All the Indy 500 Pace cars and a little history just for you.

[Greg Myers]

My son sent me this, thought you'd all enjoy it. http://indymotorspeedway.com/v1/500pace.htm A bunch of nice looking Vettes.

[W-Machine]

Naturally, the '70, '72, and '74 Pace Cars are my favorites! Cool page.

[Art Anderson]

And, not one of the 1941 Chrysler Newports "advertised" as that year's 500 Mile Race Pace Car! Of the run of that custom-bodied car, all but one had disappearing headlights.

The only '41 Chrysler Newport that has never been restored, in fact it's still in it's original paint and trim (light green, with dark green graphics, and the only one having fixed headlights (behind chromed woven wire screens, ala '53-54 Corvette) was the actual pace car, shown in several photo's taken of the pace lap that year.

That particular car went on to be owned by Walter P. Chrysler Jr, and when I last saw it, it still had W. P. C. initials painted at the tops of the front doors.

Art

[Lunajammer]

Thanks Greg, I love stuff like that. 2012: Guy Fieri, Celebrity Chef. Really? With a long history of auto industry and racing legends as pace drivers, it really gets diluted when the hot cars leading the greatest spectacle in auto racing are handed over to reality TV celebs and/or fashion models.

[Harry P.]

I think the most interesting thing about that list is the list of people who drove them. You have to wonder "why" on some of them. Robin Roberts???

[pharoah]

I think the most interesting thing about that list is the list of people who drove them. You have to wonder "why" on some of them. Robin Roberts???

Eldon Palmer comes to mind right away,Harry.

A car dealer driving a pace car? I still remember that from 1971. He must have had some kind of influence somewhere

[jw78z28]

It would be neat if you could built a model for every pace car. How many of them are aval. in kit form?

[Harry P.]

Eldon Palmer comes to mind right away,Harry.

A car dealer driving a pace car? I still remember that from 1971. He must have had some kind of influence somewhere

I can see a big time local auto dealer snagging the gig. But Robin Roberts?

It would be neat if you could built a model for every pace car.

Didn't Art Anderson do that? Yeah, that would make a very impressive display.

[jw78z28]

Not sure Harry. If he did I didn't see anything about it

[kalbert]

We had a 1990 Indy Beretta convertible in the shop where I went to school. It was donated by GM for education, and I believe was destroyed just recently. Neat car, but it was a Beretta.

My favorite on that list? the '77 Delta 88 driven by James Garner. Had a friend back in the day with a silver '79, we called her the "Silver Screamer", lot of good times in that car. We'd run 2 tanks of gas through it on Friday nights and never leave the city limits. And who doesn't like James Garner???

[bbowser]

I think the most interesting thing about that list is the list of people who drove them. You have to wonder "why" on some of them. Robin Roberts???

Agreed. I'm digging the '46 Lincoln.

[Harry P.]

Agreed. I'm digging the '46 Lincoln.

Yep, that's a real beauty.

[Greg Myers]

Eldon Palmer comes to mind right away,Harry.

A car dealer driving a pace car? I still remember that from 1971. He must have had some kind of influence somewhere

Mo - Ron

[Art Anderson]

I can see a big time local auto dealer snagging the gig. But Robin Roberts?

Didn't Art Anderson do that? Yeah, that would make a very impressive display.

Nope, but I Have done 3 or 4 pace cars. Actually, from 1966-84 I, along with 3 other local modelers, built up over 200 1/24-1/25 scale Indianapolis cars--mostly from official qualifying photographs, considering that back then, really good reference pics of Indy cars were quite hard to find.

Art

[Art Anderson]

Eldon Palmer comes to mind right away,Harry.

A car dealer driving a pace car? I still remember that from 1971. He must have had some kind of influence somewhere

It was Eldon Palmer who organized the donation of a pair of 1971 Dodge Challenger R/T convertibles to serve as the pace cars that year at Indy. Consider this: None of the automakers stepped forward that year to offer a car to serve as the Pace Car.

As for the lamentable crash--there had been a set of braking markers in the grassy strip between pit lane and the inside wall of the front stretch, which Palmer had used all week long before that year's 500 to practice the pace lap. Unfortunately, sometime on Saturday before the Sunday race, SOMEONE removed those markers, leaving Palmer to figure out the braking point for himself. The accident was not entirely Eldon Palmer's fault.

