IROC-Z Resurrection: Rebirth and Re-Branding
The Road to IROC…
At SEMA 2015 we displayed a vehicle in the show for the first time, the 6LE Designs “ZL71”. It was our answer to the FORD Raptor. A wide-bodied Silverado ZL1 (Offroad) with performance upgrades with Camaro ZL1 in its styling DNA…
2015 SEMA ZL71
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQOUpOqggzA
Our Facebook following alone went from around 8k to 18k in one week and we maintained and grew it from there.
CHEVROLET also debuted the 2016 Camaro at the 2015 SEMA Show and it was the star of that show. I spent the week staring at it and envisioning a full line of parts for it.
We doubled our sales but not in the way we expected. We didn’t sell many truck parts but we were selling 2-3 times the amount of our normal parts, making me realize we had not even come close to fully tapping the market yet. We closed 2015 with around $520k in sales.
By 2016, I wanted to change the direction of the company and start focusing on new Camaro parts. My partner and I split over creative differences in July of 2016. I then started to fund new fiberglass products.
By November 2016, I had released a new G8 hood and also a full line of 2016 Camaro parts. Stripe and Vinyl Kits, Gauge Overlays, Splitter Kits, Spoiler and a new Hood.
These were all on display at SEMA 2016 in the Cragar booth on their Camaro as well as the Camaro in the Vision Wheels booth. We closed out 2016 with $750,000 in sales.
Going into 2017, I wanted to make a Camaro wide body design that I had envisioned since 2010. I also realized, through a loophole, the name “IROC-Z” had never actually been registered. In July, I commissioned a leading automotive designer to take on the project and I hired a lawyer.
We registered the mark and upon his guidance released it at an International Tradeshow to solidify it globally. We presented the car at SEMA 2017 and I can honestly say we stole the show from Chevrolet that year (their booth workers and head designer for Camaro told us this personally) …
SEMA 2017 IROC-Z
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=HlG5DZF46xY&t=336s
We sold over $1,000,000 in gross sales that year.
2018-2022
In 2018, because we had created a value in the name “IROC-Z” again, we were facing rising legal costs as Volkswagen and General Motors would both legally challenge us for the mark.
After SEMA 2017, Volkswagen challenged our mark saying it was too similar to theirs “TROC”. We proved they were infringing upon us. We kindly told them they could continue using it without our objection, but to stay in their lane.
We returned to SEMA in 2018 with an IROC Camaro on display in our own both through IROC Motorsports Inc,, our IROC-ZL1 in the Factory Reproductions booth also displaying our new IROC Wheels for sale and advertising our upcoming “IROC Wars” Race Series as well as have a Wide Body IROC-Z on display in Central Hall.
After being told by insiders from GM at SEMA 2017 to bring the IROC-Z back in 2018 and we’d most likely be awarded the GM Design Award… we had our hopes up. Instead, we got a cease and desist from GM’s legal department over the name “IROC-Z”. At this point, we had developed close relationships with some of GM’s decision makers, so we reached out and asked “Why?” before pursuing it legally.
They were honestly unaware of it and confused (at the time, we were in talks about GM selling our IROC wheels and take the IROC-Z on their “Rock” Tour) but within days they had it resolved for us and GM’s legal department withdrew their cease and desist and abandon their application for the mark (an overachieving paralegal had watched our video of the IROC-Z at SEMA on Camaro News and that it reached 1 Million Views within 15 minutes. He saw that there was clearly value in the name and tried to reclaim it for the company… that never had it… and was making the company look bad).
Here’s two examples of many online articles covering the trademark ownership…
https://gmauthority.com/blog/2019/08/gm-abandons-trademark-filing-for-iroc-z/
https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1124627_gm-s-done-with-the-iroc-z-name
After GM abandoned their application in July of 2019, we re-focused on licensing our mark to generate more income as well as solidify our holding of the mark. We sold off old China molds to the same manufacturer so we could fund a shift into wholesaling giving all our business to RK Sport’s manufacturing. We changed our name from 6LE Designs to IROC Motorsports to solidify mark usage….
Then we began wholesaling our product to companies like MAGG Performance, Phastek, RK Sport, BMC Customs, Next Level Performance, Hawk’s Motorsports, Eckler’s, Rick’s Camaro, Andy’s Auto, Next Gen Speed and many more especially through our licensees like Factory Reproduction who had IROC Wheel products on display with IROC Marketing in multiple states across the country.
Factory Reproductions licensed a new IROC-Z wheel design from us. Glasskinz licensed the name to make louvers for the new Camaro. Microsoft and Forza licensed the name for their racing video games and have through present. We licensed the name to Heatwave bringing the iconic name back to eyewear and apparel.
Branching out, we made public efforts to bring back the IROC Series with celebrity endorsements at SEMA 2018 and registering of the name “IROC Wars” as well as displaying four concept vehicles that year including one in our own booth. We were featured that year by SEMA’s “Battle of the Builders”….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCxz3qFsIpw
In 2018 and 2019, we continued to push the brand at SEMA and on social media leading us to landing a segment with Hoonigan…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re9zw2hAeng&t=417s
We had diversified and kept up with the new financial demands, and in doing so were able to successfully beat Volkswagen and General Motors and retain our rights to the mark.
In 2020, our manufacturer would eventually completely go out of business as the world went into the pandemic. We spent the better parts of 2018-2022 trying to find a solid fiberglass and carbon fiber manufacturer (including an attempt to make the parts ourselves in Sylmar, CA) .
We shifted focus again to local resources, specifically selling splitters and tail light lenses. These products sold well and we used these funds to continue to pursue manufacturing options. SEMA was not taking place (due to the pandemic) so we started focusing on Instagram and Facebook content for exposure.
By 2021, during the pandemic, we were still functioning based off a handful of products we could make and suppliers that were local and we still had control over our supply chain. We bought a 1991 Camaro and started developing similar parts for that generation Camaro as well and started making YouTube content to get exposure.
With this small increase in sales, we reached out to a manufacturer in Mexico who had been copying our parts and others and selling them in Mexico. We wanted to test the quality of his product and had smaller products shipped to us and larger ones driven across the border. The quality was good, we communicated some tweaks, and he easily integrated them to make the products great.
In 2022, we let the community know we were offering this line of parts again and immediately had a lot of sales. We set up a distribution center in Texas to receive parts driven in from Mexico and then ship them to the customers.
2022-2024
Around July of 2022, being overwhelmed with the death of my mother after years of caring for her, my wife Claudia DeLisle opened a new business IROC Motorsports LLC to run the business, taking some weight off of my shoulders, while I focused on brand, products and content.
What we learned in product development, we turned into multiple different products. Partnering with Weelfans we began creating wheel fans for all vehicles, Holo-Weels for all vehicles and applying the Holo-Weel technology to Holo-Props. A hood prop with an app controlled hologram to display at car shows for ANY vehicle. We displayed this product at SEMA 2024 Branded IROC…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwCG7COIuD8&t=14s
2024-2026
We expanded. We expanded our products, we expanded our merch, we expanded our operations, we even expanded our cars offering full IROC Supercar Widebody Kits for a full range of GM vehicles. We continue to fight to protect our marks and the direction of our brand. Always trying our best to make sure our brand elevates every part, car and person it touches