chazman

iTrader: (4)

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


It was the summer of 1985 when Al Grando, General Motors engine calibrations manager, caught wind of Porsche and Rothmans plan to launch a Canadian showroom stock racing series for 1986. Al began to discuss the merits of a similar concept with fellow GM engineers Bill Ball and Bill Banner, among others. As the concept of a single mark series gained traction within GM, talk shifted to the choice of vehicle. After the initial choice of the Pontiac Fiero was abandoned, the Camaro/Firebird platform was selected to promote maximum dealer involvement. Martin Chenhall, upon his return from GM's Columbian division, along with Bill Ball and Bill Banner were tasked with forming GM Canada's new motorsport division. With a tremendous history in motorsport dating back to 1961, Imperial Tobacco's Player's Ltd. was called upon to join forces with GM, thus creating the Player's Challenge series, later to be known as the Player's/GM Motorsport Series.

With the series scheduled to fire up in the spring of 1986, it was now time to create the cars that would race. For the inaugural year 63 Camaros and 22 Firebirds, with the 'not authorized for production' 305 L69 HO motor, were built with the vehicle option code A4Q. An additional, non series, 11 Camaros and 4 Firebirds were built with the L69 HO motor. Bill Mitchell of Connecticut was commissioned to produce 75 roll cages and 75 racing seats. As a strict showroom stock series the only permissible modifications were the addition of safety equipment like a roll cage, racing seat, safety harness, window net, and fire extinguisher. Competitors could also improve the range of suspension alignment through additional slotting of the front strut mounting points. Suspension alignment and tire pressure were the only authorized adjustments to ensure the focus on driver skill. All motors were built from the same casting batches and were factory sealed against tampering. Of the 85 A4Q cars built, 73 were registered for competition at the start of the 1986 season. At the very first race at Mosport May 19th it became apparent that the stock front brake calipers were not sufficient for the job. John Powell was able to secure a lot of Brembo calipers originally for Porsche that could be fitted with an adapter kit utilizing the stock rotors. These kits were installed on all of the cars by the third race the Toronto Molson Indy on July 19th•

For the 1987 season there were to be two new and significant developments. First, there was the addition of the Western Series with races to be held at Vancouver's Westwood and Calgary's Race City circuits. Second, a new tuned port fuel injection system was introduced, greatly improving the reliability of the engines. 53 Camaros and 22 Firebirds with the new A4U designation were built with the new power plant. Although the new engine was reliable, it was the inclusion of the Westwood circuit that exposed the cars Achilles heel, the brakes. It was the experience of Westwood that led to a new rule allowing teams to fit braided steel brake hoses. After completing the 1987 season GM engineers were determined to solve the brake issue. The solution involved using full size B-body station wagon rotors, redrilled for the 5 on 4 % bolt circle, paired with new PBR calipers having custom made adapter brackets. GM motorsport of Oshawa fabricated 100 of these brake kits and shipped them off to Van Nuys California. 71 Camaros and 20 Firebirds of A4U designation were built with the new brakes. An additional 4 Camaros and 3 Firebirds were built with the surplus brake kits. Since this was a new and different brake part GM needed a new option code to describe them, thereby creating the 1LE!

As the old saying goes 'racing improves the breed' and that is precisely what happened with the 1989 model. The 1 LE came to be known as the hardcore racers package and was available on special order in the United States. Accepted entrants in the Player's/GM series would simply order their cars with the single specific option code R7D. All of the R7U cars are 1LE's - but not all of the 1LE's are R7U's. The Canadian Player's series R 7U starts out as a 1LE but then adds power windows, power mirrors, a power hatch, and a stereo cassette am/fin radio; this was done to improve resale value for the competitors. Mechanically the R7U differs in four important ways. First up are the specifically developed by Delco rear shock absorbers. Second is the R7U specific power steering pump of reduced volume in order to reduce fluid temperatures for racing. This pump was a borderline fail on GM's parking test criteria. Third the R7U cars were built with factory blueprinted and sealed 305 engines identified by the yellow painted fastener seals, an identification number on the manifold, and the GM Motorsport decal on the intake plenum. Fourth, before leaving the factory all series race cars were checked for ride height and comer weights. Of the 111 1LE Camaros and 26 1LE Firebirds produced for 1989, The R7U model was represented by 74 IROC-Z Camaros and 17 Firebird TAs.

