Would you Drive This? 1988 Chevrolet Camaro IROC Z w/ T tops

Would you drive a mint condition 3rd gen Camaro?

This bodystyle came out in 1982 with what was extremely modern and sleek styling in the day. Unfortunately this was during the "emissions choking" era of American cars, so the engines were all choked of air and fuel to meet emissions standards. The earlier 5.7L V8 Camaros had the quadrajet 4 bbl carb (probably the best carb ever made. They still use these in marine applications) with about 200 horsepower.

By 1986, higher end cars like Mercedes, Cadillac, and BMW offered fuel injection. The Camaro got this wizard technology by 1987. This uprated the 5.7L V8 to 230 HP at 4,400 rpm and 330 lb.ft at 3,200 rpm. For the day, this was considered a very fast car. Today, a turbocharged 4 cylinder Malibu can probably spank this Camaro in a race, but in the 1980s, this was considered a rocket on wheels. It flat out embarrassed the Mustang GT and most higher end European cars. It remained the fastest affordable American car (The Corvette was pricey) until the 1991 GMC Syclone was introduced.

The IROC model (International Race of Champions) was used for several pace cars and was a Car and Driver 10 best car for two years in a row. It's considered the coolest high performance 3rd generation Camaro. It came with a cooler interior, updated styling, a limited slip diff, and a V8.

The example below only has about 25,000 miles. It's in excellent condition, which is pretty rare for 3rd gen Camaros especially if they were kept in northern states. Unfortunately the traditional Camaro buyer even today aren't exactly known for maintaining their cars as well as the average Buick or Oldsmobile owner. When maintained, these cars weren't quite as bulletproof as the 3800 V6 W Body (LeSabre, Lumina, Cutlass Supreme) cars, but it was pretty reliable after the initial fuel injection teething issues were solved by 1989/1990.

They certainly looked better in black with the gold/brown lettering, but red was also a very popular color. IMO this was one of the coolest "affordable" cars of the 1980s.










Would you buy this car if it came with a pair of cut off jeans, moon shoes, and a lite bright? IMO, the Camaro IROC is just as much of an iconic 1980s relic as those cool toys!

LINK

This is one of those cars that takes me back to my childhood. A friend of mine's parents had one just like this. We all thought his mom was the "cool mom" for having one.