Corvette: Year by Year
1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 19641965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976
1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988
1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
1974 - 19781978 Corvette Limited Edition Indy 500 Pace Car
Corvette Paces the 1978 Indianapolis 500
A Corvette paced the Indy 500 race and a special edition paint consisting of light silver on the lower body and black above, separated by a red stripe and special seats marked the occasion. Originally production was to be limited to 300, a nod to the production quantity of the 1953 'vette. But demand increased and soon Chevrolet had a problem: which dealers would be allocated one of these special Corvettes? The problem was solved by producing 6,502 Indianapolis 500 pace car replicas, enough so that each dealer would get one and a few promotional extras.
Purchasers who thought that profitability was part of the special edition Corvette ownership were disappointed. This often happens when the public gets interested in collector cars as investments. One problem was the high production quantity of 6,502. The other was that the option was only a badge, paint job and decal exercise. There wasn't a special engine or even suspension in the story, so future enthusiasts passed in favor of Corvettes with something worthwhile to offer.
Below and left: decals commemorating the event were shipped with all 6,502 replicas, and it was up to the buyer to make the installation decision. The pace car replicas had their own VIN number sequence.
Above and below: 1978 Chevrolet Corvette Pace Car replicas without the decal installation.
An era ended when GM head designer Bill Mitchell, GM president Ed Cole and chief engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov retired. Dave McLellan would become the Corvette head engineer.
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Comments (1)
I need a new antena, a clock and two windscreenwipper for my corvette 1978