The crash of my Cavalier got me thinking about another black Chevy I once owned and loved which met a similar fate. Quite a few years back now, I owned a 1988 IROC-Z that’s still my favorite car out of all that I’ve owned .

I have to admit that Eleanor (I named her after the Shelby in Gone in 60 Seconds) was problematic from day one. I purchased her from a supposed friend for $3,000, but failed to do a pre-purchase inspection – the seller was a friend, right? Well, I did my first oil change and found that the oil looked like a chocolate milkshake – coolant in the oil !!! It turned out that when said friend’s wife was driving it, it severely overheated, blowing the freeze plugs as well as (not known at the time) cracking the block down the lifter valley in a way that it could not be welded. My supposed (read as former) friend then insisted that I had done this racing the car. BULLSHIT !

With the loan of $1,000 from a friend, I was able to procure and have installed a used engine out of an ’88 Firebird and we were back in business! Even with having to replace the starter, alternator, mass airflow sensor, oxygen sensor, engine computer ($80 at Auto Zone WOO HOO!!!), many hoses, the distributor, and a few other things (mostly done myself), I still loved the sound of the 305ci V8 engine, the open air feel of having the T-Tops off, and the feel of driving something that was just so FUN !!!

To tell the truth, the accident which ended my time with Eleanor was a blessing even if it was heartbreaking. You see, the check engine light was not about to go out and nobody could fix it. It needed a tune-up, it needed to be smogged within a week, and I was broke. A 17 year old girl screwed up and wound up crashing into me and totaling Eleanor. Her insurance company paid me much more than they should have (long story) and hauled Eleanor away.

Now that I’m back in the market for a car after over six years, I’ve found myself on several websites looking for another black (yes, even in Vegas in the summer my IROC would have to be black !) ’88 IROC with T-Tops and scheming for ways to afford them. No, it’s not the most practical car by any stretch of the imagination, and yes it would be labor intensive, but I still think about all the fun times I had in my IROC and how much I would love to have another one.

While in the process of moving, I recently came across some pictures of my IROC and I’ll post one soon after I find it and have a chance to scan it.