Hello from overseas!

**Matthias** · 03-31-2007, 02:15 AM

Hi!

My name is Matthias (=Matthew in English) and I´m from Germany. I hope it doesn´t matter that my English is not very good.

Living close to Munich I am calling a BMW 328i Convertible and my "treasure", a gunmetal grey 1989 Trans Am (305 TPI) my own. I know that this site is especially about the 4th Gen F-Bodies and other cars running on LS1's respective cars from the middle 90s but I was really impressed from the posts here and as I would like to have a +98 Trans Am one day I decided to register in this great forum.

In Germany F-Bodies are quite rare and so here it is something special to see such a car. Regarding the Firebirds/TAs here you see the 1990 - 92 and 93 - 96 years quite often, the LS1 - years almost never. From 1998 on I guess the Camaros were regulary imported because they can be seen more frequently (they are still rare, but you see much more than the LS1 Trans Ams).

But I don´t want to make a speech about F-Bodies in Germany but wanted to introduce me a little bit. So I think I will drive this Trans Am during the next summers and in a few years I will dare to import a LS1 Trans Am on my own... For me those cars have a timeless and ageless beauty! In the posts where you presented your 4th Gens Trans Ams and Firebirds I have seen some which look like the Trans Am in my imaginations. But until then I will have much fun with my 1989 TA. (Another reason to get me a newer one is the fact that in Germany the taxes for older cars with big engines are enormously high!)

So I´ll stop talking and go on with showing pics of my Trans Am! (I know the front license plate looks ugly on this position. I will change this soon!) On pic three it´s me next to my Trans Am.

Unfortunately I don´t know yet how to get the pictures in real size into the text...

Thanks for reading and greetings from overseas!!

Matthias

**Speedy_Gonzales** · 03-31-2007, 03:30 AM

welcome to ls1......nice ride man

**snaggeltooth** · 04-01-2007, 05:48 PM

Hey thats cool , always nice to know LSx are all over the world .. We have another German that post a lot on here hamburger68 ... So feel free to get in touch with him or just post up ...

**Matthias** · 04-02-2007, 11:33 AM

Hi!

Thank you for the nice and warm reception here! I read lots of posts here and it´s really interesting reading about the problems and how they were solved!

**bevenue** · 04-03-2007, 07:44 AM

How hard is it to find parts for F-bodys over there?

**secondgearscratch** · 04-03-2007, 07:47 AM

Originally Posted by Matthias

Hi!

My name is Matthias (=Matthew in English) and I´m from Germany. I hope it doesn´t matter that my English is not very good.
Living close to Munich I am calling a BMW 328i Convertible and my "treasure", a gunmetal grey 1989 Trans Am (305 TPI) my own. I know that this site is especially about the 4th Gen F-Bodies and other cars running on LS1's respective cars from the middle 90s but I was really impressed from the posts here and as I would like to have a +98 Trans Am one day I decided to register in this great forum.

In Germany F-Bodies are quite rare and so here it is something special to see such a car. Regarding the Firebirds/TAs here you see the 1990 - 92 and 93 - 96 years quite often, the LS1 - years almost never. From 1998 on I guess the Camaros were regulary imported because they can be seen more frequently (they are still rare, but you see much more than the LS1 Trans Ams).

But I don´t want to make a speech about F-Bodies in Germany but wanted to introduce me a little bit. So I think I will drive this Trans Am during the next summers and in a few years I will dare to import a LS1 Trans Am on my own... For me those cars have a timeless and ageless beauty! In the posts where you presented your 4th Gens Trans Ams and Firebirds I have seen some which look like the Trans Am in my imaginations. But until then I will have much fun with my 1989 TA. (Another reason to get me a newer one is the fact that in Germany the taxes for older cars with big engines are enormously high!)

So I´ll stop talking and go on with showing pics of my Trans Am! (I know the front license plate looks ugly on this position. I will change this soon!) On pic three it´s me next to my Trans Am.

