The Chevy Camaro has had the honor of pacing the field at the annual Indianapolis 500 an almost record nine times (the Corvette beats it with double the appearances). Usually, the manufacturer of the pace cars creates several (or hundreds of) duplicates for sale to the public. But in the case of this 1993 Camaro Z8, it’s a real pace car of which just 22 were used. With only 14,000 miles and possibly two owners, it’s in Sequin, Texas, and available here on craigslist for $25,995. A cool tip brought to us by Rocco B.!
Pace cars have been used at the Indy 500 dating back to the beginning in 1911. The Camaro was selected to pace the field for the first time in 1967, the year of its introduction. SS and Z28 models were most often chosen and the Z28 filled the bill in 1982, 1993, and 2014. While there were just 22 official pace cars for the 1993 Indy race, Chevy built 645 cars decorated as such. However, this car is one of the fewer than two dozen that were assigned to the parade and other use around the track The seller, who appears to either be a dealer or a Camaro aficionado, says he/she has documentation to support the claims.
According to the seller, after it was built, this Camaro was shipped to the Chevy dealer in Indianapolis who assigned it to duty as a pace car for #69 driver Ken Liffick. After the weekend’s events, it was returned to the Chevy dealer where it was sold it a couple in Perry, Ohio, its first official owners. Between then and now, the car has accumulated just 500 miles (they bought it at 13,700). The car has spent most of its life in storage and is treated like a museum piece.
This Camaro runs well and has the 5.7-liter V8 (275 hp) that all the cars had. It also has T-tops which would have been needed for all the parade work at the Indy 500. While the photos provided aren’t the best, we’re told the interior looks like new. The body and paint are fine but could use some detailing. The only noted flaw is a crack on top of the rear spoiler. The seller provides a cadre of videos to show off his wares. Enjoy!
Well, I’ve never seen an interior like that before… it’s so 90’s! It reminds me of Saved by the Bell. It’s not exactly a gorgeous car, although that’s subjective.
Kudos to the owner for providing a lot of detailed info and views.
If the owner has provenance to back his pace-car claims, maybe this is a good deal. Maybe this is a good deal regardless since it’s a low-mileage Camaro in good shape.
For a 14k mile car thats been “treated like a museum piece” the paint looks awfully tired…
I bought a 1993 Z28 in April of 1993, just days after they first hit the showrooms. It was probably the most fun I ever had with a new car. Everybody noticed it. One guy went as far as to do a u-turn and follow me into a parking lot to get a closer look. I drove it to a car cruise, and even among some sensational vintage muscle cars, it was the center of attention. I parked in an out-of-the-way spot and when I returned, there were fingerprints all over the glass.
A few notes about the ’93s in general:
The t-tops on this example were not available to the general public. Though a handful of cars may have been built with t-tops, the option was officially delayed until 1994.
The yellow instrument markings were unique to 1993. For 1994, conventional white markings were used.
My car had the 6-speed manual. Shortly after I bought it, 6-speed production was put on hold, and remained on hold as the 1994 model year started. Dealers were so desperate for 6-speed Z28s that I was able to sell mine back at a profit 8 months and 12,000 miles after I bought it. I drove home in a 1994 Corvette.
The paint is shot to heck, be sure to watch the “Youtube” link on the craigslist ad, also the passenger side seat at the headrest is split and you can see the yellow foam. Wow, hard to believe this is a 14,000 mile car, they must have polished the paint with 240 grit
Enuf glass for 2 current camaros.