For 1990 Player's decided to significantly increase the total prize money available and in doing so created the richest showroom stock racing series in North America. Many of the events would receive national television coverage including the famed Wide World of Sports. Races would be held at such prestigious venues as the Grand Prix of Canada and both the Toronto and Vancouver Molson Indy. For the US market 62 IROC-Z Camaros and 4 Firebird TAs with the 1LE moniker were produced. The R7U Player's cars built in March of 1990 were actually pre production 1991 models of the Camaro Z28 and Firebird Trans Am of which 65 and 14 were respectively made. These cars featured the new ground effects body, new interior and instrument cluster, and electronic speedometer. Mechanically the rear axle contained a new Auburn differential and the fuel injection was of the speed density variety. Horse power was rated at 230 however the actual number was likely 10 to 15 higher in race conditions with the open side pipes.

By the time the1991 series began the 1LE cat was literally out of the bag, with 478 Camaro Z28s and 62 Firebird TAs being sold. It was also possible to order an automatic/350 engine combination known as the drag race car. By contrast, the R7U series race cars were a very rare breed because only 32 Camaro Z28s and 9 Firebird TAs ended up being built. Because the competitors would remove them immediately, 1991 Player's cars were delivered without the door guards that adorned other F-bodies. The one season per engine rule also came in to effect for the start of the 1991 season. This meant that competitors could use a previous year vehicle so long as the engine was new at the start of the season. Replacement engines would arrive at select GM dealer at the same time as the new race cars. This was to level the competition by preventing a competitor from starting the season with a loose and potentially faster engine.



1992 was to be the final year of the Player's/GM Motorsport series as well as the final year for the third generation F-body. The vaunted 1LE option was quietly approaching mythical status among enthusiasts, unheard of since the days of the legendary muscle car era capo cars. 1LE production reached record levels with 705 Camaro Z28s and 9 Firebird Trans AMs of which only 30 and 5 were respectively of the R7U designation. The only major difference for the 1992 series car was that all of the engines, including replacements, came fitted with black powder coated valve covers. Additionally it was possible to order a R7U car with a 25th anniversary striping package, however no such car is known to exist.



During the 1992 season GM hired two marketing executives that did not recognize the value of motorsport. The decision to renew the series, with the upcoming fourth generation car, was delayed by more than a month past the agreed upon deadline. Although they were eager to continue, Player's executives became frustrated with GM's non committal response and announced they would focus on the Formula Atlantic series. Legend has it that, upon learning of the demise of the series, the boss of GM Canada immediately fired the two marketing executives. It should be noted that GM motorsports entire budget for the 1992 season was a meager 375,000 dollars. Although available on the fourth generation F-body the 1LE option had devolved to basically an option in name only. Suspension and brakes were respectively softer and weaker than the third generation cars. Fourth generation cars even lacked such notable features as the light weight aluminum drive shaft.

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.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

Has anyone ever seen the aforementioned Brembo caliper conversion?

SweetRevelation

My brakes give me enough trouble on the road, I have to shake my head sometimes.

***

I can only imagine what kinds of problems these guys were having when running these cars all-out on the circuit for the first little while there... cool story.

SweetRevelation

oh and I actually saw one of these Player's cars driving down the road just a few months ago. I was doing some work in Burlington and I was driving home on Lakeshore and coming towards me in the opposite lane was a white Camaro, full of decals... and it was loud.

kmcn47

anyone got stats on the "not for production cars" l69?