Pace Car Thread : Has this been done before?

[McBanagon]

1971

The 1971 Indy 500 started horribly. Just before the drop of the green flag, Eldon Palmer lost control of the Dodge pace car, slid down pit row, and into the photographers’ stand at the South end of pit row, injuring twenty-two.

[saranynsandiego]

how do they determine which company will be the pace car? is it who ever pays the most? i always thought they were pretty cool and the fact that you can purchase a replica was awesome

[Zanardi.]

how do they determine which company will be the pace car? is it who ever pays the most? i always thought they were pretty cool and the fact that you can purchase a replica was awesome

Each deal is different, but generally speaking, it is a specific sponsorship deliverable. Sometimes it is through the track, e.g. an RX-8 being used at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and other times there is an agreement with the track where the sanctioning body uses their safety car always and it supersedes any track deal, e.g. F1 and their Mercedes.

[vmchurch]

I do like F1's safety car is actually being hustled around the track...not just "pacing"...

Thats more because its necessary in F1. If F1 cars went much slower around the track the engines wouldn't make it much more than 1 lap before they overheated and were destroyed.

[Woodski]

And an Ariel Atom:

Nope.

[JMotion]

The F1 Safety Car is a pretty nice SLS, but the C63 Estate that they use as the Medical Car is UNBELIEVABLE.

The NOISE that this wagon makes is as enjoyable as the F1 cars themselves, and is something I tremendously look forward to hearing in a few weeks in Montreal.

[Hurt]

[RacingManiac]

Thats more because its necessary in F1. If F1 cars went much slower around the track the engines wouldn't make it much more than 1 lap before they overheated and were destroyed.

I should time the safety car around the track at Montreal when i went though....I think its probably faster than some of the Ferrari Challenge guys....

[vmchurch]

I should time the safety car around the track at Montreal when i went though....I think its probably faster than some of the Ferrari Challenge guys....

Duh, its Bernd Maylander....guy knows how to drive

[VierSpeed]

Nope.

Seems I forgot the " "

[MRVW00]

[delrio]

[Cousin Eddie]

[vwlarry]

1971

The 1971 Indy 500 started horribly. Just before the drop of the green flag, Eldon Palmer lost control of the Dodge pace car, slid down pit row, and into the photographers’ stand at the South end of pit row, injuring twenty-two.

See the video I posted on page 1.

[Cousin Eddie]

[EdRacer71]

So gaudy...but I still love it...





even found a picture of someone autocrossing one..



and an added bonus...

[rrr rr]

So gaudy...but I still love it...

My neighbor used to own one of these. He sold it recently for a pretty meager profit.

[Biff Beltsander]

I was within 3 feet of one about 10 years ago at my local BP gas station in the Cincy area. Being driven by a chick who was making a beer run. How many made it "out" and survived?

From what I understand like maybe ten or less survived.
Basically GM decided they should not go on sale and ordered any that had been shipped to be returned yet one dealership decided they'd take their chances and sell them anyway, much like the Caprice's that were sold new today from GM dealers ignoring orders.
I have never seen any private cars or even any pictures that were not of the cars new at press events or being used as pace cars.
You have mentioned that you saw one in person before on a thread maybe a few years ago and that's actually why I looked up the information in the first place. You or someone with virtually the same story that is.

Heck, if there was any value to them anyone serious about having one could get a beater cutlass convertible and do a parts swap with a Beretta GTU to make a tribute car. Although they would have to cut and weld the rear clip.

[MRVW00]

From what I understand like maybe ten or less survived.

You have mentioned that you saw one in person before on a thread maybe a few years ago and that's actually why I looked up the information in the first place. You or someone with virtually the same story that is.

WOW! THAT RARE!? That's probably one of the rarest cars I've ever seen...and I've seen some rare sh!t. (904's, 550's, Speedster Carrera's, etc)

Yes, that was me. It was such a weird car that I've never seen before, it stuck in my head.

[2.0_Mazda]

How about a Pace CUV

[Biff Beltsander]

WOW! THAT RARE!? That's probably one of the rarest cars I've ever seen...and I've seen some rare sh!t. (904's, 550's, Speedster Carrera's, etc)

Yes, that was me. It was such a weird car that I've never seen before, it stuck in my head.

So rare, pretty cool, yet this mint version went for only $22,000 with a scrap title in auction.
I'd of thought it would go for less honestly.

[MRVW00]

So rare, pretty cool, yet this mint version went for only $22,000 with a scrap title in auction.
I'd of thought it would go for less honestly.

I saw a car EXACTLY like this.

