I am shopping for a 1987-1991 IROC with low miles for a possible restoration project. I have found a few 1988 cars that claim to be all original, but the wheels in the photo of the car are the single stripe 16 inch wheels you would find on a 1987 model.

Is it possible GM equipped some 1988 models with the earlier wheels or is it more likely that the claim of "all original" is not entirely true? Why do you suppose someone would want to swap the wheels? Does it mean they are hiding something such as unclaimed collision damage?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

One possibility is because in 1988 the entry level Iroc was basically equivilant to the previous years Z28, and came with 15" 5 spoke Z28 wheels instead of the more typical Iroc 16's. Since there were MANY 85-87 Iroc's built, there are a lot of those wheels in circulation and that's what was available to people looking to upgrade or get the "Iroc wheels" they felt their car should have.

In 89 or 90 Chevy came out with a 15" wheel styled like the later Iroc 16's.

 

That makes sense. One of the cars I found was pretty loaded (5.7L, leather, all power options) so I would think the original owner would have opted for the 16 inch rims.

Is there an RPO code for the 16 inch wheel option I can look for to see what the car was ordered with originally?

Thanks for your thoughts...