1955 Indianapolis 500 pace car, 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air. Photo from www.mecum.com

The Indianapolis 500 race started the tradition of using a pace car to keep the starting field in order to begin the race from a rolling start. It has also become part of the winner’s prizes. Since 1936, the winner of the Indianapolis 500 has been presented with one of that year’s pace cars, or an exact replica of the pace car. Several of these pace cars have gone on to become legendary classics, and we count down the top ten Indianapolis 500 Chevy pace cars of all time.

1955 Chevrolet Bel Air

The 1955 Indianapolis 500 was notable for multiple reasons. The field was stacked with great racers. Previous winners Bill Vukovich and Johnnie Parsons, along with future winners Rodger Ward and Jim Rathmann were packed alongside Tony Bettenahusen, Duane Carter, Shorty Templeman, Al Keller and Fred Agahashian. There was no race that was as deep in talent to this point in history.

All 33-cars in the field were powered by Offenhauser engines, mostly in Kurtis Kraft chassis – or modified Kurtis Kraft chassis that carried the modifier’s name. The radio broadcast for the race was carried by all 48 states in the union (there were only 48 states then).

The official 1955 Indianapolis pace car. Photo from wikipedia.org

Sadly, this race was also known for the death of Champion Bill Vukovich. While leading the race, Vukovich ran into a three-car wreck at the tail end of the field. Al Keller, Johnny Boyd and Rodger Ward had crashed, causing a pile-up. Vukovich hit the pile-up, got airborn and left the track, landing upside down and fracturing his skull. One of the biggest fan favorites, his death concluded a streak of three straight years leading the most laps in the race – with the 1955 race likely to have been four straight – a feat that has not been equaled since.

Start of the 1955 Indianapolis 500:

http://youtu.be/PhjupPTTZP4?t=13m24s

On the brighter side of the race, Chevrolet’s 1955 Bel Air was selected as the pace car for the event. Former Chevrolet division general manager Thomas H. Keating piloted the pace car on May 30, 1955 with the first version of the GM SBC V8 engine ever produced. Sporting 265 cubic inches, the new Chevy engine was rated at 180 hp at 4,600 rpm.