I've been researching the various years Pace Cars and have now started 1990. This is some preliminary info so far:

Three yellow Berettas were sent to the track for Pace Car duty. One is at the Indy Museum, one was at GM Heritage and auctioned in 2009 and now in Chevy Hall of Fame, the third one is missing.

96 Beretta convertibles were made by Chevy, to include 50 in yellow and turquoise to be sent to the track as Festival Cars. There were major issues, so every one of them was deemed unsuitable by GM and donated to various trade schools for school use, or scrapped. (This same thing happened with the 1991 Buick Reatta convertible. Due to excessive cowl shake the majority of the cars were sent to trade schools, with only a few sold before the program ended). Of the 50 potential Pace Cars, there were 21 yellow and 29 Turquoise. Had RPO "B5A - PACKAGE "INDY CONVERTIBLE" INDY CONVERTIBLE PKG (B5A)"

GM Substituted 1990 Corvettes to be used as Festival Cars: 30 yellow and 50 turquoise.

They can be identified with RPO codes

"YE8 - ENGINEERING TEST VEHICLE ENGINEERING TEST VEH"

and

"ACM - IDENTIFICATION LEAD UNITS".

The 30 yellow cars had RPO code

"53U - EXTERIOR COLOR, PRIMARY, TALBOT YELLOW"

The 50 turquoise cars had RPO code

"42U - EXTERIOR COLOR, PRIMARY, TURQUOISE MET"

There were also 43 1991 Camaro Z28 convertibles as Festival Cars, all white with black interiors. They all had the pink "Indy 500" decal kits installed at the track.

Chevrolet also made Replica Pace Cars to be sold through the dealer network. These were also either yellow or turquoise Beretta coupes with black interiors that had yellow or turquoise accents and special wheels among other items. They also had the pink decal set. They can be identified by RPO code

"B5I - PACKAGE "INDY GT" INDY GT PKG"

There were 1500 yellow cars, 2 had interior RPO code

"82G - TRIM COMBINATION, CLOTH, DARK MEDIUM GRAY"

while 1498 had RPO code

"35G - TRIM COMB MED DK GRAY (CLOTH) (WITH YELLOW ACCENTS)"

There were 3115 turquoise cars made, RPO code

"42U - EXTERIOR COLOR, PRIMARY, TURQUOISE MET"

They all had interior trim RPO code

"42G - TRIM COMB MED DK GRAY (CLOTH) (WITH TURQUOISE ACCENTS)"

Total of 4615 Replica Pace Cars produced.

So here are some questions as I continue.

1-Does anyone have the track VIN and assignment inventory list for the 1990 race? Would be extremely helpful.

2-Why were the Camaros used? I heard the Vette didn't have the needed rear seat, but neither did the 84 Fiero, and if that was a problem why would the Allante be picked in 92?

3-Why the yellow-turquoise ratio built in the original convertibles, the Corvettes, and the Replica Pace Cars? Why two colors instead of one, and why not equal numbers between yellow/turquoise? Why was the Camaro white?

4-Could the Replicas Berettas be special ordered at the dealer, or did they come to the dealer on a floor plan-already ordered awaiting a future buyer?

5-What happened to the third actual Pace Car? The race winner was Arie Luyendyk and he did not get it, he got a yellow Vette. Did PPG get it?

6-Is there truth the yellow Corvettes were assigned to the track officials, but the turquoise cars were not assigned? If so, why?

One thing people have to learn is that there are three types of Pace Cars. First is the actual cars that paced the race. Originally two were provided, but on the last 30 or so years 3 were provided. They are usually highly modified for track duty. One stays with the Indy Speedway Museum (though not always), one goes back to the manufacturer for display in that museum (again not always) and for awhile one went to the race sponsor, PPG. If not, it went back to the manufacturer. the winner of the race did NOT receive an actual Pace Car, but one of the Replicas. Sometimes they asked for something else all together.

The second Pace Car is the Festival Car, originally called a Parade Car. These are given to local dignitaries and track officials usually a month before the race to drive around town and promote the race. they are also used in the 500 Festival Parade for the drivers to ride in. There is anywhere from 50-150 cars in this category.

The third Pace Car is the Replica. These are made for the dealers to sell. Sometimes they are all the same and the dealer is assigned one (or not). Sometimes they can be ordered by a customer, even with engine choices. Lately there has not been any replicas made for the dealers. An example would be the Mustang Replicas with 1000 in 1994 to over 7,000 in 1979 for example.

The cars at the Speedway are on a sheet with VINs and assigned drivers, assigned numbers, etc. These sheets are out there, but only a select few get one and are rarely shared. (The Speedway Museum of the Indianapolis track do not have any). I have been able to find a copy of a number of these, but alas, not nearly as many as I would like. I do not have 1990, but somebody does.

