Showroom stock racing is one of the more entertaining genres of racing ever conceived, as it pits drivers against each other in cars that are essentially identical. Without the option of making modifications that introduce a level of variance that can help to elevate one driver over another, a showroom stock car reveals which competitors can dominate regardless of the scale of the track car build. This 1990 Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z 1LE is one of 62 examples manufactured for SCCA racing by GM, and one of only 34 equipped with a manual gearbox. As an added bonus, it has just 20 miles from new. Find it here at Barrett-Jackson.com.
Through the years, the 1LE designation has symbolized GM’s desire to build the ultimate Camaro. While the connection to SCCA road racing has faded away, 1LE cars are still chock full of high-performance goodness. Personally, I wish factory performance builds were more in keeping with the spirit of this third generation model, with improved suspension and braking hardware and an emphasis on weight reduction. To me, the most thrilling performance cars have made a lower curb weight an integral part of the DNA as opposed to just throwing more bolt-on parts at it.
The 1LE was stripped down to its most basic form inside the car, with the term “no frills” a bit of an understatement. Customers could strip it back even further with a radio delete, but this car appears to come with a tape deck. The fact that more of these were sold with an automatic versus a manual is a bit surprising, but it only serves to make a 1LE with three pedals even more desirable. The listing notes that this 1LE was in the care of its only owner until 2022 when it was traded back to the original selling dealer.
1LEs came with a variety of upgrades, including bigger brakes, stiffer springs and shocks, an engine oil cooler, and an internal fuel tank baffle. Weight reduction was achieved with an aluminum driveshaft, air conditioning delete and aluminum spare wheel. Airflow was enhanced thanks to a fog lamp delete. Overall, GM’s engineers went to town trying to find additional performance hidden within the third-generation Camaro platform and did an admirable job building a track car for the street. This rare 1LE is a gem with what amounts to delivery miles, and the 5-speed manual is icing on the cake.
Truly beautiful car, but it’s somewhat sad that it wasn’t enjoyed on the street and most likely never will be.
I knew a local guy who raced a showroom stock IROC-Z back in the day. There was a lot going on that wasn’t stock. Obviously if you wanted to run with the big dogs you had to blueprint and balance the motor. That’s legal.
I remember that the transmission shifted into overdrive sooner than they wanted, so pushing the “Radio on” button changed that. They had a radio, but gutted it and kept it so they had real looking buttons to make things (that weren’t stock) happen.
That’s just how racing works.
@joehuff. I don’t recall the “radio on” button but I do remember skip-shift in the transmission. When driving normal the transmission would block the 2nd gear gate shifting directly from 1st to 4th. More aggressive throttle applications rewarded the driver with a 1-2 and 2-3 gear selection.
For the sake of clarity, I don’t think skip-shift became a thing on Camaros until the fourth gen in 1993.
Thank you for the clarification. I don’t know that I drove very many with this feature.
I don’t think they got it until the 94 model year, which mine was, bought a “Skip Shift Eliminator” that plugged into the transmission and disabled it. The “Skip Shift” light would still come on, but you could shift as you liked.
I don’t remember any irocs having tailpipes like that. 🤔
It actually looks like a stock setup, but the muffler has rotated on the mid-pipe. Maybe the muffler rotted out and they didn’t get the clamp tight on the new one. No way I’d take the car to B.J. looking like that.
You are right about those tailpipes, something going on there, no way, no how stock! Nope! No sir! Been changed!
So being a 5 speed means it’s a 305(5.0 liter) as a 350(5.7 liter)was not available with a stick.I made my own 350 Tuned Port Injection/5spd/3:73 posi around 2001 starting with an ’86 IROC-Z and swapping out the factory 305 carb’d for a 350 from a wrecked ’88 GTA T/A
The 305/5-speeds were equipped from the factory with the 5.7’s heads resulting in only 10 or 15 (IIRC) less horsepower than the 350. Torque was what you really lost.
The year 1990 i was working at a chevrolet dealership that had 2 come in for a noted show room stock racer did a pre delivery inspection on one of the 1le camaro with a 5sp. Knew right away on the road test it was a special car. Ask the owner if I could order one said very hard to get. Never ask again think the stick was 12k.
The fact that more automatics were built is not surprising given all the 5.7L cars were automatics. No stick 350s.
It’s often cited that about 90% of all third gen camaro/firebird production was auto.
Good friend of mine bought a new 1LE with the 5 speed in 1992. Came over to my house to show me. Car had only 87 miles on it but he said let’s see what it can do and he proceeded to show me how it could break the tires loose in several gears. Put a big smile on my face
The fact that it’s a 1LE is great, but no a/c is a deal breaker here in the humid, tropical rain forest mid-Atlantic.
lol who ever buys the 33 year old 20 mile Factory Lightweight will have no intentions of driving it :)
Oh man, I’d love to have this bad to the bone IROC Z 1LE, but there’s no way I’m not driving it. I guess I’m weird, because I’d yank the 305 and build it with forged internals, a lumpier cam and ported and polished aluminum heads so I could wind it out to at least 7k rpm’s. I would never beat it on a track, but twisty roads would be in serious danger every day the sun shines. 1LE’s were built correctly for hard driving and I’d stretch its legs regularly. I can’t believe the original owner just parked it in their garage and looked at it for 40 years.
I’ve never cared for those cheap looking plastic dashes
that those ’80’s GM cars had.
want a car to look at? this is perfect. Better and cheaper yet, just google the make/model. Start driving this thing, and your investment sinks with every mile added to the odometer. Unless you’re a museum, what’s the point of having an undriveable car?