Category Archives: Sale

This 104-Mile 1987 Chevy Camaro IROC-Z Is a Time Capsule with an Ambitious Price Tag

The Chevrolet Camaro has spent decades perfecting the art of looking fast while standing still, and few eras did it with more attitude than the third generation. Boxy, low-slung, and unapologetically Eighties, the Camaro IROC-Z wasn’t just a trim level—it was a statement. And every so often, a survivor surfaces that reminds us just how sharp these cars could look before time, mileage, and questionable modifications took their toll.

Case in point: this 1987 Camaro IROC-Z, a car that has lived an almost suspiciously sheltered life. Since leaving the showroom, it has reportedly covered just 104 miles. Not 104,000—104. That’s barely enough distance to warm the oil, let alone scuff the bolsters.

Instead of heading to a polished auction platform like Bring a Trailer, where this kind of low-mileage unicorn would feel right at home, the seller has chosen a more old-school route. The car is currently listed on Facebook Marketplace in Bradenton, Florida, quietly waiting for the right buyer with both deep pockets and a strong sense of nostalgia.

According to the listing, the Camaro was originally delivered by Modern Chevrolet in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and has spent its entire existence tucked away in climate-controlled garages. If preservation were a competitive sport, this IROC-Z would be on the podium.

The IROC-Z badge—short for International Race of Champions—was more than just decals and louvers. Chevrolet gave these cars meaningful hardware upgrades, including Delco-Bilstein shocks, stiffer sway bars, improved braking, and a visual treatment that made standard Camaros look positively plain by comparison. In the late 1980s, this was as close as you could get to a factory-handling package without stepping into full-blown racing territory.

Buyers back then had a choice of two small-block V-8s: a 305-cubic-inch (5.0-liter) engine rated at 220 horsepower or a 350-cubic-inch (5.7-liter) version making a modestly higher 230 horses. This particular car gets the bigger engine, paired with a four-speed automatic transmission driving the rear wheels—exactly the configuration you’d expect from a muscle car of this vintage.

Unsurprisingly, the car appears virtually untouched. The deep red paint still shines with the kind of gloss most restored cars struggle to replicate, and the original wheels and tires remain in place. Inside, the gray-and-black interior shows no visible wear, looking more like a museum exhibit than something designed to endure decades of use.

The original factory invoice lists a purchase price of $18,000 back in 1987. Adjusted for inflation, that works out to roughly $52,500 today. The seller, however, is aiming considerably higher, with an asking price of $92,500—territory that puts it above even a brand-new Camaro ZL1 1LE.

That’s a bold number, no question. But then again, cars like this aren’t really about performance, value equations, or rational decision-making. They’re about restraint. About what happens when someone buys a muscle car and—against every instinct—decides not to drive it.

If you’ve ever wondered what 104 miles of ironclad self-control looks like, this IROC-Z is your answer. It’s a Camaro that’s barely stretched its legs since Reagan was in office—and it’s asking you to pay dearly for the privilege of keeping it that way.

Source: Facebook Marketplace

The Original Ford Probe IV Concept Emerges After Decades in Hiding

Every so often, the internet does what the internet does best: turns up something extraordinary in the least dignified way possible. This time, it’s a piece of Ford history long thought lost—a genuine 1983 Ford Probe IV concept car—now casually listed for sale on Facebook Marketplace like a used lawn tractor or a mismatched set of wheels.

According to the ad, spotted by the editorial team at Ford Authority, this is no replica or forgotten show car shell. This is the first Ford Probe IV, chassis 001—the original prototype built by Ghia as part of Ford’s advanced aerodynamics program in the early 1980s. Its current location? Spring, Texas. Its current condition? Let’s call it “historically significant but functionally inert.”

The Probe IV program began in 1979, when Ford asked Ghia a deceptively simple question: just how slippery could a car be if fuel economy were the only priority? The answer arrived in 1983 in the form of a concept so extreme it still looks alien today. Ford claimed a drag coefficient of just 0.15—an absurdly low figure that remains out of reach for modern production cars, even with four decades of computational fluid dynamics and wind-tunnel wizardry.

Of course, there was a catch. Actually, several. The Probe IV wasn’t designed to meet safety standards, carry groceries, or survive a pothole. The composite body sits atop a wooden chassis—yes, wood—with steel subframes solely there to keep the wheels attached. The suspension is manually adjustable, built for testing rather than driving, and the car doesn’t even have a complete gearbox. It doesn’t start. It doesn’t run. It was never meant to.

Chassis 001 lived its entire life as a research tool, shuffled in and out of wind tunnels and engineering labs. Then it disappeared. For years, its whereabouts were unknown, turning it into one of those quietly whispered-about artifacts that historians assume has either been destroyed or buried deep in a corporate warehouse.

We do know what happened to its sibling. Chassis 002 surfaced publicly and sold for around $125,000 in 2022, eventually landing at the Petersen Automotive Museum in California. That car, however, was in far better shape—and still, it wasn’t exactly road-ready.

