F-Body?

OK, im probably gonna get laughed at by alot, but, I love Camaros/Firebirds and have for a while, but why the heck are they called F bodies and what the heck is an F body? and ive seen/heard of t-bodies, what are those?

an f-body is a firebird or camaro , its the name of the "chassis" both cars share. Like a cavalier or sunfire is a J-body car . and I think monte carlo and grand nationals are g body cars. Its just the body type kind of.

Hey man, don't feel like a dumbass. I wondered the same thing. Just never asked!

Trans AMs also count as F-bodies. If you look real close, there is few dirrerences in them. Corvettes are totally different, and use totally different parts than the f-bodies, and are called Y-bodies I believe.

well, whats the difference between a firebird and a trans am, i thought they were the same car..........

Look at the hoods...and Firebirds have the distinct Firebird insignia on them. :)

is that it?

I was always under the impression that they were called F-bodys because of the VIN number.
A Camaro will have a 1 for Chevrolet followed by an F for camaro.
A Firebird will have the first number that is pontiac followed by an F for Firebird.

So you were right.
A Corvette would have a 1 for Chevy followed by a Y for Corvette.

So that is why some cars are refered to as J-bodies, or A-bodies, or whatever...

All of Pontiac's F-bodies were Firebirds. The V6's were the only one that retained this name on the car. The V8 powered Firebirds were Formulas and Trans Ams. A formula is a bare bones V8 car, generally. Pretty much a V6 car with a V8 in it. The TA was the most highly optioned model, with a high rise spoiler, WS6 options, etc....

alright, thanx guyz

Depends on the year we are talking about here.

There were also Firebird Esprit models which were "lower" than Formulas.

There were I6 cars, Esprits, Formulas, and Trans Ams in the 60's and early 70's.

Later they dropped the Esprit name.

But later they added a few more options.
There are Firebirds with both V6 and V8, then there were the Formulas then the Trans Ams, then the Trans Am WS-6 package, and if you were really sneaky you could order a Firehawk through SLP and your dealership. This was all later 1997+.

So like I said, the model differences depend on the year range that you are talkinga about.


A 1969 Firebird Formula 400, is NOT a base model car.....

why are you all making it more complex than it is. ANY camaro or firebird from the 4 cylinder 80's base coupes , the 2002 firehawk , even the coveted yenko camaros are all f-bodies , it dont matter whats under the hood or inside the car , its an f-body.

That fact had already been established. Other questions had come about since then and were being answered...

I was always under the impression that they were called F-bodys because of the VIN number.
A Camaro will have a 1 for Chevrolet followed by an F for camaro.
A Firebird will have the first number that is pontiac followed by an F for Firebird.

So you were right.
A Corvette would have a 1 for Chevy followed by a Y for Corvette.

So that is why some cars are refered to as J-bodies, or A-bodies, or whatever...

Um, no....
The VIN on a GM car starts with the country of build; 1-US, 2-Canada, 3-S. America, 4-Asia
The second digit is always a "G", as in GM!

Umm, yes and no.
I was wrong about the VIN # having an F in it, but you are just as wrong to assume that all camaros have a G for GM.

My Camaro's VIN breaks down as such....
1-Chevrolet
2-Camaro
437- V8 Coupe
8- 1968 model year
L- Van Nuys California Assembly plant
then followed by the production number.

This was decoded using the VIN decoder at F-body.org


Okay, back to the F-body thing.
The F-body program actually dates all the way back to August of 1964. In response to the success that Ford was having with the Mustang.
Though I have not been able to find out if the F actually stands for something or is just an arbitrary letter.

The "G" in the VIN you were referring to was not added until 1981.

So don't assume that since you have an 81 or newer Camaro that you have the definitive, every camaro is the same as mine car.

There were a lot of changes over the years.

Umm, yes and no.
I was wrong about the VIN # having an F in it, but you are just as wrong to assume that all camaros have a G for GM.

My Camaro's VIN breaks down as such....
1-Chevrolet
2-Camaro
437- V8 Coupe
8- 1968 model year
L- Van Nuys California Assembly plant
then followed by the production number.

This was decoded using the VIN decoder at F-body.org

Yes, GM has changed it's VIN coding 3 times. The VIN information I pointed out is current and has been in use since 1980.