@EricM,
If you back out on the Formula would you be willing to go look at it for me? It is a day trip each way for me to go get it with a trailer. Or fly out and drive it back. Ya I know a little risky but as long as the 400 runs (even if ti is on 4 cyl) they will run for ever.
I would good look at both. I mean there may be rust on that orange one or not who knows. Honestly I would probably go for the Firebird if the rust isn't too bad.
I contacted the FB owner and he wants to talk via the phone. Sais the rust is a pinhole in the trunk that does not show up in photos. Said the rest of the car is solid.
I may seriously considder flyng out / train out and bringing a repair plate with me and drive it home. What can go wrong? LOL
From looking at your Photobucket pics, I would not consider the Firebird to have "a little rust." Not bad for a rust belt car, but a long way from rust free. There's a good bit of metal that has holes in it just visible in the low resolution pictures which means an inspection in person is going to turn up a whole boat load of rust. Rust alllllways looks better in pictures than in person, the low res of digital pictures hides the rust really effectively. Especially if it's been painted over. I see holes in the sub frame, dash, sills, body seams, etc. If you wanted it to be rust free it's going to need torn down, a lot of patching, and a complete paint job. It's not a "hit with a wire brush and touch it up" type job.
I have a 1979 Trans Am sitting in my driveway. I think they are way cooler than the Camaros of the same vintage. Starting in 1970 when the 2nd gen F-Body came out, the Firebird, Formula and Trans Am became the real stars, while the Camaro just sat idly and watched. They are like big Hot Wheels cars!
If you can fix rust (whoever buys it, that is), then go for the 'Bird, especially if it's a runner. They don't make everything sheet metal-wise for these yet, but they do make a lot of it. They definitely make trunk floors.
I loved my 75 formula 400. You could put it in 4th and idle away from a stop sign. I drove it to CA 2x and FLA 3-4x great highway cruiser