The middle to late 1970s weren't the most exciting time for the U.S. automobile industry. Unfortunately,
this extended to America's Favorite Sports Car as well. However, 1978 was to be the year people got excited about Corvettes
again. One reason was the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Corvette production. Another was Chevrolet's invitation to provide
the pace car for the Indianapolis 500. The decision was made to create a Silver Anniversary Edition of Corvette and a different
version to pace the Indianapolis 500. Naturally, this included a plan to sell limited edition replicas of the pace car to
the public.
Almost immediately controversy erupted over how many of the Limited Edition Pace Cars would be built and
who would get them. It has been reported Chevrolet initially intended to build 300 (in obvious homage to the original 300
Corvettes built in 1953) but feared upsetting the dealers who wouldn't get one. The number increased for various reasons until,
finally, 6,502 were built, one for each Chevrolet dealer plus some others for promotional uses.
Shortly after the details about this special car became available, "Corvette Pace Car Mania" struck. Some
dealers who had agreed to sell their Pace Car replica for list price or below tried to back out of their deals causing hard
feelings among their customers and not a few law suits. Even the Wall Street Journal joined the fray with a front-page article
on the Pace Car replicas; they quoted some so-called expert saying they would sell for $50,000 or more. Some may have changed
hands at astronomical prices but, after the race, prices rapidly came back down to earth. Still, 1978 was a very exciting
year for Corvette.
Mr. Lowell C. Parks of Parks Chevrolet, Corydon, Indiana, ordered this Limited Edition Pace Car on January
6, 1978. It was for his personal collection and was displayed in his showroom alongside his Silver Anniversary Edition Corvette
for many years (picture below). This car was built in April and delivered to Parks Chevrolet on May 4, 1978. In addition
to the standard Pace Car features it has the FE7 Gymkhana Suspension, K30 Cruise Master Speed Control, L82 220 HP engine,
and UP6 AM-FM Stereo with CB Radio and Power Antenna. Mr. Parks drove it in a few parades in Corydon, which accounts for most
of the 98 miles on the odometer when we acquired it in June, 2000.
In the summer of 2001 we took the Pace Car to the NCRS National Meeting in Galveston, Texas after showing
the car in Chapter and Regional NCRS events and submitting the car for the NCRS Performance Verification Test (twice!).
We brought home the NCRS-Chevrolet 4 Star Bowtie Award (one star each for body, chassis, interior, and mechanical) and
the McLellan Mark of Excellence Award, presented by Mr. Dave McLellan himself. The car also received a National
Top Flight Award to go with the Top Flight Awards from the Chapter and Regional events earned previously. The Performance
Verification was needed to submit the car for McLellan Award judging, which is only done at the national level. Yep!
We were happy with out little car on the trip home!
