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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.
Special thanks to Bill Ball GM
Motorsport engineer and Mark Strembicke Player 's/GM historian
for their invaluable contributions.
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