Rare Canadian Player’s Challenge Camaro Race Cars for Sale

Camaro race cars were production cars with specific, uniform features, built from 1986 through 1992.

If you are an American Camaro fan, you may not have ever heard of the Player’s Challenge race series. From 1986 through 1992, General Motors Canada sponsored the annual one-make race series, inviting the top Canadian professional racers to meet at tracks including Mosport, Cayuga and the Molson Indy street-turned-race course in Toronto.

According to the crew at GM Authority, General Motors built 388 Camaro race cars and 109 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am race cars, with each of the third generation muscle cars being featured during the seven year series. They were all specially prepared production cars and after being used for racing purposes, they found their way into the hands of private owners. One of those cars, a 1991 Camaro, was posted to Autotrader Canada, but upon closer inspection, the dealership handling the sale actually has 14 of these street legal race cars on hand.

This is a rare chance for a Camaro or Firebird fan to own a factory-built race car that is really just a production car with a unique build code. The only downside to this listing is that the car that is posted for sale has a price of $43,000 Canadian and at roughly $32,000 American, these are some pricey third generation F-Bodies.

Player’s Challenge Camaro and Firebird

General Motors built roughly 90 to 100 cars for the Player’s Challenge Series each year with a total of 388 Camaros and 109 Firebirds built, leading to a total of 497 of these unique race cars. The Player’s Challenge package had its own option code which changed from time to time. In 1986, these production-based race cars were labeled with option code A4Q. In 1987 and 1988, the code was A4U and from 1989 through 1992, the code was M7U.

As you can see in the pictures, the Camaro race cars were Z28 models with the 1LE package. The Z28 trim level included the package-specific wheels, ground effects and rear spoiler. The 1LE package added stiffer suspension, better brakes, thicker front and rear sway bars, heavy duty wheel bearings, an aluminum drive shaft and a baffled fuel tank with dual pickups.

There is no information on the Firebird Player’s Challenge cars, but what we believe to be one of them is shown in the Autotrader listing and it appears to be a GTA model that we expect features all of the available go-fast options. Regardless of the make and model, these were likely among the best-performing third gen cars built.

Rare but Expensive

The Autotrader listing pertains to a particular 1991 Camaro in white. We don’t know which car it is in the group photos, but they all look to have been very well kept over the years. The car referenced in the listing has 28,829 kilometers on the speedometer, which translates to just under 18,000 miles. Granted, many of those were likely hard miles on the race track, but as third generation Camaros go, this car has very low mileage and appears to be in great shape. Also, after discussing the 1991 Camaro race car, the listing mentions that the small dealership has 13 other Player’s Challenge cars in stock, some of which are a color other than white.

This might sound like a great chance for a hardcore Camaro fan to score a rare factory-built race car that is legal for street use. The problem is that it is priced like a premium collectable at $43,000 Canadian, which converts to $31,640 American. That is a whole lot of money to pay for a third generation Camaro, even one in great shape, low mileage and a truly unique history.

I was fortunate to own a third generation Camaro in the late-1990s. The original 305 had lots of issues, so the previous owner swapped in a lightly modified 350 from a square body pickup. It was in great shape inside and out, and it was quicker than a stock 1983 Camaro, but I paid around $1,700 for it. Based on my time in that car, I cannot imagine spending more than $30,000 for a stock car and admittedly better shape, but for a hardcore Chevy collector, this is an expensive chance to own a rare piece of General Motors racing history.

We are genuinely curious whether or not the dealership will find multiple buyers who are basically willing to pay the price of a brand new Camaro SS 1LE for a 1991 Camaro Z28 1LE that has been raced hard.

Photos: Autotrader Canada

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Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com