Car Of The Day: May 22, 2012

Today's car of the day comes from Firehawk73's collection and is Matchbox's 1985 Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z.

The third-generation Chevrolet Camaro was introduced for the 1982 model year. It continued to use General Motors's F-body platform and would produce a "20th Anniversary Commemorative Edition" for 1987 and "25th Anniversary Heritage Edition" for 1992. These were also the first Camaros with factory fuel injection, four-speed automatic transmissions, five-speed manual transmissions, four-cylinder engines, 16-inch wheels, and hatchback bodies. The third-generation Camaro continued through the 1992 model year.

For more information and pictures of the real car please visit: Chevrolet Camaro

For 1985, Chevrolet introduced a new Camaro model — the famous IROC-Z, named after the popular competition International Race of Champions. Offered as an option package on the Z28, the Camaro IROC-Z featured an upgraded suspension, lowered ride height, specially valved Delco - Bilstein shocks, larger diameter sway bars, a steering/frame brace known as the "wonder bar", a special decal package, and an optional Tuned Port Injection system taken from the Corvette. It also shared the Corvette's Goodyear "Gatorback" unidirectional tires in a 245/50/VR16 size vs. the Corvette's 255/50/VR16 size, and received unique new aluminum 5-spoke 16 by 8 inch wheels. The new wheels were designed with different offsets front and rear, resulting in the words "Front" or "Rear" cast into the face of the wheels to distinguish which wheel went where.

The Camaro IROC-Z was on Car and Driver magazine's Ten Best list for 1985. The 305 c.i. 5.0-liter TPI LB9 was rated at 215 hp (160 kW) with the 4 bbl 305 LG4 at 155 hp and the 4 bbl High Output 305 L69 at 190 hp (142 kW). Only 2,497 L69 IROC-Z models were made for 1985. The LB9 was available only on the Z28 and the IROC-Z model with the TH700-R4 automatic transmission. 205 1985 IROC-Zs equipped with the LB9 305 were made with the G92 (Performance Axle Ratio) option. The G92 option upgraded the rear axle gear ratio from 3.23 to 3.42.

Also new for 1985, all Camaros featured refreshed noses, and new deeper valances and front spoiler for the Z28 and the newly introduced IROC-Z. The speedometers no longer had the unique double-pointed needle that simultaneously read mph and km/h: they were replaced by conventional single-pointer 85 mph (137 km/h) units. The 2.8 L V6 became fuel-injected, raising power from 112 hp (84 kW) to 135 hp (101 kW). This would also be the final year for the less popular base-model 151 cu in (2.5 L) 4-cylinder engine.
For 1985 a (1C5) RPO California IROC-Z was also made, Chevrolet's California Marketing Group came up with the idea and it was for sale in California only. A total of (100) black and (400) red examples were produced. They were all equipped with the 5.0 TPI LB9 engine and TH700-R4 automatic transmission. They all came equipped with the usual IROC-Z fog lights, wheels and ground effects, but with the base Camaro's hood (no louvers), rear decklid (no spoiler), and no exterior decals.