The 1980s was a decade when science fiction films were probably at their peak in popularity, and anyone who slipped behind the wheel of a car like this 1984 Camaro Berlinetta must have felt like they had found their way into just such a film. While the exterior of the car was pretty conventional and understated, Chevrolet decided “to boldly go where no Camaro had gone before,” and loaded the interior of the car with interesting features that must have felt right at the cutting edge at that point in time. This particular 1984 Berlinetta is in quite nice condition, and still retains all of those interior features that made the car so special. Located in Haskell, New Jersey, you will find the Camaro listed for sale here on eBay. With bidding having reached $2,700, the reserve has now been met. That means that someone is getting ready do drive away in a car that perfectly encapsulated 1980s society’s love of sci-fi and the growing trend of embracing technology.
Externally, the Berlinetta was a model of subtlety, with little to indicate how different the experience was going to be once the owner climbed behind the wheel. A set of aluminum wheels and some stripes was about it. This particular car wears its original White paint and the gold stripes. It looks quite tidy, and the owner supplies some shot of the vehicle’s underside showing floors that are as clean as you could ever hope to find. The glass T-Top looks to be in really good condition, and the inclusion of a rear louver just reinforces the 1980s feel of the car. The paint has a few marks and chips but has survived quite well. The stripes are a slightly different story, as those are showing their age. Having said that, the Camaro looks quite presentable, and there are no urgent issues that would need to be addressed.
When you look around the interior of the Berlinetta, it is hard to believe that we’re looking at a completely original and unrestored interior of a car from the 1980s. Interior trim from that era doesn’t tend to age well, but this car looks to be exceptionally good. Not only does it look good, but everything is said to work exactly as it should. The driver’s seat is showing some wear on the outside of the bolster, but that is virtually the only thing that can really be faulted. The dash of the Berlinetta was the thing that really grabbed people, and it must have seemed incredibly futuristic in 1984. The gauges, with a digital speedometer and bar-graph tachometer, was a good starting point. Add to this the pod mounted behind the wheel, which provided controls for numerous items, such as the wipers, along with the heater and air conditioning. An overhead console runs between the two sections of the T-Top, while the factory radio and cassette player are mounted in a swiveling pod in the console. As well as these unique features, this Berlinetta comes with power windows, power locks, six-way power seats, cruise control, air conditioning, a power hatch release, auto headlight off function, and an interior lamp delay.
Powering the Camaro is the 305ci V8, producing 150hp. The power from this engine is sent to a Posi rear end via a 4-speed 700-R4 automatic transmission. The car is also fitted with power steering and 4-wheel power disc brakes. The owner says that the car is mechanically strong, and even after being left unused for weeks, it starts and runs well. He also states that it drives nicely, with no squeaks or rattles, and that the transmission shifts smoothly and cleanly. An added bonus is the fact that the Berlinetta has recently been fitted with new tires.
From a performance perspective, the 3rd generation Camaro offered some noticeable performance improvements when compared with the last of the 2nd generation cars. This was chiefly down to some clever engineering from Chevrolet, who made gains by shedding total weight and improving aerodynamics across the Camaro range. This car benefits from that thinking but was also designed to provide the owner with a special ownership experience, by loading the car up with some really interesting equipment. The reliability of some of these features was a bit hit-and-miss and finding a car today with all of this equipment working as it should is becoming difficult. That’s what you get with this car, and that could make it a car worth considering for someone on the hunt for a 1980s classic.
Does it have T Tops?
Yup- odd to see one surviving today w/o them, too. Swear it was a requirement that you either got a stripper model w/o many if any options or you had to order a Camaro w/no T-tops in the ’80’s & early ’90’s
Who wouldn’t want a car with daylight streaming in from overhead? lol. Today’s substitute for T-tops: the moonroof, will in less than ten years be standard in everything except regular cab pickup trucks and large vans such as Ford’s Transit. Plus, it’s an additional egress point in an emergency, such as a 90° rollover or fire.
I am, however, not overly enthusiastic over ‘panoramic’ roofs. Unless new materials are developed, squeaks, rattles, and wind noise associated with a 60% glass overhead can be reduced, but never eliminated.
To be in a car with just a normal moonroof again is a dream of mine, after having been wrecked out of mine three years ago, and having blown my insurance check on the worst steering car in recent history, ended up trading in that disaster for a cheapo car without that sliding glass, to avoid higher payments! smh…
Well kept, not too many left in this condition.
