Judge me if you will, but I won’t hide the fact that I’ve always had a thing for the third generation Camaros. Those boxy features and the menacing looks have always intrigued me. Sadly, it seems like most of these cars have been whipped beyond recognition. That’s why finding one like this reader-submitted 1988 IROC Z, found here on eBay, is such a unique find.
This IROC Z appears to have been well taken care of. It would be nice to see it pulled out of the garage and let the light shine on it, but with only 34,000 miles we can assume that it looks pretty good when pulled out. The black paint with silver decals helps to set this car off. Those IROC Z rims are said to be redone and have new center caps. Personally, I’ve always preferred the style of IROC Z wheel just before this one.
The seller states that this car has nearly every option available except the 350 cubic inch small block. I know that Chevrolet was particular about putting the more powerful 350 with the t-top cars so it’s hard to know if that really was an option in this scenario. I’ve heard that a limited number were produced with that combination, though.
There really isn’t a lot of detail given on this Camaro and the pictures could definitely be better. The $15,000 starting bid is pretty steep to get the attention of bidders without a little better information but isn’t an incredibly crazy asking price for such a low mileage example like this one. I’m not sure if this would be a museum quality piece or if it should live a life of weekend cruises and attending car shows. If you were to buy it, what would you do with it?
Just don’t get the blacked-out lenses on any car.
That was the eighties, remember the headlight covers, you had to pull over to take them off , not well thought out, or the duel wiper blades in chrome, oh yeah
Even dumber is smoked tail light covers. Personally, the last thing I would want is to obscure any device designed to keep someone from running into me from behind!
I will, with great trepidation, admit to having both of those sins on my first car in 1991…. along with a Grant GT steering wheel.
Black out lenses rock….
Ever pick your T-top in Poughkeepsie?
I own a 1990 IROC I bought new, 53,000 miles and have been offered $17,000…..nope not enuf to buy it, always garage kept…and no T-Tops….I hate them IMHO……these cars on the way up……fell in love with the body style when they came out in 1982….couldn’t afford one at that point, but finally did in 1990….turns out the last year, the biggest engine (350) and a 700R trans and the lowest production…..guess I will it go in my estate sale….had a bunch of ’68’s and ’69s but fell in love with that body….
Dan I recently sold my 90, optioned the same as yours, w/ 79K miles.
Nice cars, but being in AZ the plastics and headliner(s) over the years deteriorated so bad that it was a good day when I was offered 7K. I too fell in love w/ the 82’s.
Well mine has always been garage kept and never in snow and ice and salt……I sure AZ heat and sun are hard on them….crappy cheap interiors….. :-(
Maybe it doesn’t run. That would help explain why the pictures were taken in a dark garage on what appears to be a nice sunny day, or it could be the seller is lazy, maybe both. There has to be a reason for such a lackluster ad.
Steve R
A day and some change with no bids. “See honey, I tried to sell it but nobody will give me what it’s worth. “
Have always liked this era , a friend of mine had a 82 Z , first year and only year with functioning hood scoop, at the end of the two black inserts were flaps that would open
When you punched it , Really cool , must have been costly or problematic because Chevy never offered it again opting for the nonfunctional louvers , this car might seem on the high side price wise but these generations of Camaro will continue to rise in value offering the new owner an investment he can enjoy , a far better option IMO than a burned out shell of a 67-69, needing 30k in restoration costs
Lazy seller besides leaving it in the garage he can’t be bothered with turning his pictures right side up before posting in his ad. I can do that in a minute on my Windows 10 and I’m no genius when it comes to techie stuff. That would turn me off to placing a bid on his car. Call me picky and yes I am.
Yeah what’s up with the upside down pix? Ridiculous.
Would like to see some daylight photos of this beauty. I much prefer the Z28/IROC-Z to the Trans Am…far less busy looking IMO with fewer “faux-fast” adornments and doodads. I could get into owning a 3rd gen Camaro for sure, especially one as seemingly nice as this one.
This Camaro is worth 6 to 8k max….Nothing special on this 34k mile car.
Those are 4th generation seats and seat belts… I know for sure there not original.
