Vehicle Description
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1975 Chevrolet Camaro IROC
VIN/Chassis: 1FQ87NZ753ABD
<font size = "4">Driven by F1 champion James Hunt, Brian
Redman, Bobby Unser, Al Holbert, and Jody Scheckter
Eligible for special inaugural 2025 Rolex Monterey Motorsports
Reunion IROC class with past racing champions
Race-prepped by Ray Evernham, in restored condition, eligible for
multiple historic racing events
350 C.I.D. Chevrolet V8 engine - 440HP
Muncie 4-speed manual transmission, Third Member 9-inch Ford rear
end, Power Steering
Complete with thorough and original IROC documentation
IROC series founded by Roger Penske, Les Richter, and Mike
Phelps
IROC's Resurgence
Through a partnership of Ray Evernham and Rob Kauffman, the IROC
trademark was revived to bring one of the most exciting series back
to the forefront. With many of the former IROC race cars
race-prepped by Ray Evernham Enterprises, these cars spanning from
1973 to 2006 are ready to be back on a track and used in the way
they were designed to be. The 2025 Rolex Monterey Motorsports
Reunion inaugural IROC racing class represents a rare opportunity
to race alongside racing legends and those who raced the same cars
in the original IROC series. These include Jeff Gordon, Danny
Sullivan, Mark Martin, Bill Elliott, Ken Schrader, Bobby Labonte,
Scott Pruett, Zak Brown, Bruce Canepa, and others.
The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, will be hosting the IROC race
cars as the Featured Racing Class on Friday August 15th, 2025 at
the Quail Lodge, complete with a police escort from Laguna Seca
through the mountains of Carmel Valley. With Rolex Monterey
Motorsports Reunion signing on for 3 years of IROC racing classes
just to start, the IROC racing series is seeing a resurgence unlike
anything else, with a driver's opportunity to racing among other
racing legends and celebrities.
1975 Chevrolet Camaro IROC #4
The International Race of Champions (IROC), an American racing
series promoted as the equivalent of an all-star game, was a unique
and prestigious motorsport competition that ran for several
decades, from 1974 to 2006. The goal was to bring together the best
drivers from various driving series to compete in
identically-prepared cars at some of the world's most legendary
tracks. With names racing such as Can-Am and Trans-Am champion Mark
Donohue, F1 champion James Hunt, NASCAR legend and champion Dale
Earnhardt, Indycar champion A.J.Foyt, Trans-Am, Can-Am champion
George Follmer, and more legendary drivers were invited to join the
racing championship to prove who was the best of the best.
The IROC series was founded in 1973 by Roger Penske, Les Richter,
and Mike Phelps, wanting to create a championship that featured top
drivers from a variety of racing categories and disciplines, such
as Formula 1, IndyCar, NASCAR, and sports car racing. The goal? To
create a series to determine the "champion of champions" by placing
competitors in identically-prepared cars to level the field across
the board. No secret additions, no extra power, no trick tuning,
just pure raw driving ability. Still remembered as a unique and
prestigious series that brought together some of the greatest
drivers in motorsport, IROC created the concept of identifying the
"champion of champions" and cemented it as a memorable era of
racing history.
While the IROC concept seemed simple enough in theory, the
implementation was slightly more difficult, especially when
bringing together 12 top drivers and preparing 12 identical cars
(with 3 additional spare cars) with equal performance in all
aspects. Debuting in 1973 with Roger Penske, the series organizer,
and the late Mark Donohue, the project supervisor and development
driver, found their first cars with the help of their German
counterparts. Porsche Carrera RSRs were the first cars used in the
series and the first season was met with popular reception.
However, there was a snag: the Porsches proved to be too expensive
to build and maintain, and a suitable replacement was needed.
Penske, with his ties to Chevrolet, found the next logical choice
in the form of the 1974 Chevrolet Camaro. Fast and inexpensive to
acquire and modify, the Camaro would end up being the platform of
choice for the next 15 years.
Jay Signore, the project foreman, was given an almost
insurmountable task of preparing 15 cars to look and perform like
race cars, in just a span of 9 weeks. What resulted was tireless
nights, and endless thrashing by Signore and his crew in Penske's
race shop in Reading, PA. Since time was in short supply during the
deadline to produce these 15 cars, the Camaros were ordered in as
many different colors as the factory offered to save time painting
them, a clever and resourceful trick. Bodywork done in the name of
racing was minimal, for simplicity and for time constraint reasons.
To avoid the expensive narrowing of rear ends to accommodate large
race tires, the fender wells were radiused and custom fender flares
were pop-riveted to the body. While the rear spoilers were stock,
the front air dams were fabricated and bolted directly to the
bumper.
Safety was a primary concern, especially due to the nature of speed
of which these cars were being built. Custom-made Simpson fuel
cells were employed, along with roll cages, competition seats,
harnesses, and window nets. A fire extinguisher was bolted directly
to the driveshaft tunnel. Windshields were raced and reinforced to
help overcome the extreme air pressure at speeds over 150 miles an
hour. Mirrors, both inside and out, were stock. The doors remained
functional, complete with interior trim panels, but were bolted
shut for racing. The stock steering wheel was retained.
The team put a considerable amount of effort and thought into the
chassis. To the dismay (and perhaps blasphemy) of many loyal
Chevrolet fans, the IROC Camaros used Ford rear end units with full
floating axles for reliability. Power to the rear end was
transmitted through a Chevy M-22 "rock crusher" 4-speed manual
transmission. The rear leaf-spring setup was standard and was
retained, with leafs being added or removed based on track
conditions. The stock brakes were mothballed in favor of upgraded
Corvette units powered up by a master cylinder out of a Mico fork
truck using a booster from a Chevy 454 station wagon. The
stamped-steel A frames were left in space, but Corvette spindles
were employed, with the front coil springs frequently swapped out
based on track conditions, much like the rear end leaf springs.
8" Minilite Mag wheels supported brake cooling and shed weight, an
invaluable contribution since a race-ready IROC Camaro tipped the
scales at a not-so-featherweight 3,600 pounds.
This Maxi-Blue #4 Chevrolet Camaro IROC debuted in IROC III at the
Michigan International Speedway in September of 1975, with F1
champion James Hunt piloting it. The car's best finish was captured
by NASCAR champion Benny Parsons with a 5th place at Riverside in
1975. Other legendary drivers from sports cars and Indy cars such
as Brian Redman, Bobby Unser, Al Holbert, and Jody Scheckter
complete this car's impressive lineup of past drivers.
In August of 2025, Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion will play
host to a special IROC class of racing, featuring legendary IROC
competitors, modern racing legends, and displays of over 20
historic IROC cars. This #4 1975 Chevrolet Camaro IROC has been
race prepped by Ray Evernham Enterprises, IROC co-owner, is in
restored condition and is eligibl...for more information please
contact the seller.