Someone is going to get a great time capsule from the 80’s
Re-live the “Night at the Roxbury”!
Do those interior door pull/handles like to separate from the door on top,
like on late 2nd gens? Maybe the doors are not as heavy.
Wonder if the THM200-4R would have been a better automatic to use.
No the 3rd gen door handles didn’t separate like the 2nd gen did
It used to be fun reading newspaper classifieds (remember those?) and look at all the ways people tried to spell “Berlinetta”.
Bertelini, Bertinelli like Valerie, etc etc
Its like Biarritz in ads for Eldorados…..
Beritz, Berlitz, Barritz, Biarittz, etc etc.
“Eich bein Ein Berlinetta”
I have a neighbor lady who has a gold Camaro like this only in worse shape. It was gifted to my neighbor from her Mother. The car has sat,in a dirt floor barn with windows smashed out for 15 plus years.Anyway I was approached by the owner, and she wants me to restore the Camaro. After checking selling prices and putting together a ballpark quote, I told the owner she would be upside down for a very long time. She said she wants it running and driveable. And that she is emotionally attached and she made the car a promise that she would never sell and might want buried in it.
Half the people still can’t spell Camaro properly, just as likely to see Camero. Is it that hard to go outside and look at the dam car?
Nice clean car, looks way better than last weekend’s “Show Winner” IMHO
Back in mid 2001 I bought an ’86 Berlinetta and in the four years I drove it the only issue I had was an oil pressure sending unit fail. It was one of the best drivers ever for the time IMO. Fully loaded with the T tops and even included the factory storage bag for the tops. It also was a white on black car but had been repainted a nice Marina blue. Would like to have it back today. This will make a nice ride for the new owner.
I bought one of these fresh off the showroom floor back in ’84. I ended up with the 🍋 lemon of the batch. Oh, it was a nice car, but if something could go wrong with the electronics, it did! That car spent more time in the shop than in my driveway. Seriously.
One day I was driving and it started to rain. No problem, just push the wiper button on the right side pod and on go the wipers. Except when it stopped raining, they wouldn’t go off, no matter how many times I pushed the button. Had to drive around for two sunny days with my wipers on before the shop could take it. We replaced the right side pod three times, the left side pod twice, the pod radio three times, I can’t remember what all got replaced, but it was a lot! It got to the point where I hated that car, and it didn’t take long.
It was a charcoal gray, and pretty much a strip model. V8, auto, ps, pb but that was about it. No pw, locks, seats, t-tops or any of that stuff.
After a year and a half I tried to trade it in on an ’86 IROC-Z but was upside down on my balance vs. worth. So, since I was working in Elizabeth, NJ, I had it stolen from the Holiday Inn parking lot.
Nice little car, but really ended up hating it. After that, I went back to my classic Cadillacs
Great story! And what better place to have your Camara stolen than in NJ! 🤣
I had this exact car in the late 80s I bought from my neighbor which was a one owner, I bought it for 3,300 then with 80k odd miles on it, mine was silver with a 6cyl, tops and that radio, I remember it being easy to fix and a lot of torque, The only real issue I had is that the steering wheel adjustment had to be fixed was loose, a lot of dependable miles in college good times
@ Daved
Thanks, Dave. Yes, NJ has Elizabeth, Newark, Patterson, Jersey City. All the great places to get your car stolen. It worked out really well. I had 2 more years of payments on a car I hated. So, with the insurance paying it off, it helped my credit imensly and I got credit card offers by the truckload! HA HA HA HA
All’s well that ends well! 🤣
I used to live in the next town over from Haskell! If it wasn’t for the t-tops, I would be all over it like gravy on potatoes.
I’d love to see that dash lit up at night with only the moonlight coming through the T-Tops! Long live the 80’s!
Not sure why but the instant I opened this “barnfind” I thought “DeLorean”
I can see how that happened- If you squint a little, the general shape of the Camaro combined with the black headlamp buckets and turbine-styles wheels lend a bit of DeLorean effect 👍🏽
A good friend of mine back in high school had one in red. No t-tops but loaded otherwise. Had the 305. Pirelli tires, which impressed us all (Italian tires? Must be fast lol). Car was 2 years old when his parents cosigned the papers for him. He still had the car when he moved to New Mexico & we lost touch. I always wondered what happened to my friend & his car.