It never ceases to amaze me how there is always one more example of a pace car or truck out there that I’ve never heard of. This time it’s a 1987 Dodge Dakota pickup that was created in memoriam to the 1987 running of the Indianapolis 500. It was the first year of production for the new Dakota, so it’s of little surprise that Dodge wanted to generate some additional profile for the new truck. This example here on craigslist wears one of two graphics kits offered on the limited edition trucks and is equipped with the “Trackside” option. It’s offered for $3,500 with rust issues noted.

While I dig these limited production trucks, it’s always hard to assign value to them based on special edition qualities alone. Often times, the basic recipe under the hood was kept the same as non-tribute models. While the vehicle that provided the actual pacing duties for the field usually had several trick mods under the hood (anyone remember the Fiero?), the vehicle offered to customers was very close to showroom spec with the exception of the cosmetic tweaks. The seller notes the key difference with the “Trackside” option is it says “Official Truck” on the sides of the bed. The interior is in tired condition.

The pace trucks also got the roll bar you see in the bed here, along with unique plastic fog light covers. Both are accounted for here, which is a bonus for anyone searching for one of these elusive pace truck replicas. Most of the time, once these vehicles fall into second or third owner hands, there’s little concern for preserving any value it has as a limited edition vehicles, and the factory add-ons are stripped off for use on other vehicles. Despite this Dakota being fairly rough cosmetically and having rust issues underneath, the parts that make it a pace truck have survived intact – so kudos to the caretakers for keeping it intact.

Unfortunately, rust is going to cause the next owner to face some very big dilemmas. The seller notes there are four spots in the frame that need repair and even offers up that total frame replacement be considered. The listing does spell out several other faults, including the need for transmission maintenance; full brake system repair/refresh; fuel lines; various cosmetic needs; and despite the overall completeness, there are several key elements of the pace truck package missing, including dash plaque and roll bar fog lights. The seller also points out that we featured another one of these Indy 500 Tribute trucks, which you can read about here, presumably to prove that Dodge did in fact build these special edition trucks. Despite its modest value, should this rare Dakota Indianapolis 500 pace truck be saved?