For the Corvette guys on GMT 400 dot com

[drewcrew]

Seeing these Rallye wheels, with different depths of trim rings, makes me wonder, were all the Vette rallyes not 8"? I was under the impression that they were all the wider wheels ( that the "lesser" Chevys used 6" or 7" widths.
I had a "70" Monte Carlo when I was just out of high school, I say 70 in quotation marks because it was a Heinz 57 car. My plan was to run 7" on the front and 8" on the rear, if I got it sorted out enough to drive regularly. Unfortunately that never happened....

I think rallye wheels came out in 1967. I'm almost positive they weren't 8". The 8" came out in 1968.

 

[67HEAVEN]

How much pace car info do you have. I see a 2005. I didn't know they had a 2005 pace car. I knew about the 78, of course, the 95, I think, the 2008 maybe. And isn't that ugly purple Vette with those yellow strips, a pace car 97, I think. Oh wait, here are some pics.

Here is the list of Indy 500 Corvette pace cars. In later years, you couldn't buy a Pace Car replica from Chevy dealers, but stickers and stripes are available for some years in the aftermarket.

1978 Corvette Pace Car - Total Produced: 6,502. Driver: Jim Rathmann (I was right at the Start/Finish line for this race in 1978)

1986 Corvette Pace Car - Total Produced: 7,315. Driver: Gen. Chuck Yager

1995 Corvette Pace Car - Total Produced: 527. Driver: Jim Perkins

1998 Corvette Pace Car - Total Produced: 1,163. Driver: Parnelli Jones

2002 Corvette Pace Car - (No Production Version). (Actually was a 2003 model pacing the 2002 Indy 500) Driver: Jim Caviezel

2004 Corvette Pace Car - (No Production Version). Driver: Morgan Freeman

2005 Corvette Pace Car: (No Production Version). Driver: Gen. Colin Powell

2006 Corvette Pace Car: (No Production Version). Driver: Lance Armstrong

2007 Corvette Pace Car: Total Produced: 500. Driver: Patrick Dempsey

DUAL CARS 2008 Corvette Pace Car (A): Total Produced: 500.

You must be registered for see images attach

DUAL CARS 2008 Corvette E85 Pace Car (B): (No Production Version). Driver: Emerson Fittipaldi

2012 Corvette Pace Car - (No Production Version). Driver: Guy Fieri

2013 Corvette Pace Car - (No Production Version). (Actually was a 2014 model pacing the 2013 Indy 500) Driver: Jim Harbaugh

2015 Corvette Pace Car - (No Production Version). Driver: Jeff Gordon

2017 Corvette Pace Car - (No Production Version). Driver: Jeffrey Dean Morgan

2018 Corvette Pace Car - (No Production Version). (Actually was a 2019 ZR1 pacing the 2018 Indy 500) Driver: Victor Oladipo
(NOTE: This ZR1 Pace Car had more rated horsepower...755...than every race car on the track)

2019 Corvette Pace Car - (No Production Version). Driver: Dale Earnhardt Jr.

2020 Corvette Pace Car - (No Production Version). Driver: Mark Reuss

2021 Corvette Pace Car - (No Production Version). Driver: Danica Patrick

 

[67HEAVEN]

The 1972 Reynolds Aluminum Corvette concept, on display in the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green...

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

Yes, they did build a 1983 Corvette...43 actually; they just never sold any to the public...

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[kennythewelder]

Man @67HEAVEN , you have a vast a welth of knowledge on Corvette's. Thanks for the info. As for the 1983, I knew it was the transition year, and none were sold, but I didn't know any were actually built.

 

[67HEAVEN]

I think rallye wheels came out in 1967. I'm almost positive they weren't 8". The 8" came out in 1968.

On the Corvette, the first year for rally wheels was indeed 1967, the only C2 to get them. They were 15" diameter and 6" wide, and they came with the one-year-only, low-rise centre cap.

