If you’re a product of the 1980s and 1990s as I am, there are some cars that you might consider “iconic” based solely on their existence within that time period. Of course, to understand this, you have to also look at that time period: the colors, the fonts, the styles. Colors like yellow, fuschia, turquoise; brush strokes that made it look like your company logo was painted by a kindergartener; and small details, like color-matching coves inside the polished alloy wheels. As you can see, I’ve described some details that are all found in this rare 1990 Chevrolet Beretta GT Indy Pace Car edition with just 18,891 miles and listed here on Facebook Marketplace.
The asking price is $19,995; thanks to Barn Finds reader Mitchell G. for sending it in. The Chevy Beretta is already a household name for those of us of a certain age; my high school parking lot was littered with them, including a slick GTU edition. Most, however, were base models, and an even more frequent high school ride with the Corsica four-door. The Beretta GT made the economy car far more interesting, giving it standard V6 power and some exterior enhancements that took it from spartan to sporty. Still, it wasn’t enough to threaten the incumbents of the hot hatch segment, as a memorable Car & Driver test of sporty econoboxes confirmed. The Beretta was powered by a 130 horsepower V6 and bolted to a sleepy 3-speed automatic.
The Beretta, Cavalier Z24, and Pontiac Sunbird Turbo all clumped together at the back of the pack, with complaints about torque steer, crude ergonomics, and uninvolving driving dynamics almost universally shared by test drivers. Still, the Beretta is a charmer, if for nothing else than its sheer aggression. The GTU and the GTZ trims were loud and in-your-face designs, but the Pace Car edition takes the cake. The yellow paint would burn your eyes in a fog, and the splashy door graphics harken back to a time when Pepsi introduced a clear soda and you could still get a free lunch at Pizza Hut simply for reading books. And if that doesn’t get your blood pumping, the upholstery pattern certainly will.
The color-matched coves on the steering wheel were consistent between both the yellow and turquoise pace car editions, and this same design was shared with the GTU (without the color matching). Now, the key distinction between the actual pace car and the tributes is that the car on the field was a convertible; most of these were destroyed but a few of them have made it out int the wild. In general, the best Berettas seem to sell for $12,000-$15,000, so it will take someone who has a love for 90s-era GM products to pay the full asking price on this time-warp specimen.
Tijuana Taxi?
No, Senor, I’m waiting for my Uber…
I imagine I am in the minority here, but I liked these when they came out and still do. Yellow works for me.
I liked them then, I like them now. I remember when you had lots of affordable, sporty coupe options. Not so much anymore…
I had this brand new pace car in teal green grey interior and a 5 speed. loved this car had alot of looks back then one of many i should have kept. traded it in for a 94 z34 lumina. that car road mint but i liked the pacecar better….
I believe they made a 5sp only GTZ model too. Had the powerful little quad4 powerplant. 🏁
It is interesting , the generational differences in car appeal
Having been 12 in 1960 I am a product of the 60’s and find none of these vehicles very inspiring.
I’m not criticizing those who do , it’s just interesting how we are affected by the time we grew up in.
A Beretta to me is a sign of the beginning of the end. Named after a weapon or a woman’s hair accessory, take your pick.
More importantly it was a new model name , along with the Lumina , which steam rolled into so many models that , today , they are virtually meaningless to me.
Aveo , Optra, Astro , Avalanche , Equinox , Cruze , Spark ( not an electric car , whose brainwave was that ?) , Trax , Traverse and probably many more.
So it goes , I won’t go on any more , just a general observation from an older fart.
Seeing this car reminds me how much I loved my Jamz shorts…
Exactly Jonathan. If parachute pants were a car….Can’t Touch This.
Bought a brand new white GT. Traded a 1980 Pontiac Sunbird for it. Was a good, simple car that served me well. I like the styling and the manual was a bonus in these. Life changes with marriage and kids so the Beretta was traded in on a 4 door. Regret it and still miss that car.
I owned 2 Beretta and loved both. Red, and then electric blue metallic. Those 3.1 would run and run and run. Loved both! Shame Chevrolet had to abandon them, but then again Chevy abandons almost everything. Price is steep, but this Indy edition is indeed a amazing example.
Good write-up Jeff. I like to see brightly-colored cars, and this is certainly a prime example. It even has color-coordinated wheel coves and seat stripes.