Pics of my "new" 78 Pace Car

[AIRBUS]

Beautiful Vette...the wheels look fantastic as well. Congrats!!

Cheers,

Joe

PS. Jim Rathmann has two Chevy dealerships down here where I live. One in Melbourne and one in Palm Bay, FL. I believe his son runs them now.

And a bit more trivia...Jim Rathman is the guy who provided a Vette for any of the original seven astronauts who wanted one.

 

[firedawg]

Great looking car, Congrats!

Anyone know what ever happened to PaceCars.com? was a great sight for 78 PC owners.

 

[Evolution1980]

Kelly, for $500, you definitely got your money's worth! N-I-C-E
Did they clear coat the rims so they clean up easy?

It's been so long since I've seen the 78PC without the decals, that I think I prefer it without 'em! I always liked that two-tone. The 78PC was one of my first favorite vettes! The 78PC and the 82CE were the cars that ignited my Corvette passion. The Callaway Sledgehammer and the '69 vert sealed the deal.

 

[Heavy Duty]

And a bit more trivia...Jim Rathman is the guy who provided a Vette for any of the original seven astronauts who wanted one.

Cool. Does anyone know if the family still has the PC? The reason I ask is that we have 2 of the 3 real/orginal '78 PCs accounted for. His would be the third. If the family sold it my guess is that the real thing would be worth a lot more than one of our replicas both in $$$$ and bragging rights.



H.D.

 

[mkapp7879]

The reason I ask is that we have 2 of the 3 real/orginal '78 PCs accounted for. His would be the third.
H.D.

H.D., I have Pace Car 0009. Everyone always asks if it was used at Indy. NO. But I've always wondered which cars were actually used. All of them were built before the race so why couldn't ANY of the 6502 of them built have been used? Curious as to what seq. no. yours are? Mike

 

[Blu ByU]

H.D., I have Pace Car 0009. Everyone always asks if it was used at Indy. NO. But I've always wondered which cars were actually used. All of them were built before the race so why couldn't ANY of the 6502 of them built have been used? Curious as to what seq. no. yours are? Mike

Mine is number 974, L-82 auto, and it has the somewhat rare cloth inserts on the seats and door panels, and the CB radio.

 

[mkapp7879]

But I'm wondering if the first few cars built were actually the ones used at the race for track and courtesy cars. Seems everyone assumes this. Does anyone KNOW? Mike

 

[Heavy Duty]

H.D., I have Pace Car 0009. Everyone always asks if it was used at Indy. NO. But I've always wondered which cars were actually used. All of them were built before the race so why couldn't ANY of the 6502 of them built have been used? Curious as to what seq. no. yours are? Mike

Number 0009! Man that is so cool to have one of the first PCs off the assembly line. Mine is 2546. It too has the L-82, auto, and CB radio. At Carlisle this past year one of the guys had his PC parked next to mine and the VIN on it was 2552. So I guess we could say they were siblings. The ONLY difference is that his had the 4-speed tranny. Many folks took pics of the 2 parked together.

You have a good question. I know one of the cars is at the Indy museum but I don't know the VIN. May be someone can answer our questions.

The reason I asked though is that GM built 6502 listing them as replicas. I too have been asked several times if my car was the one that paced the 500 that year. My answer is.

I know were there are 2 other PCs. They are in a junk yard that a friend of mine owns. He does a lot of work on Corvettes and he is the person who painted my ’86. Once he found out that I had bought my PC, he took me out back and showed me the cars. What a waste. He also told me to hang on to the PC because they are going to become a rare car. I wonder how many more have went the way of the junk yard. Next time I see him I'll have to get the VIN off them. One indicated that it once had the L-48 the other an L-82. Both are just bodies and frames now.



H.D.
.

 

[mkapp7879]

H.D., I missread your other post, I thought you had a known indy participant! One of these days I want to get back down to the Indy museum and see what their Pace Car's VIN is. If it's not a low one then at least I'll know. Unfortunately, at the risk of being flamed for this, I can't drive mine. The mileage is such that that's part of the value of it. I do maintain it religiously, tho. Mike

 

[Heavy Duty]

H.D., I missread your other post, I thought you had a known indy participant! One of these days I want to get back down to the Indy museum and see what their Pace Car's VIN is. If it's not a low one then at least I'll know. Unfortunately, at the risk of being flamed for this, I can't drive mine. The mileage is such that that's part of the value of it. I do maintain it religiously, tho. Mike

No problem Mike. However, I sure wish I did have the real thing. I don't blame you for not driving it. I do take mine out once in a while for a short spin. If I am taking it to a show or on a long haul this is how it makes the trip:

Some day I guess I'll buy an enclosed trailer. But for now the hauler will do.

I got lucky this past year and won a few classes:

But the best fun was at Carlisle this past summer. My car is on the right. The sibling is on the left:

I sure do like the view from the front of these cars:

It will be interesting to findout the VIN of the one at Indy.



H.D.