convertible you see here was ordered as an RS, which replaced the Sport Coupe as the base model.  The seller tells us that they are the second owner of this amazing West Coast car.  They claim that it is only driven in the summer a few times a year and spends the rest of its time under a cover in a garage with a trickle charger tending to its battery.  The car has no interior stains, still wears its original top (which is in “amazing shape“), and sits on a brand new set of B.F. Goodrich tires.  The car is also said to run well with no issues.  Even more important for a Camaro is that it doesn’t appear to have been driven hard or abused in any way.

Under the hood is a 305 cubic inch V-8 with tuned port fuel injection.  It is backed by a four-speed automatic transmission.  Among the features and options are air conditioning, alloy wheels, AM/FM stereo with a cassette player, cloth seats, cruise control, electric mirrors, power windows, power locks, power steering, power brakes, a rear spoiler, and a tilt steering wheel.  The seller does tell us that the air conditioning will need to be recharged and the speakers require replacement if you want to listen to your Vanilla Ice cassette from back in the day.

In all, this is a nice Camaro ordered out for someone who loved a day at the beach more than a night at the dragstrip.  It has all of the luxury options you need and a V-8 under the hood to boot.  This generation of Camaros is gaining in popularity, and pampered cars with low mileage are hard to find.  While the buy-it-now price may seem a little high, it will likely be considered a bargain in a few years.

Do you have any third-generation Camaro memories?  Did you ever sit across from the salesperson and start checking boxes on a GM car to make it yours?  Please share your memories in the comments.