You’ve never had a Corvette, but at least once in your life, you feel like you should snag one. Welcome to the 1986 Corvette Pace Car edition, available here on ebay. It’s branded a “hot auction,” probably because sixteen bids have been recorded in the early days. But that doesn’t mean the car is priced in the stratosphere, as those bids add up to only a current number of $4,600 in an auction that has three days left to go. Note, however, that the reserve is not met. Should you crack that, though, you’ll need to get to Naples, FL, to grab your prize.
But first, you’ve got to cut through the confusion that exists in what should be a simple transaction for what does look like a solid car. What we have here, in fact, is a clinic on how not to advertise your car. To start, the AutoCheck report does nothing but raise questions. Why is the score given to this supposedly pristine model so low, at 37 over against an average of 51-69? There is no explanation given, so one’s mind immediately goes to, “It’s been wrecked and totaled,” or “There’s an issue with unresolved recalls.” In fact, neither seems to be the case, though neither Auto Check nor the seller unravels the mystery. The one guess I would venture is that there have been way too many owners of this car, at eleven, which Auto Check’s algo-rhythms don’t like. But this is not a late-model Honda, where ownership turnover reflects unresolved problems. This is a collector car, and people don’t tend to drive those much, then they sell them and move on to the next toy. So why not explain what’s going on? Or is there a reason why this Corvette is being dumped every 1,000 miles or so? Is it the unfortunate mismatch of black paint and fawn interior? What is this, a Ferrari?
The other failing in the ad is dearth of detail. Sure, it claims in one long sentence that the car is perfect and all-original, but that’s the end of it. No little details like small paint imperfections, of which there must be some after nearly 40 years, or anything about service having been done. Nearly 50,000 miles must have produced at least some wear, somewhere, and not to hear about it makes you wonder how observant the seller is. Then there’s the video. It would be great if it showed this car, but what’s there is a late-model Mercedes. And while we’re on that, the images of the Pace Car replica are partial at best. There’s no detail of the interior, and the engine shot is mostly obstructed. To sum up: every time the seller has the chance to inform you about what you’re buying, he goes the opposite direction.
Separately, these inconsistencies might not mean much, but add them one to the other, and you’ve got doubts about the integrity of the process that should make you go “hmmm.” If you overcome that, and your budget allows you a knockout bid, then use $15-25K as a broad range of acceptable pricing. You’ll have a nice car, unless there’s more lurking under the surface than appears at first (and second) look.
Let’s start with the color. 1986 Corvette Indy pace car was yellow.
Technically all 86 Convertibles were “Pace Car” units. Mine was red and still had the plaque attached to the console when I sold it last year. What I don’t like is the stickers all over the car, they should have left those in the wrapper.
There are waaaaayyyy too many red flags with this.
Was previously run through auction on eBay which ended on 10/4/2025 with a high bid of $5,300, did not meet reserve.
Steve R
Auction ended 10/11/2025 with a high bid of $6,600, did not meet reserve.
Steve R
It was relisted and ended at $6,500.
Reserve Not Met.
FYI, all 1986 Corvette convertibles were delivered with pace car decals in the trunk, regardless of color and trim. There was no “official” replica.
“Trunk”?
I didn’t know one could order a 1986 pace car edition in black with gold pace car decals . I thought the pace car edition was only offered in yellow with black interior. Am I wrong?
You’re right.
He’s right that they only came in yellow, or he’s right that he’s wrong??;-)
Henry, all 1986 Corvette Convertibles were considered Indy Pace Car Replicas. They all came with the decals, it was up to the owner to have them installed. So, any color that was offered on the convertible that year was a pace car.
I’ve seen 1986 Corvette pace car editions in red, black, yellow, blue. They came with the decals in the trunk, seems that most weren’t put on.
I owned a red one and have seen yellow ones, but not the other 2 mentioned. As far as price goes, I think something in the $5K – $10K range is where it should sell for.
If that’s the owner in pic #3, that would scare me enough away lol.
No worries. That’s the owner’s mechanic. He came in the trunk with the decals.
That sight cannot be unseen.
Steve R
I love it when a Corvette sounds like a V12 600SL.
He’s got this back up on eBay, 3 days left to go, bid is about 5,600.
I could be a buyer for this, I don’t live too far away. I sent him this message three days ago, No response yet.
Several questions…not very detailed write up. Condition of Brakes, clutch, does overdrive work correctly? Does the A/C work, do the headlights operate properly? Looks like it’s spent a large portion of it’s life in snow country…can I have some pictures of the underside? One long shot picture of the engine is not very informative.
Not very interested in selling it, it seems to me.