2023 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 #24
Pilots: J. Button, J. Johnson, M. Rockenfeller
Team: Hendrick Motorsports
Race: 39th (1st in Innovative class) at Le Mans in 2023
TSM - 430793 (resin)
Published 04/18/25
First announced in late 1965, the Chevrolet Camaro went on sale in 1966 (as a 1967 model). The car was available to the public until 2002, when Chevrolet decided to stop production due to slowing sales. Then, in 2010, with the success of Ford’s fifth generation of the Mustang, they decided to bring the Camaro back. The new fifth generation Camaro came out until 2015. The following year Chevrolet replaced it with the sixth generation, and starting in 2018, fielded the Camaro ZL1 in NASCAR. With the car promoted in NASCAR, it went through a facelift in 2019 and another one in 2020. However, despite the upgrades and racing publicity, sales were not as expected. That being so, Chevrolet announced that 2024 would be the car’s last year of production. Knowing about the Camaro’s demise, in 2021 Jim France, the CEO of NASCAR, had an idea.
A huge fan of the Camaro, he wanted the car to have a special sendoff. His idea? Race a Camaro ZL1 in the Centennial 24 Heures du Mans! After 47 years there would be another NASCAR car racing in Le Mans. Besides, in 2023, NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) would celebrate its 75th anniversary. So, it would be a great homage to the Camaro AND huge publicity for NASCAR. As awesome as the idea sounded, it was not very simple. You just can’t fly a NASCAR ZL1 over to La Sarthe and put it to race. Endurance racing and Le Mans in particular have a peculiar set of rules and conditions, so they needed Garage 56. Created in 2012, Garage 56 is the “technological development branch” for Le Mans. In summary, it’s a special class (Innovative Car class) for technically innovative cars.
Well, a NASCAR car (in essence a silhouette car) is not exactly ground-breaking, right? However, in 2023 there was no other “innovative technical” candidate. AND, come on, a NASCAR racing down the Mulsanne? I bet fans would pay to see that 😉. Soooo, pesky semantical details out of the way, work on the Camaro Zl1 began in 2021. Handled by Hendricks Motorsports (with technical input from NASCAR, Chevrolet, Goodyear and IMSA), track tests began in August 2022. The ZL1’s chassis is a steel tube framework with a full carbon fiber undertray and Le Mans-spec splitter. Powering the beast was a NASCAR Cup Series Chevrolet R07 cast iron small block V8, displacing 358 ci (5.8 l). All that was covered by a 2023 Camaro ZL1 composite symmetric body featuring integral flap systems. Oh yes, as expected, the sound that thing made was BRUTAL 🤯!
And the best part? The ZL1 #24 finished the race and even ahead of a Porsche 963! Oh, and won its class 😁! Weeeelllll, it was the only car in its class, so… With all said and done, obviously the Camaro ZL1 was a publicity stunt for NASCAR. Even so, if you’re a gearhead and/or Le Mans nut, it’s always GREAT to see cool cars at La Sarthe. Therefore, please, keep them coming! In model form the car is a gem, one of the really nice TSM that I own. However, since it falls under NASCAR license, it worried me that we wouldn’t be able to see it in 1:43. Or at least not from the likes of TSM or Spark. Nonetheless, here it is – easy to get and didn’t take very long. In a word, A-W-E-S-O-M-E model! Now Spark needs to re-release the old Le Mans NASCAR cars.
Yep, GRAIL MODEL! This was one of the 2023 cars that I had to have ☺.