I love these; always have and always will. They are slightly trashy, as most Camaros are, but there's an infinite aftermarket for them and they are never going to be cheaper than they are right now. As a "camper toad", it might be difficult seeing that they are so low and the nose is so long, as others have said, but if you can pull it off, it would be awesome.
Fun Fact: as a kid, I was once stuffed in the spare tire well of a blue 1988 IROC 350 and driven to an amusement park and back when my dad's friend that was taking us there realized there were only 4 seats. If you know these cars, the transverse muffler is right on the other side of that, so all I could hear were awesome V8 sounds for about an hour each way. It explains a lot about me now. Also, my dad's friend wasn't allowed to babysit us kids after that. 
Klayfish said:
No way to know for sure, but if I were a gambling man I'd tend to agree. Guys like me grew up worshipping these cars as teens, as I mentioned above. Many of us (guys in our 40s and 50s) are now starting to get to that point in life where we have disposable income. As the guys who worshiped the '69 Mustang continue to age and pass away, the torch will be passed to cars like this. If I had the money, I'd pay $5500 in a heartbeat for an IROC-Z. I'd pay $10k for one...if I had that kind of money to throw around. I happen to choose to spend my extra money on my kids and LeMons, but if I hit the lottery I assure you an IROC is in my collection...as is a Grand National (which is already going through the roof), a Starion, a 5.0, Countach, maybe even a Pulsar Sportback.
You just described the whole rationale behind Radwood.
Klayfish said:
A car like this still makes my pants tight and I'd love to have one...
What made your pants tight? Did the car shrink the fabric in some way? Did it catch on a belt loop and pull them? Please explain.
I'm kidding, I too lusted after these in my youth and I if I could be rocking one with an LT1 swap and a cage. Lots of people my age (50) probably are thinking the same thing and the ones with funds will.
I dont think you could get a 350/5speed, only the 305.
I have a friend that is big into them (he has at least 7 of them, I listed one for him in the classifieds that is a project). He thought they were an investment 10 years ago... That said, he got a grown-up job and started playing with 60-67 corvettes, but usually never sells anything. Hes got a 305/5speed 3rd gen with less than 10k on it.
I was always more of a mustang guy, but the weak points to me were that they still have a steering box and the rear end cant take much power (and that takes $1,500 to resolve according to my friend, but hes not the GRM type). I also didnt like the seating position, but thats more me.
I dont think they can go down from here, the question is is they will go up appreciably any time soon. I dont see people rushing to restore them yet.
Apexcarver said:
I was always more of a mustang guy, but the weak points to me were that they still have a steering box and the rear end cant take much power (and that takes $1,500 to resolve according to my friend, but hes not the GRM type). I also didnt like the seating position, but thats more me.
I'm a Mustang guy, too, but there were always things about third gens that I envied. The rear suspension is much better than the Fox body's quadrabind. You can fit a bunch more tire under them than a Mustang. Lower CG. I know T-tops are bad for performance and rigidity, but they are cool, and lots of F-bodies got them. You can Lego lots of parts from other GM products of the era to improve things like hubs and brakes.
Apexcarver said:
I dont think you could get a 350/5speed, only the 305.
I have a friend that is big into them (he has at least 7 of them, I listed one for him in the classifieds that is a project). He thought they were an investment 10 years ago... That said, he got a grown-up job and started playing with 60-67 corvettes, but usually never sells anything. Hes got a 305/5speed 3rd gen with less than 10k on it.
I was always more of a mustang guy, but the weak points to me were that they still have a steering box and the rear end cant take much power (and that takes $1,500 to resolve according to my friend, but hes not the GRM type). I also didnt like the seating position, but thats more me.
I dont think they can go down from here, the question is is they will go up appreciably any time soon. I dont see people rushing to restore them yet.
I believe you are right in the 305/5spd combo, but then again in the late 80’s/early 90’s it was a freeforall for GM to keep up with Mustang sales. I know the 92 RS I test drove, back in like 96?, was a 350/auto car that had a 5500rpm limit. :/
Correct on the rear end although the later models were “better”. And 1500$ gets you a housing, not a complete rear end. Most of what I see is about 2500$ for a complete rear and then another 5-700$ for a torque arm to fit, depending on the front mount.
People will restore them. To how much degree? That I don’t know but people pour tens of thousands of dollars into “junky” C3’s for maybe 20-25k in return....
The 1987-92 350-equipped cars could not be optioned with a manual transmission. From what I've read, they made about 40 test mules with the "World Class" T-5 and they kept blowing them up, so they scrapped the idea and just went with automatics. By the time the Corvette started getting the ZF 6-speed, they were already far into the development of the 4th Gens, so they didn't bother.
All of that could be BS, and the real reason is probably because they didn't want the Camaro leeching sales off of the Corvette.
Meh - I'm holding out for a fun 4th gen.
Klayfish said:
Tom_Spangler said:
Appleseed said:
Laugh now, but we'll all be kicking ourselves for not buying that $5,500 IROC in a few years.
IMO, this is spot on. If a cheap, high-volume car like a Fox Mustang can appreciate, so can it's direct competition.
No way to know for sure, but if I were a gambling man I'd tend to agree. Guys like me grew up worshipping these cars as teens, as I mentioned above. Many of us (guys in our 40s and 50s) are now starting to get to that point in life where we have disposable income. As the guys who worshiped the '69 Mustang continue to age and pass away, the torch will be passed to cars like this. If I had the money, I'd pay $5500 in a heartbeat for an IROC-Z. I'd pay $10k for one...if I had that kind of money to throw around. I happen to choose to spend my extra money on my kids and LeMons, but if I hit the lottery I assure you an IROC is in my collection...as is a Grand National (which is already going through the roof), a Starion, a 5.0, Countach, maybe even a Pulsar Sportback.
I spend my money on Lemons and kids and share many of your same collector goals. I've owned a Pulsar Sportback, why wait for the lottery? 
I can see them appreciating for all the reasons listed above. I still have my first car, 1985 Z-28, and look forward to eventually "restoring" it with my kids. My wife keeps trying to get me to sell it. I will have to point her to this thread to show her how it is an investment. Also had an 88 350 IROC. The car posted by the OP is much much cleaner. I wish mine was a hardtop (my Z28 is). If the underside is that clean I wouldn't hesitate to drop $5k on it. I'm sure you could come up with a way to mount a tow bar through the fog light holes (on either side of the front plate).
Man, I love thirdgens. I've had a convertible trans am for over 15 years. My mom bought a new TPI formula in '87 and I was ferried around in that as a kid. Definitely instilled the low/wide sports car mantra in me. I eventually got ahold of the Formula and obviously totaled it being a teenage guy. I don't even think this is rock bottom of the market. I think rock bottom was 10+ years ago. An IROC like that would've been 2500-3k 10 years ago. Now they're all either rolled up balls of steel, rusted out junkers or decent examples. That's pretty damn cheap for the current market. I see them for closer to 10k in decent shape. I'm definitely a firebird guy over the camaro but I can appreciate how muscular the camaros are.
Suprf1y
UltimaDork
8/28/19 1:32 p.m.
bearmtnmartin said:
I am wondering if this may be a car that would hold its value if bought well?
Name an old Camaro that isn't worth something.
They will become very collectible and you will triple your money very soon if it's as decent as it looks.
Well instead of that $6000 S2000 I was going to buy. Looks like I'm buying some 3rd Gen IROCs to sell to you suckers instead.
