Pictures of my (finally) finished Camaro for Camaroz

[thatorangething]

Hi guys, firstly Jeff - As I understand it from the chap who sold me the car,he had been offered the car on several occasions before, always at too high a price,he being someone who had made bulk purchases of vehicles from them before (not disclosing who on here) but when all the Brands school Fiestas and Escort Cosworths were sold off as JP took over - not sure which side of the transaction the clearout happened i.e. under who's control- the Camaro went with the herd, it apparently had to, or no deal! one of the Fiestas was parked with it when I bought it.

I was given the impression that JP was in the driving seat re. the sale, but maybe they all just had to go before the sale. So, was the Thundersaloon engine still there when you owned it?

Al, any prints, footage or record of any kind would be great, thanks for the offer. As I said in a previous post, phone me (07841 453975) and I will fill you in about the other cars I have located, and their owner.
(it's just that I would rather maintain the privacy (from a public forum) of anyone who has not as yet chosen to take part in our research.)
Cheers
Peter

[Al Weyman]

I'll put something together for you Peter and when ready give you a bell.

[Jeff Barley]

Hi Al and Peter

All of this is real interesting.. First up I am VERY pleased that the IROC didn't end up in the crusher, although I have to say that I am dissapointed that it was then sold without my knowledge.. The decent thing to have done would have been to have offered part of the sale proceeds..Just goes to show .. but the car was not owned by JP..

The engine was long gone before I got it .. I'm not sure that the trans was still in the car but I remember that the interior was pretty complete as were all the brakes etc.. The cage was a real monster..

Apart from the fun of owning an ex-Iroc I was also interested in the cars that ran in the ASCAR series because my '67 camaro ran in the series driven by Rob Potter.. As part of my research I tracked down a few of the guys who ran these cars and am happy to pass on the contact details (if they're still current..).. Are either of you "into" the old ASCAR series in a big way?

[Al Weyman]

I did start preparing a Mustang then a Chevy Nova Coupe for it till my wife did not see the funny side of it and she was expecting our 3rd child! Shame I think the Nova would have gone well and been different and shares all components with the Camaro.

My only other connection was that I started the ModProds in later years with Brian Sheridan after meeting him at Oulton Park where we both competing in the Road Saloons and I had just wrote off my Talbot and was puzzling how to get it home. I understand he was the man behind originally ASCAR with Tony Woolfe and Brian Rice. He had a fantastic Mustang prepared for it which he showed me but never debuted it but it was way over the top IMHO and was probably what went wrong with the championship as this thing looked like it was capable of 250mph and was about 2ft off the ground! He later started Formula Saloons.

Funny enough and this is a coincidence, I purchased a fully flogged 850 Holley and Eldebrock Scorpio inlet manifold at the time from this source which I understand from the Road & Track magazine was what was fitted to the IROC's and I deduce was off one of theimports. The engines were not mega spec more built for reliability and 'de-tuned' to 400bhp because it was felt the 190 mph oval speeds obtainable were too fast for the non oval invited F1 drivers. The carb and manifold now resides on my Mk3 car and will be swapped back to the IROC when I build a replica Traco engine, (engine should be painted flat grey incidently Peter, I got this from Penske).

Oh Peter I have the Norris wheels as well.

The cage was a real monster..

Jef I don't think you would ever crush one of these, it would wreck the machine with that cage!

[Jeff Barley]

mmm... I recall that one of Sheridens mustang (I think it was the "Boss" that was imported with the IROC's) was written off.. I have a note somewhere of the driver and at which circuit.. Somthing about a "bad debt".. mmm...

I think you're right about the crusher mind.. That might explain why it never got scrapped!

[Al Weyman]

This thing was based on the later model smaller ones but it was so far removed from the original car and so over the top I don't think it could even run in Formula Saloons.

Say no more.....

[david birchall]

Originally Posted by Jeff Barley

Hi Al and Thatorangething..


I was aware that there were two ex-IROC camaros in the UK at that time, both were imported (in the late 1970's) by Brian Rice and Tony wolfe.. driven by Whittington (?) Regatoni and Andretti at some point
Jeff

The Whittington brothers were a pretty big deal in US racing in the seventies. They ran TransAm and other classes-things like 935 Porsches and also WWII warbirds in air races. Don Whittington set a record at something like 537 mph in a P51.
David B

[Jeff Barley]

Thanks for that David!..

BTW.. Any knowledge or connection with the TransAm from 67- 70?.. Looking to expand my knopwledge of the "Canadian" connection ie St Jovite etc.. Can you help?

[david birchall]

Sorry Jeff, I can't be of help to you. I moved here from the UK in 1973. Having said that, the first car I raced was a new Camaro in 1976. I rented it from a company associated with my employer so I got a discount. They brought it in to the local Chevy dealershp on Monday morning wondering what had happened to it! The Service Manager of the dealership had been the organizer of the race event and he was trying to keep a straight face as he wiped the remains of the numbers off the doors and reassure the rental company their car was allright.

I just tried googling the Whittington brothers and there is quite a bit on them.
David B

[Al Weyman]

Blimey David I would not fancy racing a standard 76 Camaro (like heavy man) with those awful sliding cailper front brakes that bend the brake pads and all, you did well to bring it back in one piece! Even the so called Z/28 in 76 was just a cosmetic package of stripes and stick ons.

[Jeff Barley]

We've all heard of the Hert Mustangs..but hey.. if this a piece of "Camaro folklore" that has hithertoo been unrecorded!!?

Top man David.. Don't think I would have fancied my chances in a late model camaro with a street set-up.. Bad enough in a '67 in full race trim!!

Thanks for the respnse by the way!

Jeff

[david birchall]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

Blimey David I would not fancy racing a standard 76 Camaro (like heavy man) with those awful sliding cailper front brakes that bend the brake pads and all, you did well to bring it back in one piece! Even the so called Z/28 in 76 was just a cosmetic package of stripes and stick ons.

Well, I did take the air filter off!
Everybody else was in bog-stock cars too.
I was leading and going away (Rooty-toot-toot!) when the brakes/tires/brain faded and I went so far off the track I couldn't get back again. Oh Yeah, the car was yellow!
David B