I am looking at a 86 Camaro that is supposedly a Players Challenge car! What do I look for to verify its authenticity? Also, would it be an 1Le car? Can I tell by the VIN? Any info wpould be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Tom

 

I can't believe 19 people so far have looked at this and not replied with any info. Is this a third gen site full of knowledgeable people? Come on guys.... I need some important info. Please......

 

RPO

1LE A4U

1LE R7U

There are a few sites for them with the number of cars produced each year and so on although I've lost the addresses.

A well prepped thirdgen these days would dust off a factory spec player's car anyway IMO.

Even the 1LE brakes aren't that great anymore. I think some of the earlier ones had Brembo brakes though.

What kind of shape is this one in - did/does it have a cage.

Most of the ones I've seen are pretty tired and they've been beat on and hacked real good with nascar cages added in etc.
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Actually it's not.

It was better years ago..lol
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Moreover, try these sites where people race there cars as opposed to just waxing them:

casc.on.ca

frrax.com

 

Thanks George! I think this one is a dudd. It is a t-roof and has a LG4 engine according to the VIN. The owner has since said it was a pace car for the Challenge series and done up to look like a Players Challenge car. It has only 84,000km. and has been repainted and does not have a cage but side pipes that come out just in front of the rear wheels. It is a repaint and doesn't look too bad, basic car, not a lot of options and he was asking 18K and is firm at 16K. I don't think he is going to sell it. I told him documentation would help otherwise it will just sit there and he told me he is hoping for a young guy with money. That just about says it all. I can't believe I thought about selling my 92 Formula and 87 IROC L98 to buy this thing. My 87 has has less Km. too.

 

Sounds like a riff to me as well. Offer him 2K..lol

For future reference:

I think there might be one or two out there which were not caged because they were never raced. I thought they were caged at the factory but I saw something where they were done afterwards. I havn't confirmed the foregoing but there was one for sale awhile ago with 1LE R7U I think it was and it had no cage. The owner stated that the car had been ordered for the series but they ended up not racing it IIRC.

I don't think any of the Players cars would have had t-tops but I saw Firebird at Mosport with Ts and I was told that it was from the Firestone Firehawk Series in the US. I'm not sure if I believe that but it's another question I suppose. Seems unlikely that a race car would have t-tops given the problems they create for handling.

 

Not real if it has t tops. Of course it could have aftermarket t tops installed? Might want to post Players questions here in the future;

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/hist...e-players.html

Mark_ZZ3 is the man when it comes to these cars

 

George already beat me to it.

I never had any interest in ex Player cars. Yes, most of 'em are tired and beat up.

 

Thanks Guys!

 

I've seen a few at car shows, and they are neat to look at, but I can appreciate it if you are a collector of these cars (for their historic nature).

To purchase one as a daily driver is beyond me.

 

No player car should have come with brembo brakes. If it wasn't an option on the regular range of cars, it wasn't an option for a Players car. Hence the showroom stock racing that the Players series offered. The option was the stock brakes, and then later the 1LE brakes because the stockers weren't cutting it. This is also the reason for the change to a shorter ratio 5th gear in the T5 transmission, 5th was too tall, and they were losing on the top end, so they changed 5th.

The only Thirdgen to come with brembo brakes from a dealer would the the SLP Firehawks. Said brakes were the same as equpped on a Ferrari F40.

A firehawk would destroy just about any other stock thirdgen, the only one that might come close would be a TTA with its lower weight in front, and the fact that it has the 1LE setup too.

 

I don't think Brembo was stock but I thought you had to install a manditory Brembo brake kit that GM Canada gave you at the start of the season. There was a hefty deposit so you had to return them back to GM at the end of the season. See:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/hist...s-87-88-a.html

 

I stand corrected, but found this article before i read your response.

More legible.

 

1 more.

 

Fond memories.....The cars back then might not have been as good as today's race prepped cars , but Richard Spenard, Ron Fellows, Robin Buck or David Empringham in a stock Caviler would probably easily blow most of us off the track.

 

Looking back on it GM deserved a lot credit for just putting the series together.

As for the brakes; they're a lot of fun. I still have the stock J65 setup on mine with braided hoses, Bendix pads and cheap azz blank rotors from Crap Tyre.

Around the long track at Mosport it doesn't do too bad because the place is so big that the brakes get a chance to cool between corners. The only place where I get a lot of fade is at the turn in point for 5A and by then I'm finished with the brakes for awhile anyway. That said though the system would be useless in a race when it comes to outbraking people.

By contrast, I ran the car at Dunnville which has a lot of short straights followed by tight corners. After a few laps the brakes faded to nothing and I nearly went off but managed to gather it up before doing any damage - that day was a bit of a ploughing match with people going off at every corner...lol

 

True but it made for incredible watching. The cars were never intended to be the fastest things around the track just close matched white knuckled driver vs driver best man wins type racing. Not whoever has the most money wins.

I saw them run at the Molson Indy many times and they looked like they were crawling around the track compared to the Trans am Series cars but it was exciting. Literally bumper to bumper door handle to door handle squealing tires like mad. I loved it. So much so I had to buy me one LOL. I ended up with one of the two STP cars from the 89 season

 

I was on the Mosport Driver Development track last week with my stock '92 Z28 1LE which is a little tighter than the big track (which I've also been on ) and I over heated my fresh DOT4 synthetic brake fluid during a couple of sessions.

To be a Player's car you need to find a 1LE code as well as a the R7U code on the build sheet. You will also be looking for twin piston aluminum Corvette calipers in the front and an aluminum driveshaft as well an aluminum spare wheel and no A/C or fog lights. There are other indicators but they are harder to tell from just looking. HTH

 

And here I thought I was set after grabbing a set of 1LE brakes from the wreckers!! Oh well. Yes, that's right, at least 1 1LE car has become part of a new washing machine! Oh well, the brakes ended up being free except for the time it took to remove them after I sold the axle out of that car.

 

To be a Player's car you need to find a 1LE code as well as a the R7U code on the build sheet. You will also be looking for twin piston aluminum Corvette calipers in the front and an aluminum driveshaft as well an aluminum spare wheel and no A/C or fog lights. There are other indicators but they are harder to tell from just looking. HTH[/QUOTE]

Incorret: The 1 LE option did not come out until 1989 (in quanity, 4 were built in `988 US delivery). The R7U or A4U is want designates it as a Canadian Players Car. My 1988 Player's car HAS the 1 LE stlye aluminum Brakes front and rear. But is not a 1 LE car, it is a Players Series car. Addtionally, the first Players cars were back in 85/86 WAY before any 1LE cars were ever build. The Player's series being a factory showroom stock series had the speical option which really was the predicessor to the 1LE and led to it's creation.

Steve