At the time, this car had standard-issue KY tags. Initially I thought it was a dealers demo (we had a small Chevy dealer a few miles away before the "restructuring" of GM) but he was too old for be a new car at the time, and had "real" plates.

[patrikman]

The Guy Fieri comment slipped by earlier. Then it just clicked and now I am sad.

[Biff Beltsander]

I saw a car EXACTLY like this.

At the time, this car had standard-issue KY tags. Initially I thought it was a dealers demo (we had a small Chevy dealer a few miles away before the "restructuring" of GM) but he was too old for be a new car at the time, and had "real" plates.

Oh that's cool. I think they were all yellow. I'd love to find some concrete information about how many were sold and even find out how many are still on the road.
I do like the idea of a dealership deciding the cars were too neat to send back and they sold them anyhow, I hope that's the actual story.

[Biff Beltsander]

First Hybrid Nascar pace car.


Some MK5 SCCA pace car action of the Fahrenheit variety.






Supra's

[vwlarry]

One of your classier pace cars...

[vdubplate]

I've always wanted to own a pace car, with all the yellow lights, strobes, graphics, etc.

[EdRacer71]

as close as they came to a Supercar pace car!



actually it was the pace car that never was.

Way back in 1991, Chrysler was charged with providing a pace car for the 75th running of the Indianapolis 500. At the time, the company was blood brothers with Mitsubishi, and the automakers had decided it would be worth everyone's while to rebadge the popular 3000GT as a Stealth and sell it under the Dodge banner. Chrysler was thrilled to have something resembling a sports car on its dealer lots and wanted to get the word out by handing pace car duties to its newest creation. Only there was a problem. Once the public got wind that Chrysler wanted to run a Japanese-built car out front of the red, white and blue Indianapolis 500, near riots ensued, with the United Auto Workers among the most critical parties.

Chrysler pulled a 180 and decided to roll out a Viper prototype for the race, but not before it built a Stealth for pace duty. The car was dipped in some very visible yellow paint, and safety equipment like a roll cage, racing harnesses and a communication system was installed. The car was never called to pace at the Brickyard, however, having been relegated to the duty of an official festival car. Thereafter, it spent its years parked in the Walter P. Chrysler Museum instead.

Now, that very would-be pace car is up for auction on eBay. With just 8,000 miles on the clock and an opening bid of $25,000, the car is someone's chance to own one very odd piece of Detroit history – the Indy 500 pace car that never was. Check out the auction here.

[In 4 Bagels, Left Hungry]

as close as they came to a Supercar pace car!



actually it was the pace car that never was.

So its a 1 of 1? Thats pretty cool, even though the dodge stealth itself is not

[hardingsan]

[DougLovesCars]

So rare, pretty cool, yet this mint version went for only $22,000 with a scrap title in auction.
I'd of thought it would go for less honestly.

GM reports that ZERO Beretta convertibles were sold to the public. However, many were produced in anticipation of them going on sale before they were axed due to safety concerns. The majority of them were crushed. GM did donate quite a few of them to various trade schools around the country to use in shop classes, and a lot of these still exist today and are even displayed by some of the schools. They were donated without VINs and cannot legally be titled.

In 1990 Chevrolet did sell a Beretta pace car model but they were all coupes. A few thousand were produced in either yellow or a light green color. They had the GTU gfx package and a pace car decal kit, but were otherwise normal Berettas.

The Beretta above sold at Barrett Jackson was actually around at Indianapolis doing pace car duties (but did not pace the race). That's why it went for $22k. People love their Indy pace cars.

[Diggums]

And an Ariel Atom:

I think its amazing how small the race cars ( Indy? ) look compared to the pace car....that is not a large car but the actual race cars make it look like a giant.

[vortexblue]

I think its amazing how small the race cars ( Indy? ) look compared to the pace car....that is not a large car but the actual race cars make it look like a giant.

...or a photoshop.

[MRVW00]

GM reports that ZERO Beretta convertibles were sold to the public. .

I'm not trying to be an ass, so please don't take this the wrong way, but can you explain the one I saw?

The top was down, the woman owner acted as if it was just "another car" and the it was licensed with a actual state "normal" plate

[barry2952]

I'm not trying to be an ass, so please don't take this the wrong way, but can you explain the one I saw?

The top was down, the woman owner acted as if it was just "another car" and the it was licensed with a actual state "normal" plate

Simple explanation. It was likely custom-made. In fact there was a body builder by your back door, so to speak. The firm of Hess & Eisenhardt, located in a suburb of Cincinnati, made Jaguar convertibles and others for domestic makers. My car was made into a convertible by them from a new car, just like the Jags. They started off in the hearse and ambulance business and built prototypes for the big 3. They ended up building armored cars, now under the name of O'Gara/Hess.