Unfortunately I don´t know yet how to get the pictures in real size into the text...

Thanks for reading and greetings from overseas!!

Matthias

you speak better english than half of the united states, myself included!!!
welcome by the way

**Matthias** · 04-03-2007, 08:54 AM

Oh! Thanks a lot!

Well, you don´t get Firebird - Parts in every Shop, that´s right, but there are some guys who import the things for many US - Cars (as they are called in Germany in general) like the GM´s, Fords or Mopars. One dealer is "Mike and Frank´s", they are located in northern Germany, or "KTS". Another source for parts are guys from Germany living in the United States and who make it the way that one friends knows another one like "I have a friend living in the US and he can send me this or that part which you need". Not really official, but in the German Car forums, like this one, it is also sometimes dealt this way. And there are really enthusiasts who like repairing US Cars and who still know for example how to "adjust a carburetor" (can I say it that way?) and who are not just changing this part for that part. But there it is again the way that one knows someone how knows another guy that is good in restaurating and repairing those cars. So like "advertising by voice".

There are also newspapers or magazines like the German version of Chrome & Flames or Street Magazine where you find postings from guys selling parts or even importing US - Cars. But to avoid those additional costs by letting someone else import a car I would like to import a LS1 Trans Am on my own one day. But it´s not easy buying a car 6000 miles away. On (in?) Ebaymotors or also the "cars for sale" part of this forum there are many nice (tight?) cars but you can´t see them on your own. So I will have to make this together with a bigger vacation... Not cheap neither... I don´t know yet. As I already mentioned the LS1 Camaros are seen more often in Germany than the LS1 Trans Ams.

Have a nice evening! (Here it´s 19:00 = 7:00pm)

Matthias

**snaggeltooth** · 04-03-2007, 06:06 PM

seems like those German winters would be hard on a car as old as yours .. And it is in VERY good shape .. How often does it see the road , do you sand or salt the roads in winter ???

**Matthias** · 04-04-2007, 07:52 AM

Well, in Germany it is possible to register your car "monthly", for example from 4 to 10 (April to Oct) oder 3 to 11 (March to November), and so on. This was introduced a few years ago especially for Motorbikes but is also available for cars. The German license plates consist of two parts. The first part shows the City or County you come from, the second part is "by accident". So if a license plate says "M-AB 1234" you can see that it is a guy from Munich. The first part depends on the area where you live, then the "-" and then one or two Characters, followed by a maximum of 4 numbers. The part after the "-" can also be "chosen". Another example: B is for Berlin. So guys in Berlin driving a BMW often "order" a license plate like "B-MW 1234". I am living in "Landsberg / Lech". (My city "Landsberg" is located next to the river "Lech", so thats where this name comes from.) So my license plate for the Trans Am is "LL - TA 79" (TA for Trans Am and 79 for my date of birth) I wanted to have "LL-TA 89" for 1989 Trans Am but this was already used by someone else. And with my Trans Am I have such a special License Plate which reads "LL - TA 79 4/10". Perhaps on my pic you can see it, if not, I will put a picture here. So to make a long story short, I am driving my Trans Am from April to October, and with this kind of registration I mustn´t drive it from November to March.

Here in souther Germany we put salt and pebble stones (=Small stones?) onto the roads when there´s plenty of snow.

In my attachement you see my license plate and also the numbers 4 and 10 on the very right side. The "D" on the left side stands for "Deutschland" which is Germany in German. The golden Stars on the blue is the symbol of the European Union. (The countries of the European Union have all similar looking plates) The orange "circle" on the plate shows that I need to make my "emission check" (so what comes out of my exhaust tubes) in 2007. The month in which I need to make it is marked and the color shows the year. 2008 would be a blue sticker. Below the orange sticker is a kind of stamp that shows that the car is registered and that the taxes are paid.

