There comes a point where superlatives are wasted. Let’s just say that if the words IROC, mullet, Tuned Port Injection, Chernobyl & Challenger, Top Gun and Full House feel like you heard them just yesterday, this car means a lot to you, and may be your dream car or close to it. The rest of you can probably just move on to the next post! This pristine IROC-Z is advertised here on eBay where bidding has yet to meet the reserve, and is located in Jupiter, Florida.
It’s rare that I can’t find a flaw in the pictures that accompany a classic car ad. This is one of those times. I can’t see a scratch or dent in the pictures, and the white with factory graphics and aluminum wheels (that I remember thinking were SO big when it was new) just melt my heart–and I’m a Mustang guy! This car is from the year I graduated from college, and I remember buying our first new car (a Ford Tempo) and looking longingly at the Mustangs and Camaros. And even though I was a fan of the blue oval, I had to appreciate the graphics and styling of the Camaro.
And this one shows those lines to the max. Note: again, if you don’t like this kind of car, as I said, move on to the next post. If you do, you know where I’m coming from!
The interior is right out of the factory brochure. It’s not even dirty. The seller states that it has been living in an air conditioned warehouse. The car has power seats, power windows and power locks, as well as an automatic transmission. Yes, an automatic. Oh well.
The dash looks too good to be true. And there’s a clear shot of the mileage here. I’ll admit, the automatic spoils it a little for me. But the condition of the car outweighs a lot.
Here’s the other surprise. I was expecting a 350 V8, but it’s only a 305! As a matter of fact, as far as I can tell (feel free to correct me) there wasn’t a 350 offered that year in any Camaro! Still, just look how nice things are under that hood. And I wouldn’t be racing the car anyway! Any of you 80’s lovers there with me?
The 350 didn’t come back in the camaro til 1987 and then only with the automatic. I still have my 1990 I bought new, it just turned 52,000 miles.
Great car….drive and enjoy! The IROC races were fun to watch…..Pro-Am golf with cars.
The only bad thing on this would be it’s too nice to drive. Otherwise I’m with you — I don’t see anything to question on this except to wonder how high it’s going to go.
As a owner of 2 Irocs I got to say they are a great handling car that most people do not appreciate. This one looks real sweet and I think they are a good investment. You either love em or hate em.
Love the car just not a 305 fan. Had an 87 IROC 35p Automatic Red with black interior. After the chip was for the day a beast. My wife the gear head was alwYs street racing many a vette was suprised as she shut them down. Most always had 5 to 10ft. 2nd gear shift tire spin. After the second transmission sold it and put her in a new 91 sunbird convertable. Never have heard the end of it.
A friend of mine had one of these, same colour.Stored it every Winter. Well, the building he stored it in collapsed from too much snow-load. The car was written off.The car he replaced it with is nice, just not the same.
When it came to GM’s, I was much more of a Firebird person, but one cannot deny what an amazing example this is. It certainly is what it’s claimed to be. I bet someone bought this with the sole intention of preserving it for later. Kind of a shame, in a way. This car was built to drive, like hammer down in the left lane suckin’ up Kia’s, or some back road in the Catskill’s, or Montana holding 3 digits for a while, not in a warehouse, where it obviously sat appreciating. You want a new ’86 IROC Camaro, here it is. I must be getting numb to the prices, but I think this is quite a deal for what it is.
Had a Camaro RS of similar vintage. T Top. Suzie bought it new. What a FUN car. The 305 TBI was fast and got well over 20mpg. It handled like it was on rails (and I’ve had vintage sports cars). With the hatchback you could haul stuff you’d expect to need a pickup for. Great looks. Between me and later my son, it went over 200,000 miles with no major work, then he sold it to a young man who “fixed it up”. All in all a terrific car. They are uncommon to see on the road anymore. If Geezerhood hadn’t set in and with it the difficulty in getting out of a low slung car with huge doors, I’d find another one in a heartbeat. :-) Terry J
Oh how I always liked IROC-Zs and Trans Ams of this era. However, to me, an IROC-Z and not complete without the T Tops or even better, the rare convertibles. These were some of the hottest cars to either own or just be seen in at the time. I still have my 88 IROC-Z convertible although I have not had it out of storage in a long time.
