The 1948 official Indianapolis 500 pace car. 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. Prior to 1911, almost every auto race utilized a standing start to begin the race. The pace car is required to collect the field back up at a reduced speed for an organized restart after a caution. For all intent and purposes, the pace car is a safety car.

It has also become part of the winner’s booty. Since 1936, the winner of the Indianapolis 500 has been presented with one of that year’s pace cars, or an expact replica of the pace car. Another time honored tradition of the pace car experience has been that a celebrity or former racer, was invited to drive the pace car to start the race. Auto manufacturers fight for the privilege of supplying the pace car to showcase the latest model or special car in their lineup. Several have gone on to become legendary classics, and we count down the top ten Indianapolis 500 Chevy pace cars of all time.

The 1978 Chevrolet Corvette Pace Car for the Indianapolis 500, driven by 1960 Indy winner Jim Rathmann. Photo from wikipedia.org

#8: 1978 Chevrolet Corvette C3

Despite being America’s sportscar since 1953, the Corvette was not selected to be the official pace car for the Indianapolis 500 until 1978. Appropriately enough, the 25th anniversary edition of the Corvette featured a complete redesign with and all 78s sporting silver anniversary nose and fuel door emblems in honor of the silver anniversary.

1978 Corvette Pace Car Walk Around:

Outfitted with an L48 SBC 350ci engine rated at 185 hp, the replica pace cars were offered with an optional 220hp L82 V8. What made this pace car unique at Indy was that it was the first pace car in history to use a completely stock drivetrain. Five-time pace car driver and 1960 race winner, Jim Rathman piloted the car during the race.

Chevrolet originally planned on keeping production of the replicas down to 300 of these special editions, but ended up producing one for almost every dealer. The total amount of replicas produced for 1978 ended up at 6,502.

#7: 1948 Chevrolet Fleetmaster Six

The first Chevrolet chosen as the Indianapolis pace car was the popular Fleetmaster Six convertible. Fleetmasters were an upscale model with nice interiors, woodgrain door trim, carpeting on front floormats as well as the rear, and leatherette armrest wear guards. Chevrolet was preparing for a major market share jump with the Fleetmaster and production was up by 3.7 percent.

The Start of the 1948 Indianapolis 500:

While there was only one pace car, with racing legend Wilbur Shaw at the wheel, there were a total of 696,449 Chevrolet  Fleetmasters on the road in 1948, making Chevrolet first place in the auto making industry. Sporting an L-head 216ci straight six engine powering a vacuum assisted, 3-speed manual transmission. The pace car, equipped with an AM radio, heater and defroster and full instrumentation, was finished in Dove Grey with a red interior and black drop top. Indy pace car signage on the sides completed the look.