In its day, the Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z was a hot sports coupe, a real muscle car. Although a car of this age is likely to have some problems – especially if it has lived in the Northern States or Canada – a Camaro can still be a fun car. Parts are cheap, and availability is good.
Not only that, but the looks of the Camaro have not aged that much. It has a modern nose with flush-fitting headlamps and hardly any grille, and a semi-fastback with thick rear pillars. In those days, having no grille was trendy, but now every manufacturer wants a grille that is a symbol of the make. Could be a lot worse.
The Camaro IROC was named that because Camaros were used in the International Race of Champions. It was a special edition model. The performance is still not bad: 0-60 in 6.3 seconds, and a top speed of 143 mph. I mean, the new Mustang GT manages only 140 mph and 0-60 in 5.5 seconds! And there’s more power to come out of that Chevy small block engine.
Camaros were available with either 5.0 or 5.7 liter engines, and the 5.7 mill whacked out 220 bhp at 4,400 rpm, with peak torque of 330 lb ft at 2,800 rpm. Plenty of power around 2,500-4,500 rpm, but the standard engine then ran out of breath.
Still, with a big four-barrel carb, and other modes, you could get the power up to over 300 bhp. As the car was pretty light by modern standards, this much power could get you a real muscle car for very little cash. In fact, there are plenty of good tuners who can turn one of these big rumblers into a 350 to 500 bhp tearaway.
Will there ever be a new Camaro enthusiasts ask? The way GM is at present, it doesn’t seem at all likely.