Do yourself a favour, take it for a spin! That’s why you got it in the first place.
I would like to Glen but I buried it in my storage building over 10 years ago. The car has been in my family since new, it’s just impossible to get to it anymore so it sits. At least it’s dry inside under a soft cover.
You can’t leave it there for ever! I am curious as to what else is buried in that building, though.
Some of these old cars are still around, amazingly, and in ultra-low mile shape.
This Firebird just sold today for $25K at Mecum. 6K miles!
https://www.mecum.com/lots/KM0317-288485/1980-pontiac-trans-am/
I bought (with my parent’s help) this very same Mecum car new. Well, I didn’t have the deluxe cloth interior or power windows, but otherwise it’s a twin. My nephew was driving it around 1994 and was t-boned and bent the frame. Nephew was fine, car was totaled. One of the best cars I’ve ever owned. I think I replaced the water pump, front ball joint and otherwise basic maintenance in over 200K miles. This picture makes me sad. Great car, handled well, slow as all get out with that 301 automatic.
Everybody at one time “Awwwwe”! LOL
Here’s the ’88 I bought new. I had it ten years and never had any problems at all. I sold it in 1998 with 21K miles on it. One of the biggest mistakes I ever made… (concerning cars). I love to have another one.
It’s certainly a nice, clean example. The 305 is a dog of a motor, and personally, I never cared for the Camaro after 1972. The F-body and the ones that followed were not for me. Chevrolet had such a wonderful car there; reliable, great-looking, powerful (if you ordered it that way) but after ’72, I feel they just changed for the worse. No offense to those who own them. Mine is just an opinion, and not meant to judge their owners. There’s enough of that on YouTube.
The 305 tune port 305 mated to a 5 speed manual is actually a great performer. I have it in my 1988 Iroc convertible and when it was newish I killed most of the 5 litre mustangs .Mine has 4 wheel disc brakes and factory oil cooler.
for their time time these were way ahead of the curve with the TPI injection, 16 inch wheels etc. we owe the new era of muscle-cars to these and the 5.0 mustangs of that same era. the mustangs were more fun to drive but I would rather own a later IROC with the 350, some even had aluminium heads as I recall? this one deserves an LS swap!
Very nice cars! My wife and I have a 1985 all original even the paint with 71000 miles. 80s Forever!!!
Those wheels, and a couple of the styles which followed them, set the standard for style, IMO. Great looking car, Jason.
What’s up with the sun visor on passenger side? Engine bay looks pretty nasty for such a low mileage car.
Nice car! The only thing that I didn’t care for on the ’86’s was that GM decided to stick the newly mandated 3rd brake light on top of the hatch.
Z,
As you mentioned that I’m reminded of my ’88 that had the lamp embedded in the top of the rear spoiler. I don’t have a picture of mine but, if you look at the feature car, you’ll see it would only be about 3~4 inches above the regular tail lamps. There wasn’t much of a “Center High Mount Stop Lamp” to it. I preferred the spoiler mount to the upper hatch mount in the ’86 design.
Agreed! The ’87 up design with it integrated into the rear spoiler made for a much cleaner look!
I had a 1984 Camero with a V-6 Auto. One of the best cars I ever owned. But as stated before I am not a fan of the 305. I would rather have that in a 350 or V-6. But man that car is clean. You could win a lot of shows with that one.
This is definitely not the best one around. It’s nice but I came across two better ones that were traded by a collector when buying a new hemi Challenger. I looked at them in the trade in lot and I am a fan of these. A black covetable and a red T-Top. Was interested in grabbing the both until I confirmed the mileage on both. The convertible had less than 3K and the T-Top less than 5k. The owner bought them as investments and my gut tells me there are more out there.
Sticker price in ’86 was ~$17K and bidding is now at… $17K (reserve not met!)
A buddy of mine bought one of these brand new. He had NO mechanical abilities whatsoever, so he took the car to the dealership for EVERY maintenance requirement, including oil changes ! The power antenna motor needed replacing every 2 years, as well as the power hatch pull down. Your car has cloth interior, which is incredible ! I didn’t know that it was even available. Fantastic !