Garage 56 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Chevrolet, NASCAR, and Hendrick Motorsports combined forces to develop the Garage 56 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Another Camaro, you may? This one will compete in the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans. The race will run rain or shine during the weekend of June 10-11, 2023. The legendary race is now in its 100^th year. Did we mention that the Le Mans movie, starring Steve McQueen is one of Napleton News‘ favorite racing films?

To commemorate the occasion, Chevrolet will offer 56 copies of the 2024 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Garage 56 Edition vehicles later this year. Chevrolet Camaro enthusiasts will soon queue up to place orders for the commemorative ZL1.

The race version is a collaboration between NASCAR, Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports, Goodyear and IMSA. It unites the most successful team, car manufacturer and tire-company in NASCAR’s 75-year history.

Strutting NASCAR’S Stuff

The idea to go to the 8.5-mile Circuit de la Sarthe began with NASCAR Chairman and CEO Jim France. He saw an opportunity to show off the ability of NASCAR’S Next Gen car to a worldwide audience. The Garage 56 project was designed by Le Mans in 2012 as a single-entry class for extraordinary, innovative vehicles.

It’s the perfect class for a NASCAR Cup Car designed for 24 hours of intensely competitive driving. But it won’t be the only General Motors car on the grid. Cadillacs will compete in the Hypercar class, while Chevrolet will field several Corvettes in the LM GTE Am class.

Garage 56’s drivers are world-renowned. They include seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson, 2009 Formula 1 Champion Jenson Button and Le Mans winner Mike Rockenfeller.

“Even though Chevrolet has been racing since its inception in 1911, we’ve never done anything quite like Garage 56,” said General Motors President Mark Reuss.

A Collaboration

Chevrolet selected longtime racing partner Hendrick Motorsports for this vision quest. The Hendrick team is the all-time leader in NASCAR Cup Series Championships and race wins. Their expertise was used to help develop and fabricate the Garage 56 Camaro ZL1 race car. The firm received assistance from Chevrolet’s Motorsports Competition Engineering team. The engineers brought more than two decades of Le Mans knowledge and experience to the table. They used lessons learned from the Corvette team to optimize the Garage 56 Camaro race car.

Converting the Cup Series Camaro to an endurance race car required the addition of special LED lighting, aerodynamic enhancements and a knockout color scheme. The GM Motorsport Design Studio brought the Camaro’s signature proportions to the racetrack.

Chevrolet engineers are also heavily involved in what may be the most memorable aspect of the Garage 56 Camaro. The throaty, all-American roar produced by the R07 Small Block V-8 is not a sound normally heard in France. The R07 serves Chevrolet teams in the NASCAR Cup Series. The Le Mans version was developed and tested to maximize performance and durability for the 24-hour race.

2024 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Garage 56 Edition

While finalizing plans for the race car, leadership from Chevrolet and its collaborators felt such a special race car needed to be accompanied by a road going production car. Chevrolet’s Performance Design Studio was again tapped to distill the essence of the race car into a limited-edition road car.

The Garage 56 Edition also features unique aero, with the front fascia of the Camaro ZL1 1LE featuring dive-planes like the race car, and a NASCAR Cup car-style wicker bill spoiler on the decklid. Like the race car, the production car’s power comes from the Small Block engine family. The Camaro ZL1’s 650hp LT4 V-8 is under the hood, and the Camaro rides on Goodyear Eagle F1 SuperCar rubber.

In the spirit of Garage 56, the Camaro ZL1 Garage 56 Edition will be in a class of its own with only 56 cars to be produced for the U.S. market.