So to talk about the 1990 cars. I have access to a lot of build data and have done a cursory compilation of what I have. For some reason Chevrolet decided to showcase the Beretta Convertible for the race instead of the new ZR1 Corvette. GM had converted a number of Reattas to convertibles and had visions of a number of other models down the road. Berettas were converted and roadtested and given the green light, so 50 yellow and turquoise cars joined the other 46 already made. (Total 96). The cars handling was less than fair, and there was tremendous "cowl shake", a problem Buick would have with the Reatta. Buick added some extra bolt-on reinforcements with no luck, and the entire 1991 Convertible line was sent to Florida for testing a a specific area. cars were determined after the test to be 1-salable to the public, 2-sold only to GM employees who knew they were not perfect, or 3-not roadworthy and donated to a trade school and/or scrapped. Berettas were deemed not able to correct, so sent to trade schools. The three yellow ones kept for Pace Car duty were highly modified and strengthened.

Chevy substituted Corvettes to be the Festival Cars, 30 yellow and 50 turquoise. (I still do not know why two different colors were used, and why they were not made in equal numbers). Those not familiar with the race or the Festival Cars quickly laughed at 'Vette owners with pink decals, saying they were a "home made" pace car, and not a very good one at that. Little to no research was done on these cars, and a great many Corvette enthusiasts still don't know about them.

For whatever reason Chevy also sent 43 of the first 1991 Camaro Z28 convertibles to the track. these were white, and had the decals applied at the track. I don't know why they were sent-rumor has it because the Corvette had only two seats, but so didn't the 78 and 86 Corvette Pace Car, the 84 Fiero, and why would they select a two seat Allante for 92 if that was a problem?

I have all 3 VINs of the actual Pace Cars, i have all 80 VINs of the Corvettes, and I have 42 out of the 43 VINs for the Camaro. (I will find the missing one as well). I ran an Autocheck on the VINs and 22 of them have activity (title, registration, inspection, etc) in the last 5 years. Doing an image search I found a number that did not have decals, so the owners may not even know they are Festival Cars. The cars were made between 3/28/90 and 4/3/90. No specific RPO code for the Camaros, but the combination of the codes would give a hint of the cars legacy.

Both the Camaro and Corvette festival cars seem to be the forgotten Indy Cars, and many collectors don't even know about them.

Here is a link for the 94 Cobra Pace car info I researched:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/200776700706982/

And here is one on the 93 Allante used to pace the 92 race:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1810267675909744/

Have many other years complete and will publish soon. Could really use help on this one, especially if someone had the VIN lists from Indy. Thanks Here is a picture from the track showing the Beretta Pace Car, the Camaro and Corvette Festival Cars.

 

My recommendation is to reach out to what was once Arelco in Indianapolis. They were the company assigned to decal and prep the cars. There used to be a person that worked there that kept the data for all of the cars, because the company didn't really care. That person has since left Arelco and I have no idea what happened to the data, if it was left behind or if he kept it.

 

He was let go from the company for selling the information, primarily on ebay as the company did care what happened to the info. Other people were also given the lists such as when the cars were set up for photo shoots, when the guest drivers would pick up the car, etc. I have them for a number of years, but am also missing a lot of others. Thanks for the reply.

 

In regards to the 'missing' Beretta Pace Car, I believe I know what happened.

I stopped at the Chevy Hall of Fame a couple years back, and since I came at a time when it was dead the guy there gave me a guided tour of the whole place. I remember he showed the Beretta Pace Car which, besides being a non-production convertible, had an extensively modified engine with the 3.1 V6 now displacing 3.4L, custom intake, supposedly crazy loud exhaust, racing grade internals, and most curiously a wider front track. Anyway, he went on to tell about each Beretta and mentioned that one of them had caught fire due to an electrical mishap, which probably explains why it's currently unaccounted for. Don't have anything on any of the other stuff, but hopefully that clears up one thing for ya.

 

 

 

 

 

On page 38 of the reference book, All 1990-1992 Corvette Colors, the 1990 Corvette festival cars are discussed (both colors), but nothing more than what you have already mentioned. However, the production totals for both colors, including exterior color and exterior color combinations, are indicated, as is a breakdown of auto/manual transmission production for each color combination.

You ask: Why less Yellow cars?

My hunch is that there were less code 53 Competition Yellow cars (sometimes just called Yellow, but never called Talbot Yellow by Corvette) for the following reason:

The code 42 Turquoise Metallic and the code 53 Competition Yellow colors were introduced mid-year 1990. They were new colors. Unfortunately, the code 53 Yellow pigment was photochromatic, meaning that when the paint was exposed to sunlight, it would temporarily turn darker and greener (page 29 of All 1990-1992 Corvette Colors). By May 11, 1990, Chevy discontinued the color. My guess is that is the reason there were less Yellow festival cars.

It is interesting to note that the Yellow color was not available as a factory color on Beretta (AFAIK); it was used only for the festival cars. Further, the Turquoise color was used only on Corvette and Beretta, and on no other Chevy model in 1991.

Pink pastel graphics? Heck, Miami Vice (think pastel colors) ran until January of 1990 and the artist Nagel, who died in 1984, still had his posters selling.

 

I have the whole 1990 file I purchased it years ago it was up for sale on ebay its full of instresting stuff my email is rich@eberhartsemb.com