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When 6LE Designs [2] filed for the IROC-Z trademark in May 18, there was a bit of a freak-out, and a lot of excitement throughout the GM performance community. Now, we’ve got one of the first looks at the car, and a full rundown by the man behind the beautiful madness, Mark DeLisle.
This vision for this car began many years ago when Mark was in high school and his best friend had an IROC-Z, and he fell in love. Fast forward a decade, and clickbait articles that promised the return of the model always turned out to be fake news. Mark then realized that it wasn’t possible for GM to bring the car back since they didn’t actually own the name, they just licensed it. So he thought that if the car had any chance at the comeback it deserves, it was up to him to bring it back.
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The mission was to put as much third-gen style into the car as possible since that was the only generation the IROC-Z was offered. Mark also had to try to put himself in GM’s shoes when it came to planning out what a modern IROC-Z might be like if it actually went into production.
Mark and his team started with a COPO hood, lowered it a little for daily driving, and added functional hood vents. Of course, powering the car is a Whipple [4] supercharged engine. The front end is similar to the ZL1 1LE, with some modifications and winglets added to account for the wider body.
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Albert Shakhnazaryan [6], owner of ASD Concepts partnered with Mark on this build and is behind every line on the car. Whipple Superchargers provided the heart of the car with the basic stage 1 Package making an amazing 700 horsepower.
Factory Reproductions [7] helped to create the modern IROC-Z wheels in an OEM-style cast version. Wilwood Disc Brakes [8] created the entire brake kit from scratch, and the result is a six piston front, four piston rear, two-piece brake setup.
Unique Customs made all of the emblems, engine plaques, dash plaques, and so on for this build. All-Star Signs made the IROC-Z gauge overlays and the IROC-Z reflective door decals. Renick Performance [9] transformed the car into a handling with their coil over kit and sway bars.