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C4073 Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z Red. RRP £40.99

Another of the brand-new 2020 cars has arrived in the Scalextric warehouse. The Chevy Camaro IROC-Z is the racing version of the 1985 road car that was the workhorse of the International Race Of Champions, from the relaunch of the series in 1984, through to 1989. Scalextric will be releasing this #12 red car and the #22 blue car in 2020...

       

These are some snaps I took at the London Toy Fair...

       

And the 2020 catalogue launch in Margate, alongside the blue car...

   

Not only was the IROC-Z raced in the International Race of Champions series, the car was named after it. To help the new road car capture a big share of the market, General Motors provided race cars to relaunch the IROC series in 1984 - a four-race competition that featured twelve drivers from different motorsport series. Five Nascar drivers lined-up against five CART regulars - including former-F1 super-star Emerson Fittipaldi. World Sportscar Championship legends Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell gave it a international flavour. The European drivers had to make do with one road course (at Cleveland) and three oval races - one at Talladega and two at Michigan. Grid positions were decided by drawing lots and the races were 100 miles on the ovals, 70-75 miles on the road courses. Below are photos of Mid-Ohio 1986 and Daytona 1985...

       

Cars were handed out each race, so drivers would be driving a different colour Camaro with a different number each time. Fans would identify their favourite by the big removable decal on the side of the car. Some peel & stick vinyl driver names will be needed for these Scalextric cars - together with window visor strips. Colours and numbers did stay the same - the red car in 1984 was the #10 car, driven by Fittipaldi, Johncock, Ickx and Waltrip. There was also a darker red (almost red/brown) car with the #12, driven by Johncock, Ickx, Earnhardt and Parsons. I have also seen the #12 car described as 'red' for the first race of 1984 at Michigan.  All the cars had the same Budweiser, Goodyear and Camaro Z28 decals as on the Scalextric IROC-Z.

That first season saw Cale Yarborough take the $150,000 top prize after one win (at Cleveland) and two second places. The cars would stay the same for 1985 - same colours and numbers - and Nascar driver Harry Gant ended up as champion over three races. The Talladega event was cancelled due to rain. Derek Bell was joined by John Watson and Jochen Mass as the European contingent. In 1986, Mass was joined by fellow Germans Hans Stuck and Klaus Ludwig - Al Unser Jr would win the series. The racing was pretty unusual - and rather crazy - for the European drivers...



The Scalextric cars will certainly pass for the IROC fleet from 1984-86 - the correct shape and decals, if the numbers and colours aren't quite right. If you are interested, here's the list of numbers and colours for those first three years with the IROC-Z...

#1 - White
#2 - Dark Blue
#3 - Pink
#4 - Cream (1984-5) Mauve (1986)
#5 - Powder Blue
#6 - Yellow
#7 - Blue
#8 - Orange
#9 - Mustard
#10 - Red
#11 - Black (1984-5)
#12 - Dark Red
#17 - Silver
#18 - Light Blue
#20 - Purple (1986)
#22 - Black (1986)

New cars, including a lime green (#14) Camaro appeared in 1987 - that green car will be essential for a full Scalextric digital colour-coded grid

The Scalextric IROC-Z development was very much driven by Dave Kennedy and racers in the US. I think the cars have the potential for a magnificent IROC-style slot car racing series, whether analogue or digital. Even if they are raced in more traditional formats, they'll deliver a very colourful 1980s grid. Unlike the T-Birds and Monte Carlos, the Camaros are packaged as 'high-detail' cars in plastic boxes. They are Digital Plug Ready, but do not have lights - neither did the real racing IROC-Zs. RRP is the standard high-detail £40.99 and the red car is available now on the Scalextric website and as a pre-order from all regular stockists, including Pendle Slot Racing, MRE and Jadlams Toys and Models.

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This series was the first race I ever saw in real-life. I only lived about 30 minutes from Michigan International Speedway and tickets were around 20 USD$ about 50 UD$ today but I think I got in free. :-)

The racing obviously favored the oval drivers but it was great seeing F1 and other drivers in real-life.
Great memories and great cars!

The Scalextric IROC-Z featured heavily in the BBC special from last year that was repeated before Christmas...

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The red #12 car didn't have to wait too long for a running mate - the C4145 Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z Blue is out now.

It is listed for sale at £40.99 on the Scalextric website (minus 10% discount if you sign up to the Scalextric Club) and will be arriving with all the usual Scalextric retailers in the next week.