I find those German license plates quite boring. Your plates are happier, friendlier, more interesting as they tell something about your states... I like the Florida plates or the Arizona (!), or California or North Dakota or... well, each one of the 50 States is interesting, especially as there are several versions. Do they depend on the year in which they came out?

So this was a small introduction to German "car - registration - bureaucrazy". I hope I could explain it correctly.

Take care! Matthias

**snaggeltooth** · 04-07-2007, 03:04 PM

So whats up with cute Knut???

**Matthias** · 04-08-2007, 04:32 AM

I was/am enjoying the first days in April now!

**3birds** · 04-08-2007, 10:04 AM

Hello Matthias. I have relatives in Dortmund, Germany. I was born in Canada and only speak a very poor German (my reading German is worst and do not write). I was only there once in 1989 for three weeks. We rented a VW van for a week and drove around a little. We put a 1000 Kms on the van and the owner almost had a heart attack saying no one drives that far in a week. Here I have driven 1600 Kms in one day (when I was younger). Now if I were going to Las Vegas I would only drive 1200 Kms a day for 2 days. Germany was interesting we did see a few North American cars mainly around the U.S. bases. Even there dead Dodges littered the highway. One night we were almost run off the road near Koblenz on tight turn by a GMC tractor trailer hauling a load of GM products to a U.S. base. The roads sure are narrow and the turns tight! The N.A. cars are quite out of place, we saw a '70's Olds 98 try to park in Lubeck, the poor guy ended up taking two parking meters and having to pay for both. We also saw a meeting of some very nice looking Corvettes, Mustangs, and Camaros near Baden-Baden.

**Matthias** · 04-09-2007, 11:29 AM

Hello! That is true, although we may drive as fast as we want on our "Autobahn" (as long as there are no speed restrictions near cities) the usual German does not drive around a lot (the car enthusiasts of course also drive and cruise their cars).

Now in the spring and summer months there are many Meetings for us cars in general (new and old ones) almost in each week-end in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. The first meeting is a meeting in Munich on the area "Theresienwiese" where the famous Octoberfest is run in fall, too.

When are you going to meet your relatives in Dortmund again?

Bye, Matthias

**3birds** · 04-10-2007, 07:51 PM

I do not know if I will ever get another chance to go to Germany although I would like to go again. My uncle is suppose to come to Canada this summer if things go good. He is retired and has a little more free time than I have. He has never had a ride in a convertible so I will have to make sure he gets one in the Firehawk. I really like your car, the color is quite rare from what I know. I have not seen too many that color.

**Matthias** · 03-26-2010, 02:52 PM

Time flies and some changes happened.

I don´t own the gunmetal gray TA anymore but another 3rd Gen, a bright red 1988 Trans Am. My girlfriend, also a TA - enthusiast, drives a heritage brown 1979 TA. Down here are some pictures.

Greetings from a holiday-trip to Italy (following 3 pics) :

But one thing hasn´t changed at all since I´ve written my last post: LS1 - Trans Ams are still very rare in Germany and because of that still quite expensive. But I am still sure that I will drive a LS1 - Trans Am one day...

**KahanaReef** · 03-26-2010, 03:09 PM

Hey! Thanks for posting some more pictures. It has been a while hasn't it

Both clean looking cars.

**Knight** · 03-26-2010, 04:05 PM

G'day and welcome.

**0rion** · 03-26-2010, 04:27 PM

that 79 looks in great shape. I had a 79 TA many years ago. Mine just had the 301 in it and would barely get out of it's own way.

**bamaz28** · 03-29-2010, 05:52 AM

welcome to ls1

**Matthias** · 03-09-2011, 01:15 PM

Hi!

Since I still don´t own a LS1-fired Trans Am and so I am not able to help with LS1 - related problems, I am still only a reading member. Here are some new pics of my red 3rd Gen. No big changes, I just changed from my old and crappy D81 Aerowing to the smaller D80 Wing.