New Chevy Camaro Convertible will pace 100th Indianapolis 500
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Image of 2011 Chevy Camaro, courtesy General Motors.
A special-edition Chevrolet Camaro convertible will serve as the official pace car of the 2011 Indianapolis 500, both the famous race's and the famous Chevy brand's 100th anniversaries.
Chevrolet and Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials made the announcement at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, Ariz., last night where the first of 50 Indy "festival committee cars" will go on the block.
As part of the auction bidders will get the chance to vie for the first of 50 Indianapolis 500 Festival Committee cars, which are pace-car replicas. The special-edition cars mark the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 and Chevrolet’s centennial year.
The Camaro is the 22nd Chevrolet pace car, and it's the seventh time a Camaro has been chosen.
The pace car, along with the matching festival cars, features a summit White exterior accented with orange stripes and door graphics.
The interior is trimmed in orange leather, including front seat headrests embossed with the Indy 500 logo, along with white door panels and instrument panel trim. The instrument panel trim features extensions of the orange exterior stripes.
The color combination is similar to the design used on the 1969 Camaro Indy pace car, which has spawned many imitations. – replicas of which have become among the most popular Camaros in the collector world.
The auction for the commemorative edition pace car takes place Saturday evening, Jan. 22, during the Speed channel’s live coverage of the auction.
The first Chevrolet to pace the Indy 500 was the 1948 Fleetmaster Six. Here’s the full list of Chevy pace cars:
* 1948 Fleetmaster Six
* 1955 Bel Air
* 1967 Camaro
* 1969 Camaro
* 1978 Corvette
* 1982 Camaro
* 1986 Corvette
* 1990 Beretta
* 1993 Camaro
* 1995 Corvette
* 1998 Corvette
* 1999 Monte Carlo
* 2002 Corvette
* 2003 SSR
* 2004 Corvette
* 2005 Corvette
* 2006 Corvette
* 2007 Corvette
* 2008 Corvette
* 2009 Camaro
* 2010 Camaro
* 2011 Camaro
Chevrolet will donate full proceeds of the auction to the David Foster Foundation, a charity devoted to supporting families with children in need of life-saving organ transplants.
