2007 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible Indy Pace Car Edition
Corvette paces The Race – again. But this time, Chevy lets you share in the glory.
BY STEVE SILER, February 2007
For the ninth time in 29 years, Corvette will lap Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the official pace car of the Indy 500. And to celebrate the occasion, Chevrolet will build replicas to sell to collectors, Indy fans, and whoever else gets in line for one of the 500 special ragtops that Chevrolet will roll out of its Bowling Green, Kentucky, assembly plant during the next few months.
The official replica of the official pace car will feature Atomic Orange paint, gold ribbon stripes, a smattering of patriotic Indy 500 badges, sassy silver split-spoke aluminum wheels and a small rear spoiler, the latter snagged from the Z06 parts bin. Interior modifications include black leather bucket seats with colorful Indy 500 embroidery and orange trim bits. The engine cover is also orange in hue.
Otherwise, the Indy editions are just like the run-of-the-mill Corvette convertible, albeit with the Z51 performance package, Onstar, navigation and Bose audio system standard. In other words, it’s loaded, which could explain the eye-watering $66,995 price ($68,245 with the paddle-shift autobox), including destination.
Of course, if you don’t get an Indy Vette this year, don’t worry, there will undoubtedly be more. Indeed, since the first Corvette paced Indy in 1978, it has become sort of the “unofficial official pace car” of the big race, with subsequent appearances in 1986, 1995, 1998, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006 and now, of course, 2007. A few dozen copies of each of these pace car have been produced for use in supporting events surrounding the race and inevitably end up in the hands of collectors. However, this is the first time since 1998 that Chevy has offered a regular-production pace car replica to Corvette’s adoring fans.