I was going to say the same thing.
When I worked at a Chevy store in 1988, I never saw those seats in a Camaro.
The write up touts an original well taken care of car but that is not what I see in the pictures.
If the guy drilled into the nose to put the brackets for the headlight covers and switched out the seats, I am sure there are many other things he has messed with.
I like these cars too, Chris (the Camaros and the Firebirds both). Outstanding design, I think. Even malaise can be beat with a few easy mods, and their handling was ace. And they’re affordable.
Glad I’m not the only one! I’ve owned an ‘86 IROC Z, an ‘87 RS, and a ‘91 Formula. All good cars and wish I still had them. I’ve always heard that they were designed well but unfortunately not put together well. Even so, that doesn’t keep me from wanting another one!
No excuse to get an automatic if you didn’t get the 5.7. That kills this car for me.
You couldn’t get a manual with the 5.7 at that time,or any 3rd gen Camaro either.
Actually the 305 manual was quicker than the 350 auto. Weird
I wouldn’t want a stick in this car.
It was way too clunky, plus my knees aren’t what they used to be.
Why does it need wheels re-finished and a new steering wheel at 34,000 miles? According to Hagerty the values on Z’s is flattening out but the T/A’s are increasing fast. I like the Z better but a GTA would be nice….
Steering wheel (and pedal) wear is usually a good indicator of true age, though the rest of the car looks pretty clean.
Here’s a car that you couldn’t give me for the cost I’d have in titling and licensing it. I’d have to do my research just to flip it, but I’m guessing $15k is easily twice what I’d have to pay just to break even.
If I was to get this beauty first thing pull the motor and drop a 500 hp.383 stroker in it I’ve always been about the sound and speed .
There has been a series ongoing in the current past few issues of Car Craft where they are swapping one of the new LT1 engines and 6 speed into a third gen Camaro. IMO, that beats a gen 1 sbc 383 any day, with the exception of not being a “drop in” swap.
I need to talk my wife into letting me buy this to drive to my thirtieth high school reunion next year. I could pull up like Adam Sandler in “Billy Madison”, with my collar popped on my Levi jean jacket, but jamming Whitesnake instead of Billy Squier, (although I still jam to both!). (I actually went to school with a guy like that who drove a red IROC AND as an added bonus, had a sweet Mississippi Mudflap/ Kentucky Waterfall/ MULLET. (We didn’t call it that at the time.) I played football and our coah wouldnt let us get away with that- It was a small town!
I am sure you can find one to rent on Turo or the other rental system.
No need to waste so much money.
Ive got an ‘88 IROC Z 5 speed manual in England. Ive had it 10 years and no money will buy it from me. I have the same blacked out lenses front and rear. People complain about them being dangerous, you cant see them etc. They reduce the cars light efficiency by 30%, so my solution was real simple, I replaced all bulbs with bulbs at least 30% brigther than standard, which brings it back up to the same light output again, problem solved! 👍
BETCHA you irritate the XJ-S’s and Aston Martins a lot!
P<)
Well done!
Have always liked this body style; angular, purposeful and seeming milled from a solid billet of wonderful. A work associate had a brand new blue ’85 IROC; gorgeous it was. Someone ‘liberated’ the vehicle from him inside of a year’s ownership and what he got back didn’t look pretty after it’d been stripped nearly bare. I grieved along with him. IROCs were something my wife frowned-on too. ;-). There’s a YouTube video detailing the life of an ultra low-mileage ‘found’ IROC that after a mild resuscitation is now living in a museum; a real piece of well preserved Americana. Those really were the days.
Convienently there is no picture of the odometer. It could be a 5 digit unit, as some of them had the 5 and some had the 6.
What is up with the right rear tire? It looks to be allot shorter than the normal 245-50R-16’s.
Speaking of the automatic flaps on the hood a few comments ago, I have friend that bought new that year Camaro. He thought they were cool until unbeknownst to him, they stuck open and rain was directed into the engine filling the oil pan. It seized of course.
Whole ad completely smacks of “honey I tried to sell it, honest! I just got a bunch of low ball offers!”