Shno's House of Z

[Mr Twisty]

Originally Posted by LOWDOWN

The forerunner of the 1LE was a lil something called an A4Q-R7U-code Camaro...and Trans Am...created by the furtile folks @ GM-Canada Motorsports...

http://www.cartersclassicmusclecars....g%20series.htm

Imagine picking up your Brand-New-from-the-Dealer '86-'92 F-car with a certified roll-cage and side-dump exhaust already ready?!

Times have changed, but "where there's a will, there's a way..."

Nice find, and good read

The 'raced as delivered' lLEIR7U Camaros and Firebirds of the Player's/ GM Motorsport series stand alone as the fastest road racing F-bodies ever produced.

[LOWDOWN]

The "find" harkens "back to the day"...I sold three of them to racers who enjoyed good success. The Series initially paid $5,000 to win, $1,000 for 5th (plus a fresh set of Gatorbacks), pretty good money for a car that invoiced for about $16,000.

One Team we sponsored ran the '86 campaign, finishing 6th Overall (after missing one of eight races!), with a total damage bill at season's end of $249! Some others heavily damaged their cars more than once...

This Series was the breeding ground for folks like Ron Fellows, David Empringham, Scott Maxwell, Kathryn Teasdale, Randy MacDonald, and Richard Spenard. In fact, Earl Dickenson, who ran GM-Canada Motorsports in its latter years, was the man who intro'd Fellows to Herb Fishel, then-czar of GM Racing. Fellows, while testing/running Player's Challenge cars for the Company, gave the most accurate and useful feedback to Bill Ball and the other engineers, thereby improving the breed...and raising his stock to great heights... You may recall the '08 Z06, White with Red hash marks(Canada's international racing colors), called the Ron Fellows Special Edition. That all "started" in the '86 Player's Challenge...

Think of the R7U cars as a latter-day "COPO" Program...roll-cage 'n all...

[LOWDOWN]

Originally Posted by Number 3

Very interesting link. I guess I was thinking of just the Z28. Even a WS6 Trans Am never seemed like much of a track car to me. Just a better suspension, but not anything special for a track day car.

Didn't know you could order one that way in those mid years.

Coincidentally, on the SAME tracks (often), on the SAME race days, the Rothman's Porsche Cup Series ran their events in 944 Turbos, purpose-built in Stuttgart. Some drivers ran both Series, GM and Porsche. The Porsches, at Mosport, were maybe 2 seconds a lap quicker, on race tires...and cost over TWICE as much... Future CART/IRL star Scott Goodyear raced in the Series, and Spenard "doubled", among others. Paul Tracy, as well, on occasion...

The limiting factor for the F-cars were those damn greasy Gatorbacks. Even soaking them in "rubber softener" did little/nothing to make 'em "stick". I recall one race, on a cold damp track, where the Gatorbacks were mistakenly mounted "backwards"...left sides on right, right sides on left...and the car finished in the Top 5! So much for "modern tire tech"!

Put some decent rubber under them, and they "handled". With Gatorbacks, "car control" was paramount.

[Number 3]

Oddly high number of Fiat 500s driving around Auburn Hills Michigan. More odd that I find it to be a not very cute car which I think is it's calling card.

[Mr Twisty]

Originally Posted by Number 3

Oddly high number of Fiat 500s driving around Auburn Hills Michigan. More odd that I find it to be a not very cute car which I think is it's calling card.

It looks good in silver tho

[Number 3]

Originally Posted by MisterCamaro69

It looks good in silver tho

Do you mean the car .................................. or the dress.

[Mr Twisty]

Originally Posted by Number 3

Do you mean the car .................................. or the dress.

..... what car?

as far as the car, it looks like colorful elephant turd on wheels

[JusticePete]

The man on the right, is the right man for the job at GM. Thank you Mr. Reuss for the Z threads, Z cars and making us all proud to be part of GM.

[FenwickHockey65]

OMGWTF I want to meet Mark Reuss.

[JusticePete]

Originally Posted by FenwickHockey65

OMGWTF I want to meet Mark Reuss.

Mark and I have known each other for a couple of years through electronic correspondence. We had never met face to face until Thursday night. It was great to speak face to face over a couple of glasses of Penfolds from AU. I cannot share our discussion other than to say Mark is is exactly who I thought he would be, but even better in person. GM is fortunate to have him and as car guys, so are we.

[Number 3]

Originally Posted by JusticePete

Mark and I have known each other for a couple of years through electronic correspondence. We had never met face to face until Thursday night. It was great to speak face to face over a couple of glasses of Penfolds from AU. I cannot share our discussion other than to say Mark is is exactly who I thought he would be, but even better in person. GM is fortunate to have him and as car guys, so are we.

We only had him as head of engineering for a short time and he was on to bigger and better things. I had a chance to make a presentation to him a year and a half ago and participate in several meetings with him. Super sharp and down to earth.

I think President of NA is just another stepping stone to more great things for him and GM.

[FenwickHockey65]

http://www.holden.com.au/vehicles/series-ii-cruze

We can haz?

[JusticePete]

Originally Posted by Number 3

We only had him as head of engineering for a short time and he was on to bigger and better things. I had a chance to make a presentation to him a year and a half ago and participate in several meetings with him. Super sharp and down to earth.

I think President of NA is just another stepping stone to more great things for him and GM.

I agree. Mark has CEO written all over him.

[FenwickHockey65]

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/04/11/r...ce=twitterfeed

This car is a freaking disaster. It should go down in history as a case study of what happens when you half-ass a product and rush it to market just to beat your competitor's already superior car.