This newly rediscovered Probe IV won’t command the same money. A non-running, non-driving, purely experimental concept isn’t exactly a weekend cruiser. But value isn’t always about usability. For the right collector, museum, or deep-pocketed Ford obsessive, this is a one-of-one artifact from an era when automakers were willing to ignore reality in pursuit of a single number on a wind-tunnel readout.

That such a car reemerged not at a high-profile auction, but sandwiched between used pickup trucks and patio furniture, feels strangely appropriate. The Probe IV was never meant to fit neatly into the automotive world. Forty years later, it’s still doing things its own way—this time, by reminding us that some of the most important cars ever built were never meant to drive at all.

Source: Ford Authority

This Tesla-Powered Beetle Outguns Supercars — and You Can Buy It

If you’re waiting for the familiar thrum of an air-cooled flat-four, forget it. The Knepper 1303 RS-E doesn’t bark, sputter, or cough to life. It erupts. The rear wheels haze over instantly, tire smoke billows behind the stubby fenders, and bits of rubber are left tattooed on the asphalt. Whatever nostalgic image you have of a gentle, smiling VW Beetle, throw it out the window. This thing is a railgun in retro sheetmetal.

And yes—purists, clutch your pearls now—the beating heart of this Franken-Bug isn’t a boxer engine at all, but a modern three-phase asynchronous electric motor. Sacrilege? Maybe. But the team behind it calls the RS-E a perfect marriage of classic charm and cutting-edge EV engineering. After a few minutes behind it, it’s hard to disagree.

FROM JUNKYARD TO ELECTRIC MONSTER

Meet Rüdiger Knepper, the man behind Knepper Bugs & More and the mastermind of this project, along with his son René. The duo found the donor car—a battered 1975 VW 1303—rotting away in a California junkyard. Structurally sound but cosmetically trashed, it was the ideal canvas for a complete reimagining.

The restoration was obsessive. Every bolt removed, every system rethought. The body was returned to factory-fresh crispness and repainted in a rich Marathon Blue. Carbon-fiber rear fenders add subtle width, while a carbon roof spoiler delivers high-speed stability and a hint of motorsport intent. It looks like a Beetle, sure—but not quite like any Beetle Wolfsburg ever imagined.

PORSCHE BONES, TESLA MUSCLE

Underneath the retro shell, nearly nothing remains stock. The suspension is largely Porsche 944, enhanced with KW, Bilstein, and Kerscher hardware. Brakes come from a 944 Turbo S, with Porsche 964 rotors up front. Grip is courtesy of Toyo Proxes TR-1s—195/45R17 up front and 235/45R17 out back—wrapped around Porsche Cup 2 wheels.

Then there’s the battery situation. Seventeen Porsche Taycan modules, split across the chassis, feed a Tesla Model S Performance rear-motor spinning modified voltage. No transmission—just direct drive through Porsche 930 axles delivering absurd levels of torque straight to the pavement.

The result? A fully charged Beetle that hits 100 km/h in 2.8 seconds. Let that sink in. A classic Bug running toe-to-toe with supercars. Top speed: 190 km/h. Range: up to 250 km from a 48-kWh pack if you’re gentle—though gentle driving probably isn’t why you build a 600-hp electric Beetle.

CALM MODE? SORT OF.

With traction control absent, Rüdiger Knepper wisely offers “street mode,” capped at around 200 hp—still a massive bump over anything the original Bug ever dreamed of. TÜV regulators approve that figure for public roads. Switch to full output, though, and the RS-E unleashes all 604 hp and 702 Nm of barely manageable fury. “Race only,” warns Knepper, and he isn’t joking. Even dialed back, acceleration is immediate, linear, and punch-you-in-the-chest violent.

Charging comes via CCS or standard AC with an adapter. The hardware install is pure Knepper craftsmanship; the brain behind the system—the electronic control unit—comes from Alexander Lührmann and his ESDI EV Technologies team in Herford.

INSIDE: ORIGINAL BEETLE, WITH MODERN ATTITUDE

The cabin keeps most of its vintage quirks, minus the parts an EV doesn’t need—no clutch, no gear lever. Instead, you settle into wonderfully supportive Recaro seats borrowed from a BMW 2002. Heating comes from an electric unit tucked beneath the rear bench. It feels familiar, cozy, and deceptively innocent. Until you tap the accelerator.

TRADITION BE DAMNED—THIS IS GENIUS

Some will insist an electrified Beetle is a crime against automotive heritage. But spend a moment in the 1303 RS-E’s presence and you realize this isn’t replacing history—it’s rewriting it with blistering, tire-vaporizing enthusiasm. Knepper’s creation respects the original Beetle’s playful soul while injecting enough power to terrify modern sports cars.

It’s absurd. It’s brilliant. And it proves that sometimes, the best way to honor the past is to electrify it until the tires scream.

Source: Knepper Bugs & More