slee

Hi all,

How do I find out if my 82 Firebird was a pace car in the Daytona 500? It has a few hints (bog in the roof where the lights would have been, 350 motor instead of stock 305 and a couple of other bits & pieces), is there some concrete way to identify the cars that were used?

Thanks in advance

AmorgetRS

iTrader: (6)

Where was yours delivered to? 14 or 15" wheels?

Unfortunately I haven't found a solid way to validate if it was or not. Nobody seems to have the VINs of the 2 cars.

slee

There were only 2? hmm, not sure of the original wheels but I think they were 15's. How can I find out where it was delivered to? Sorry, total newbie!

AmorgetRS

iTrader: (6)

Yeah, there wasn't a special edition or anything so it was just what was supplied for the race.

The only way I know to get the dealer is to order a PHS packet.

http://www.phs-online.com/order.htm

If you don't mind, what is the VIN (or at least the production number). I want to see how close in numbers it is to mine.

Just so you know, I have what could be one of the Pace Cars. It has all the decals but the engine and transmission are gone. It has C&C t-tops, which I suspect were installed as it was easier than repairing the holes in the roof. Also, do you have rear defrost? The reason I asked about the rims is that my understanding is that one had 14s and one had 15s. Mine had 14" rims. You can confirm what it had through the radiator support tag. If you could, post a picture of your tag.

slee

Thanks for that!! Vin # is 1G2AW87H9CL526096 Can post radiator tag tomorrow, haven't got it with me at the moment. What relevance do the rear defrosters have?

AmorgetRS

iTrader: (6)

So, bad news is that our cars were produced fairly far apart. Mine's VIN is 1G2AW87H7CL506977. Your trim tag will tell you exactly when the car was made. If it's production date was after the Daytona 500 that would rule it out.

Neither of the Pace Cars (from my understanding) had rear defrost because they had back facing TV cameras and they didn't want the defrost lines in the picture.

Keep in mind that none of this is concrete yes/no and it's just the best research I have been able to do... which admittedly isn't much. I personally am rooting for yours to be one because it would allow me to verify mine.

PurelyPMD

iTrader: (3)

Jim Mattison at PHS should be able to give you an idea if the cars you have were used at the track. Each of them would have been originally delivered to PMD headquarters or a Zone office and would have passed through engineering to get there. Two sources to look these codes up - http://ultimategto.com/art18.htm & http://wallaceracing.com/dealer-sort.htm

Pontiac Headquarters would be Zone 35 & Engineering is 997, the Florida zone is 17. Although the pace cars would likely be sourced through a local office, their billing would also be different and PHS should be able to identify that as well.

Here are two examples (both 1971) that I have owned - one is a zone car & one is headquarters. The first one was billed to the Charlotte NC zone office codes 16/992 & the second went to Pontiac headquarters 35/997.

Bob88GTA

iTrader: (2)

Now this is the kind of stuff I like! Its like solving a mystery. Good luck to both of you.

RedLeader289

iTrader: (2)

Oh man, very interesting. Definitely want to hear the outcome.

AmorgetRS

iTrader: (6)

Mine was delivered to a dealer in Florida. When I called and talked with them they said they did the prep for a lot of the Pace cars in the 70s and 80s.

PurelyPMD

iTrader: (3)

There is a dealership just up the street from the track - when I was there for the 500 in 1999 I almost bought one of the convertibles and it would have been one of the parade cars. Unfortunately all of the parade cars were automatics so I passed.

Here is something else you can try...get in touch with the GM Media Archive - they will be able to get you a copy of the original invoice on your car - that should tell you what dealership it was invoiced to, and there was usually a discount applied for promotional purposes on the festival cars.

http://www.gmmediaarchive.com/

If you haven't already, check with Jim Mattison at PHS.

http://www.phs-online.com/

slee

Thanks for the help everyone - much appreciated. I'll let you know how I go

okfoz

1982 Dealer invoice would be handled through PHS not GM Media archive.