years. General Motors replaced the rear-wheel drive (RWD) H-body Monza, Sunbird, Skyhawk, and Starfire in the spring of 1981 with a new, front-wheel drive (FWD), line-up, the J-car models: Chevrolet Cavalier, Oldsmobile Firenza, Buick Skyhawk, Pontiac J2000 and Cadillac Cimarron, introduced as 1982 models. Because the forthcoming J-body cars were to be sold as 1982 models, there was a long production run of 1980 H-body models in order to provide sufficient inventory to carry dealers until the spring of 1981. Motorsports United States Chevrolet Monzas participated in the IMSA GT Series powered by Chevrolet Corvette engines. Chevrolet Monzas were the challengers in the new AAGT class. The class was designed to allow such cars to compete with the best GT cars in the world. The 1975 season was launched with the new cars that would compete with the dominating Porsche Carreras. A very liberal set of rules allowed some body panels to be retained – the windshield, the rear window and the roof. Everything else was built from scratch. The IMSA racer and future triple Le Mans and dual Daytona 24 Hours winner Al Holbert saw the Monza's potential. By the end of the 1975 season, he had ordered a brand new car, built and prepared by Lee Dykstra and American-based Australian Trans-Am driver Horst Kwech at DeKon Engineering. Chassis No. 1008 was used starting the 1976 season. In 1976 and 1977, he was the IMSA Camel GT champion, beating Hans Stuck, Brian Redman and Peter Gregg. In Holbert's successful 1977 campaign he captured another Camel GT crown. However, it would be the last title for an American car. The Porsche 935s were becoming unbeatable right from the beginning of the 1978 season. However, the DeKon built Chevrolet Monza left its footprint on the IMSA Camel GT. They were quite unbeatable in 1976–1977. Chevrolet Monzas were seen in IMSA until 1986. Chris Cord's original DeKon Monza is owned and vintage raced today by Ken Epsman, while Holbert's Monza has been found and is now undergoing restoration in northern California. Australia The Monza also saw success in Australia in the late 1970s and through the 1980s in the Australian Sports Sedan Championship (ASSC) (renamed the Australian GT Championship in 1982). GM's presence in Australia was represented by Holden which was Australia's own manufacturer of GM vehicles. Neither the Nova or the Monza were ever offered to the Australian public. Allan Moffat