Vehicle Description
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1986 Chevrolet Camaro IMSA GTO
VIN: PRC-861
2nd of two carbon fiber tub Camaro race cars developed by Peerless
Racing Enterprises
Advanced developments engineered from the 1st car built, #851
Bespoke carbon fiber tub with partially stressed-member engine
(5) 1st place finishes, 13 total podium finishes
Kevlar and fiberglass body developed in GM's wind tunnel
Front suspension featuring March Indycar componentry
Designed by Brad Francis and built by Peerless Racing
Enterprises
Raced primarily by Jack Baldwin and Buz McCall
Formerly owned by Trans-Am and IMSA Champion Scott Pruett
Eligible for historic racing events including the Rolex Monterey
Motorsports Reunion
Extensive period Peerless Racing documentation, including purchase
orders, marketing materials, and photographs
Ex-KaTech fuel-injected 5.8L V8 engine, 5-speed manual
transmission
EXTENSIVE SPARES PACKAGE
What happens when a race team receives instructions to design and
build a race car, but with secret factory backing and given
essentially carte blanche to make it happen? You build two
ground-breaking Chevrolet Camaro race cars for IMSA's GTO class,
complete with IndyCar technologies that were unheard of for a
GTO-class race car. Peerless Racing Enterprises, owned by Bob
Carson and famously known for its driver Jack Baldwin, went down
the path to develop the most advanced Chevrolet Camaro race cars
ever built. This car, PRC-861 and the second of the two chassis,
benefited from an incredible amount of development, secret funding
and backing from Chevrolet-Pontiac-Canada Group, and designed by
none other than IndyCar and racing engineer mastermind and Canadian
Motorsport Hall of Fame inductee, Brad Francis.
Peerless Racing Enterprises in the middle of 1985 had aspirations
to design and build a carbon fiber race car, and pitched the
concept car to Chevrolet with dreams of building more for
customers. Chevrolet-Pontiac-Canada Group greenlit the program,
although taking a unique stance on the entire program. While there
was no regard for cost to develop the ultimate Chevrolet Camaro, it
was corporate policy that Chevrolet would not say that it was a
factory-backed race car, nor would comment on their involvement.
Even Chevrolet engineers, who in the future were dispatched to the
track to provide engineering support, had to wear plain clothes
with no corporate Chevrolet identification whatsoever!
Bob Carson, owner of Peerless Racing Enterprises, decided that it
would make the most sense to retain George "Brad" Francis to
engineer the Camaros. A self-taught engineer from Performance
Engineering Limited, which at the time was Canada's most famous
race shop, he found successes in IndyCar, Can-Am, NHRA, short track
stock cars, and Trans-Am, ultimately playing a pivotal role in the
successes of PRC-861.
Following the development of the carbon fiber Camaros was likely
similar to watching a mad scientist at work, but with unlimited
resources. Francis had come from the IndyCar world, and his entire
mindset was using IndyCar technology as much as it was allowed.
This included using March 85C IndyCar front suspension, carbon
fiber technology for extreme weight reduction, using the engine as
a stressed member, an experimental transmission and differential,
to name a few. Bob Gosch, Peerless Racing Enterprises' former
Operations Manager, provided a firsthand account of the program,
describing the carbon fiber tubbed Camaros as "designed as an
IndyCar, only backwards." A steel chassis was employed merely to
meet IMSA regulations, with most of the strength of the chassis
coming from the carbon fiber tunnel, with the carbon fiber panels
bonded to the chassis with structural points and components. These
were mounted to an aluminum front firewall motor plate, bonded to
the firewall, with the partially stressed-member engine mounting to
that, with the front suspension also mounted to the carbon fiber
tub via the front firewall motor plate.
The first Peerless Racing Enterprises Camaro, PRC-851, was
completed and began racing. Being the first car and essentially a
prototype with no backup car, the car was not completely optimized
and did not take any wins in the 1985 IMSA season. Despite this,
Chevrolet then placed an order for this chassis, PRC-861, to be a
turn-key race car on behalf of Ankor Racing. Francis went back to
the engineering drafts to continually optimize and create an even
better race car from everything they learned in 1985.
Factory support was immense. As an official road racing project
that they could not be involved in, creative practices were taken
in order to provide support. Bob Gosch recalls that fully built
engines from Fischer Racing Engines would just appear on their
loading dock, as well as tires and other supplies. GM's support via
wind tunnel time to develop the bespoke and irreplaceable kevlar
composite body, as well as the 26� windshield, could not be
publicly talked about. In a stroke of genius and creative
accounting, Chevrolet's entire budget for the program was hidden
within Chevrolet's engine development budget. In order to test
future engines, obviously they needed to build an entire car to
test it in! They later tested experimental small cubic inch V8
engines with higher revving capabilities, and GM's famous magnetic
ride shock absorbers (called Delco drive-adjustable, computer
controlled shock absorbers) were developed on this Peerless Camaro
and was the first race car to have them.
PRC-861 benefited from an incredible amount of development from
both on and off the racetrack. Doubling down on weight savings,
Francis looked at every component and system to see how it could be
optimized. In an original document from Peerless Racing
Enterprises, it outlines the design improvements for PRC-861 over
the first chassis. This included weight savings from the
lightweight front subframe, removal of firewall support tube,
optimized carbon fiber components, fuel system relocation,
optimized pedal brackets, and more. Just these changes alone
yielded more than a 70lb weight deduction. Fischer Racing Engines,
the builders of the Camaro's engines, even went through the trouble
to shave off the sides of their engines to reduce weight for
Francis. He even calculated the exact length of bolts required, and
removed any additional metal from them! It also specified PRC-861's
bodywork as being developed in GM's windtunnel for optimizer
aerodynamics. The carbon fiber tub's floors were so thin for weight
optimization that Francis required people to have nothing in their
pockets if working on the inside in fear of puncturing the
floor.
Near the completion of PRC-861 for Ankor Racing, Francis was upset
that this car was better than their PRC-851 chassis with all the
newly added development work, as Peerless Racing Enterprises would
have to race against it. Ankor Racing was set to test PRC-861 at
Laguna Seca prior to taking delivery. Ankor Racing sent two race
car mechanics to work on and inspect the car, who later deemed
PRC-861 as not a good car and refused to take it. It was later
discovered that the "race mechanics" were freshly hired and did not
know how to work on the vehicle. Francis contacted Rick Hendrick's
Hendrick Motorsport seeking race support, with City Chevrolet
sponsoring the car for the first few races in the iconic bright red
livery. Shortly after, Jack Baldwin redeemed the car and took it to
pole position in the same exact setup at Laguna Seca. Peerless
Racing Enterprises ended up campaigning PRC-861 and PRC-851 in the
1986 and 1987 se...for more information please contact the seller.