Art

[clovis]

Great link, and a great thread.

I'm a huge Indy car and Indy 500 fan, but I've never seen that website before.

[Edsel-Dan]

I have many of the kits to build or convert to Pace cars. Including a Jo-Han 31 Cadillac Cabriolet

MPC/AMT 32 Chrysler Roadster with Italeri/Testor's 33 Grill.

Lindberg 53 Ford, Monogram 55 Chevy, AMT 59 Buick, Miller 60 Olds 98

AMT Annual 61 T-Bird, Jo-HAn 62 Studebaker LArk, Monogram 64 Mustang,

AMT 67 Camaro (Matchbox era tooled 67/68 Coupe with 69 Convert windshield frame)

MPC & Revell 69 Camaro, Jo-Han 70 Olds 442 awaiting a second Rev 72 H/O Olds convert,

AMT 70 Challenger waiting for 71 Conversion, Rev 72 H/O, Jo-Han 75 Olds Cutlass,

MPC & Monogram 78 Vette, & 79 Mustang, Both built New in 79!!

MPC 82 Camaro, also built new, MPC 86 Vette, AMT 92 Dodge/Mitsubishi Stealth

AMT Viper Promo, Monogram 93 Camaro, 94 Cobra Mustang, 95 & 98 Vettes,

AMT 96 Viper Coupe.

I started work on a Jo-Han 72-4 Eldorado to replicate the 73,

and a Monogram "High-Performance" GNX to replicate the 81 Buick

I do have an Original AMT 66 Comet Promo in correct red, but it is a Hardtop!!

I have all the Cady decal sheets except the 74 Buick & 92/96 Vipers!!

Think I have been planning this for a while??

I am still hoping to get the other kits that were produced, but they would be the Most rare!!

ie 63 Chrysler 300, 65 Fury, 68 Torino

[pharoah]

I had a nice sized collection of pace cars for a while. I ended up selling a lot of them on the Bay.

Here's a few. Sorry some of the pics are so bad. Pre digital stuff.

Some of these were built before the convertibles were released. Had a little help from Fred Cady,The Maodelhaus and some scratchbuilding.

Edited May 17, 2013 by pharoah

[checkmate]

Some interesting history there, being from Australia we never got much coverage of this in years gone by, always cool to learn something new.

Our big race is Bathurst.

[peekay]

And, not one of the 1941 Chrysler Newports "advertised" as that year's 500 Mile Race Pace Car! Of the run of that custom-bodied car, all but one had disappearing headlights.

The only '41 Chrysler Newport that has never been restored, in fact it's still in it's original paint and trim (light green, with dark green graphics, and the only one having fixed headlights (behind chromed woven wire screens, ala '53-54 Corvette) was the actual pace car, shown in several photo's taken of the pace lap that year.

That particular car went on to be owned by Walter P. Chrysler Jr, and when I last saw it, it still had W. P. C. initials painted at the tops of the front doors.

Art

It seems this car was sold at auction last month for $880,000. It had been restored and apparently finished in the original colour which appears to be a beige/bronze. (Sources: Hemmings Classic Car mag and www.rmauctions.com.)

[Danno]

I have many of the kits to build or convert to Pace cars. Including a Jo-Han 31 Cadillac Cabriolet

MPC/AMT 32 Chrysler Roadster with Italeri/Testor's 33 Grill.

Lindberg 53 Ford, Monogram 55 Chevy, AMT 59 Buick, Miller 60 Olds 98

AMT Annual 61 T-Bird, Jo-HAn 62 Studebaker LArk, Monogram 64 Mustang,

AMT 67 Camaro (Matchbox era tooled 67/68 Coupe with 69 Convert windshield frame)

MPC & Revell 69 Camaro, Jo-Han 70 Olds 442 awaiting a second Rev 72 H/O Olds convert,

AMT 70 Challenger waiting for 71 Conversion, Rev 72 H/O, Jo-Han 75 Olds Cutlass,

MPC & Monogram 78 Vette, & 79 Mustang, Both built New in 79!!

MPC 82 Camaro, also built new, MPC 86 Vette, AMT 92 Dodge/Mitsubishi Stealth

AMT Viper Promo, Monogram 93 Camaro, 94 Cobra Mustang, 95 & 98 Vettes,

AMT 96 Viper Coupe.

