Every year since the inaugural race in 1911 (with exception of 1942-1945, when the race wasn’t held during WWII), the Indy 500 has used a pace car to lead the starting grid on-track for a series of warm up laps. The pace car was also to collect the field together during yellow flag caution periods by establishing a reduced pace in front of the lead car.
Seen by some as a largely ceremonial task, sometimes it’s not as easy as it looks – even for professionals. But it doesn’t help that throughout the years there’s been a few questionable models tasked with the job, some of which have required extensive modification just to keep it together on the oval at pace car speeds.
And while those upgrades might’ve served to give the pace cars some credibility on the street, more often than not the pace car edition models that manufacturers actually sold in the showrooms only looked the part – under the skin they were identical to their garden-variety brethren, turning the screw even more for their hapless would-be owners.
Here’s a look at ten of the most poorly chosen road cars to ever set the pace at the Indianapolis 500, one of the longest running and most prestigious motorsport events in the world.
1973 Cadillac Eldorado – As great of a cruiser as it might be, if there’s a two door car that’s the complete antithesis of high performance motoring, it’s a mid-70s front wheel drive Cadillac Eldorado.
While the official pace car’s 500ci V8 was extensively modified to crank out 500 horsepower (to the front wheels!) and received high speed radials, light weight bumpers and other bespoke parts, the ones sent to dealerships were identical to stock Eldorado convertibles aside from a plaque and graphics package.
1976 Buick Century V6 – The key word in that advert above is “looks”. In its second consecutive year pacing the race, for 1976 Buick decided to ditch the big block 455 V8 that powered the cars the previous year (customer cars would receive the standard 350) and instead swap in a turbocharged V6, making this the first V6-powered car to ever pace the Indy 500.
While this would spark a love affair between Buick and turbo V6 power that would eventually yield us the GNX many years later, the pace car models sold to customers actually kept the 350ci V8, albeit with a limp wristed 165 horsepower, or 160 in California spec.
1979 Ford Mustang – While it was a big year for Ford with the introduction of the Fox-body generation Mustang, which would eventually become an icon for 80s and 90s domestic performance, in its inaugural year it wasn’t exactly a show stopper. The reality was that the 5.0-liter V8 used in the pace car replicas sold at dealerships was carried over from the Pinto-based Mustang II and made an economy car-like 140 horsepower – and that was the top-spec version. A 2.3-liter four cylinder power plant was also available, which made 131 horsepower.
The cars that would actually pace the race got a thorough warming-over by the engineers at ROUSH with a host of mechanical upgrades, including many of the internals from the ’69 Boss 302 parts bin.
1981 Buick Regal V6 – While the Regal was aesthetically edging closer to the legendary Grand National that would come a few years later, in 1981 performance was still languishing in the doldrums.
The official pace cars got a wide array of performances modifications for race duty, including a bespoke 4.1-liter V6 making 281 horsepower, the customer versions of the car were saddled with a thoroughly uninspiring 3.8-liter V6 making 110 horsepower.
Interestingly, while both the official pace car and the replica versions sport the Buick 6 logo that would become synonymous with turbo Buicks later on, neither actually had a turbocharger.
1984 Pontiac Fiero – Back when Pontiac was seen as GM’s forward-thinking performance division, they unleashed the Fiero on the world. It certainly had potential – engine mounted in the middle, rear wheel drive and diminutive dimensions, the Fiero offered many of the ingredients needed be a great sports car.
Truth be told, the official Fiero pace cars were actually kind of awesome, making 232 horsepower from a humble 165ci four cylinder and featured a number of cool modifications, including an air intake snorkel above the roof.
But the pace cars sold on showroom floors were a different story, sporting an absolutely pitiful 92 horsepower, better suited to pace the Tour de France.
1985 Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais – Just one look at this Cutlass tells the whole story. If there’s a car that epitomizes the fall from grace that was the muscle car era to the malaise era that followed, it’s perhaps this successor to the mighty Olds 4-4-2.
The official pace cars saw heavy modification, with Olds chopping the roof off and massaging the 2.5-liter four pot to 2.7 liters and 215 horsepower, but the customer cars remained strapped with the fixed roof and stock mechanicals. That meant the showroom cars cranked out a dismal 89 horsepower and appeared otherwise stock aside from some equally lackluster stickers adorning the doors to remind the Calais’ limited pool of admirers of its pace car association.
1987 Chrysler LeBaron – With motorsport icon Carroll Shelby at the helm of the all new LeBaron convertible pace car for that year’s race, Chrysler attempted to recapture some of that Pentastar performance credibility of yore.
Unfortunately, when the car that was prepped for official pace car duty only dished out 174 horsepower (the replica versions made 143), it’s clear just how dire the situation had gotten by the mid 1980s for Mopar fans.
1990 Chevrolet Beretta Convertible – Developed at a reported cost to GM of 20 million dollars, the drop top version of the Berretta built for pace car duty was considered so bad from an engineering standpoint that GM scraped the whole thing before the car ever went into production.
7500 hardtop pace car replicas would be made for sale to the public with body color wheel accents, a sticker package and a 3.1-liter V6 delivering 135 horsepower (the official pace cars got a 3.4-liter V6 making 225 horses).
1997 Oldsmobile Aurora – Although automotive performance was on the upswing toward the end of the 90s, we weren’t quite out of the woods yet. And while the Aurora’s 4.0-liter V8 delivered a respectable 250 horsepower in stock form – meaning it didn’t need performance enhancement to get the job done at the Brickyard – the fact that it sent the grunt exclusively through the front wheels and was a four door sedan whose design was clearly inspired by a jelly bean meant the car was still far short of cool. That might explain why a pace car version of the Aurora was never offered to the public, replica or otherwise.
2002 Oldsmobile Bravada – For the 85th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500, Oldsmobile decided to bring in its redesigned Bravada for official pace duty.
A telling move for the brand which had become woefully out of touch with, well, just about everyone, the company saw fit to put the first woman behind the wheel of an Indy 500 pace car in an SUV. Adding insult to injury, Elaine Irwin had virtually no connection to motorsport at all as she was a model and the wife of singer John Mellencamp at the time, thus creating a perfect storm that helped Oldsmobile perpetuate stereotypes for everyone involved.
Did we miss any particularly lame Indianapolis 500 pace cars? Drop us a line in the comments section below!