You must be registered for see images attach

In 1968, Corvette rally wheel width increased slightly to 7" wide. That lasted only one year. From 1969 onward, Corvette rally wheels were 8" wide. There are, of course, many other rally wheel sizes because they were sold on everything from Chevy II/Nova, through Chevelles, El Caminos, Camaros, etc., mainly in 14" diameter.

1968 and up 'Derby' centre caps...

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

Please note that the Wheel Codes, shown above, were actually stamped into the wheel very close to the valve stem hole. My '67 came with Wheel Code DC.

There were a number of different centre caps for rally wheels depending on the car-line they were installed on and whether or not the car had disc brakes or drum brakes. They even offered them on 1960s and 1970s Canadian Pontiacs (really just Chevrolet chassis and drivetrains topped with Pontiac fenders, grills, taillights, etc.). Here's an example of 1967 Canadian Pontiac rally wheel centre caps...

You must be registered for see images attach

Here's a 1967 Canadian Pontiac Grande Parisienne with rally wheels and the low-rise disk brake caps, without 'Chevrolet Motor Division' embossed on them...

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[67HEAVEN]

Man @67HEAVEN , you have a vast a welth of knowledge on Corvette's. Thanks for the info. As for the 1983, I knew it was the transition year, and none were sold, but I didn't know any were actually built.

I've been a Corvette owner for 55 years. I'm also a detail freak, so what else could I do but learn?

 

[67HEAVEN]

Also, looking hard at the 78, I saw an add that claimed, there were only 202 L82, 4 speed pace cars made. Is this correct? I see some for sale, here and there.

Unfortunately Chevrolet, back in 1978, was still not doing much cross-referencing as to how many Corvettes came with specific option combinations. For example, it's easy to find that 46,776 Corvettes were built during the 1978 model year run and, of those, 6,502 were Limited Edition Pace Cars. And, we know that 12,739 1978 Corvettes came with the RPO L82 engine. Also, we know that 4,773 1978 Corvettes came with RPO MM4 (wide-ratio 4-speed), and 4,773 1978 Corvettes came with RPO M21 (close-ratio 4-speed).....BUT.....we have no idea how many Limited Edition Pace cars came with the L82 combined with a specific transmission.

The best source of definitive information like that can be found on the factory build sheet, which was either glued to the top of the fuel tank or shoved into a hidden spot in the interior. In addition to the ordering dealer and the VIN of the vehicle, it shows all options ordered from the factory.

Here's an example from a 1978 Limited Edition Pace Car.

You must be registered for see images attach

Why do I refer to it as the Limited Edition Pace Car? Because that's what Chevrolet named it...

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[67HEAVEN]

With us still talking about pace cars, how about this prototype for the 1978 Limited Edition Pace Car that ended up being very different? Please note that this article was published many months before the cars were even built, so the colours, rear spoiler, tires, number built etc. all changed by the time they were released to the public...

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

I mentioned this earlier, but no one seemed to notice. Yes, Goodyear built special CORVETTE tires for the 1978 Limited Edition, but they also disappeared by the time they were moving down the assembly line. In fact, the originally-proposed Pace Car paint scheme looks very much like what ended up as the Silver Anniversary RPO B2Z (light/dark silver/grey) paint option, of which they built 15,283.

Pretty cool tires, no?

You must be registered for see images attach

Ace Frehley (of KISS) signing his pace car...

You must be registered for see images attach

That is Ace's L48 automatic below...

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[kennythewelder]

Thanks a bunch @67HEAVEN. When I see a 78 pace car with a L82, and a 4 speed trans, and the saler says, only 202 of these produced, now I know they are full of $hit. Typical salesman BS.

 

[kennythewelder]

I look at the 78 pace cars, and then look at the 79s and for a lot less I can have the 79. I know I will want to give the car some go power, so it won't be original to it's build. I also really like the way the 80 through 82s look. Again a cam and head swap, will make it go, so that's not that big of a deal to me. I'm still several months away from actually buying anything, so I still have time to look and research. LOL, but I already told the wife, and got that fight out of the way. She knows I plan on buying one.