I started work on a Jo-Han 72-4 Eldorado to replicate the 73,

and a Monogram "High-Performance" GNX to replicate the 81 Buick

I do have an Original AMT 66 Comet Promo in correct red, but it is a Hardtop!!

I have all the Cady decal sheets except the 74 Buick & 92/96 Vipers!!

Think I have been planning this for a while??

I am still hoping to get the other kits that were produced, but they would be the Most rare!!

ie 63 Chrysler 300, 65 Fury, 68 Torino

Don't forget one of my favorites ~ ~ ~ the '85 Fiero GT. Monogram made a suitable kit.

[Art Anderson]

The upcoming Galaxie Ltd '48 Chevrolet coupe can be made into the 1948 Pace Car as well (Fred Cady made the decals for it as well). R&R Vacuum Craft also produced the 1954 Dodge Coronet convertible. Modelhaus makes the 1957 Mercury convertible, I believe they also have the '58 Pontiac Bonneville, and I produced (if you can find one!) the 1960 Oldsmobile 98 convertible. AMT produced the 1968 Torino convertible also.

Art

[rmvw guy]

91 Dodge Viper
400hp 8L V-10
Carroll Shelby

The Dodge Stealth was to be the pace car, but the UAW didn't like the joint venture between Chrysler and Mitsubishi, forcing Dodge to use the as-yet unreleased Viper.

Thanks for posting these, I am a huge fan. I have made several trips to the Speedway during the off season just to view the ever changing scale model collection at the museum. A nice collection of pace cars as well as former winners cars and others. Also some real 1:1 cars but, I find myself spending more time looking at the models for some reason. One of my favorite years above, I rushed out and bought a Stealth Promo Model to turn it into a pace car. I remember all the commotion about it being a foreign car by the UAW (they were strong here in Indiana at the time). If I'm not mistaken, the Viper was only a Concept at the time and Chrysler's engineers rushed to build two of them for the race. The Stealth remained the Official Car of the Indy 500 and was used for everything else at the Speedway that year including, the parade, and also V.I.P.s got to drive them the whole month of May. I guess you could say there may have never been a Viper produced if it wasn't for all the commotion at the 500 in 1991.

Edited May 17, 2013 by rmvw guy

[Edsel-Dan]

Forgot I Finally got one of those Monogram Fiero's

It was assembled with Scotch Tape!!!!!!!!!!

Fun will be painting it White over that Red plastic!!

And forgot I built the 80 Trans Am too!!

Art, Who cast the 60 Olds 98 you mastered??

I have a Miller Memorabilia!!

grill, bumpers, boot cover all cast in place on the body.

It was more of a gel-coat type resin with Bondo fill inside!!

Here is a pic of it.

Interior came with the body. I had to replace the windshield frame. Gotta love those Monogram/Rev 59 Impalas!!

Chassis is also from the Impala.(Need correct hubcaps!!)

I used the Promo engine plug from AMT's 63 Impala SS kit, instead of adding an engine under the hood.

[Harry P.]

91 Dodge Viper

400hp 8L V-10

Carroll Shelby

The Dodge Stealth was to be the pace car, but the UAW didn't like the joint venture between Chrysler and Mitsubishi, forcing Dodge to use the as-yet unreleased Viper.

Thanks for posting these, I am a huge fan. I have made several trips to the Speedway during the off season just to view the ever changing scale model collection at the museum. A nice collection of pace cars as well as former winners cars and others. Also some real 1:1 cars but, I find myself spending more time looking at the models for some reason. One of my favorite years above, I rushed out and bought a Stealth Promo Model to turn it into a pace car. I remember all the commotion about it being a foreign car by the UAW (they were strong here in Indiana at the time). If I'm not mistaken, the Viper was only a Concept at the time and Chrysler's engineers rushed to build two of them for the race. The Stealth remained the Official Car of the Indy 500 and was used for everything else at the Speedway that year including, the parade, and also V.I.P.s got to drive them the whole month of May. I guess you could say there may have never been a Viper produced if it wasn't for all the commotion at the 500 in 1991.

I used to have a '91 Stealth RT. I've never owned a Ferrari, or a Porsche, or any other really high-end car, just "regular" cars... but the Stealth was the best car (so far) that I've ever owned. I wish I still had it.