The Camaro Club (UK)

For $4,100, You Rock!


To drive in the International Race of Champions, you need to be at a winner. To drive today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe IROC-Z you need only have the necessary cash. The question is, will its price have you saying ROC-on?

Dropping a Skyline engine into damn near anything usually makes the recipient magically propitious, but that wasn't meant to be with yesterday's RB20DET-gifted '77 Celica. Sadly, its litany of liabilities and non-trivial price tag proved to steep a hurdle, and it fell in a decisive 70% Crack Pipe loss.

Unlike that cross-pollenated Japanese coupe, today's car is all American and seems all original — well, aside than the paint which is said to be new. The Camaro pony car — or Camero to morons — debuted at end of September 1966 as a '67 model, 29 months after Ford dropped the class-defining Mustang on a wildly receptive public.

By the time the third generation Camaro hit town the marque had already established itself in chameleon fashion with models ranging from Plain Jane to the hairy chested Z-28. That model was deemed by Road & Track magazine to be the best looking car on the planet, even more so than the contemporary — and Pininfarina penned — Ferrari 308 GTB.

That styling has held up well over the years — much more so — IMHO — than has that of the more recent fourth generation F-bodies. This 1987 IROC-Z shows that's still the case. It also seems well cared for, and comes with some of the best option boxes checked.

The IROC series started back in ‘73 with the drivers getting identical Porsche RSRs. By ‘75 the series had moved to Camaros, and that marque is probably the most readily identified with the series. This IROC is also a Z-28, and as such wears that model's well integrated body kit. In fact, so good looking and common is the third generation Z-28 that lesser models appear incomplete in comparison.

The IROC was only available on the Z-28 (option B4Z), and featured a recalibrated and lowered suspension over the standard Z. Engine choices were the boat anchor 305 and the 350, each with tuned port injection, which is available today on even the Kia Rio, but back then was a big deal. The 350 was only made available with an automatic, and so while this ‘87 has the 215-horse LB9, that's backed up by the want-worthy 5-speed manual.

Another option that's so eighties you might expect VH1 to do a series on it is the smoked glass removable roof panels known to those in the know as T-tops. ‘87 was also the first year that a full convertible returned to the Camaro lineup after a nearly two decade absence. That return of full convertibles after the realization that the Government wasn't going to ban them spelled the death of the T-roof for many car models, but here it is, in all its potentially squeaky leaky glory.

The ad notes that while the car appears to have been well taken care of, it does sport a non-trivial 180,000 miles on the clock. Over that time it's seen much of its consumables consumed and as noted earlier has had a respray and new decal package applied so it at least looks new. It also still looks completely bad ass.

The seller is asking $4,100 for his IROC and it's now up to you to determine if that price is I-opening. What do you think, is this seemingly well preserved and cared for IROC worth that kind of cash? Or, does that price make this a non-bitchin' Cam-er-o ?

You decide!