We’ve featured a Corvette before in this series, as well as two different Indianapolis 500 pace cars, but we’ve never had a single car that combined Corvette and Indy pace car flavors together.
Turns out when that special combination occurred in 1998, it was purp drank and banana colored.
The beloved C4 Corvette lived a long time and held the sports car mantle at Chevrolet for model years 1984 through 1996. Alas, even the best generation couldn’t last forever, and in 1997 it was time for the smooth, organic looks of the new C5.
The C5 carried over many of the traditional features of the outgoing C4, including a 5.7-liter (350 cu in) V8. Whereas the C4 used an LT4 (LT5 in ZR-1) at the end of its life, the C5 heralded a new V8: LS1. The new engine produced 345 horsepower (up from 330 in the old LT4), and 350 lb-ft of torque. The Corvette’s transmission was relocated into a rear-mounted transaxle assembly and made 50/50 weight distribution possible. As expected with Corvette, manual (six-speed) and automatic (four-speed) transmissions were available.
An important performance advancement in the C5 Corvette was its new hydroformed box frame. Stronger and more rigid than the C4’s “uniframe,” the hydroform construction meant the Corvette didn’t get quite so shook under hard driving.
A year after its introduction, the convertible C5 was chosen as the official pace car of the 1998 Indianapolis 500. With much excitement, General Motors quickly created an official Pace Car Replica. Staying true to its mission, there were very few differences between the Replica available to consumers and the actual pace car (like a light bar and harnesses). All examples were painted the same Radar Blue metallic, which looks purple here in 2020. Inside, banana yellow leather complimented other surfaces in more traditional black. The wheels were unique to the Replica and painted the same color as the seats. Speaking of seats, the leather sport buckets were standard on the Replica. All Pace Car Replicas also had the Active Handling System as standard, as well as a Bose stereo, and climate control. The package was topped off with a special pace car and checkered flag graphics, as well as Indianapolis 500 badging in several places.
As one might expect, the Replica was always intended as a limited edition offering. 1,163 were built in total, with just under half of them blessed with the six-speed manual transmission. Today’s Rare Ride has been well-maintained and driven very sparingly. When new, this special Corvette was just over $50,000. With 9,600 miles, the seller is willing to let it go for $28,500.
[Images: seller]
The C5 styling team were definitely Sir Mix-A-Lot fans.
I like big blocks and I cannot lie…
Go Vikes!
Almost, but not quite.
Stupidly enough, I could actually see myself rocking that car.
Usually Hot Wheels toys are designed after the cars they represent. In this case, it was the other way around.
How to ruin an otherwise beautiful car.
I love everything about this car except the colors, which I hate more than anything I’ve ever hated in my life.
I mean, seriously, I would take Beige Drab over this.
That seems to be a pretty good price for a Corvette with so few miles. Would a paint job be expensive? ;-)
Don’t forget you still have to fix the interior by replacing all those yellow bits.
… and those wheels, I’ll bet they’re not cheap to replace
I think I’ll pass
@Lie2me:
I’ve actually been toying with the idea of getting a clean C5 or early C6 as a retirement fun-mobile a few years down the road. There are TONS of them out there with very low miles that go for a lot less, and don’t have this silly paint job. Check this one out:
https://www.sagdenver.com/used/Chevrolet/2001-Chevrolet-Corvette-dc56b28c0a0e0adf1fcc6d8c59f6ebde.htm
And in case you’re if I’m THAT Corvette guy…yes I’m middle aged, yes I’m divorced, but no, I don’t own any gold chains or any clothing with the words “Tommy Bahama” on the label. So there.
Gold chains and Tommy Bahama are out? Who knew? ;-)
I got my Corvette, biggest mistake of my life lesson as a teenager, I’m good
I guess the nice thing about vinyl wrap these days is that if you are so inclined to want something like this, you can do it without otherwise completely ruining the car.
Just in case you’re afraid you’ll miss out on this rare opportunity there’s another one just like it for sale here
https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/chevrolet/corvette/2445478.html
There are plenty of babied Corvettes out there. In fact, there are probably more used Vettes in stellar condition than nearly any other car. That’s why higher mileage Vettes are so damn cheap – there is a glut of lightly used cars out there with typically under 30K on them.
Great car, unfortunate choice of colors…and a silly price. There’s a very good selection of cheaper low-mile C5 out there that I’d go with.
You know, that unique wheel design isn’t bad there if it were just polished alloy colored.
The badging on the inside is super tacky.
I like yellow cars and I like purple cars, but on this car they should have left the yellow somewhere on the drawing board. This purple with a camel interior and polished wheels I would buy.
Then again, I would buy a Yellow Rumble Bee Ram as well.
The best purple is available on McLarens.
Some LSU fan would grab it if LSU didn’t stink this season. Ah well.
” All examples were painted the same Radar Blue metallic, which looks purple here in 2020.” It looked Purple back then too. I was at that Race and saw them repeatedly.
In 1993 I had a framed poster of the 40th Anniversary Corvette on the wall of my office at 3044 West Grand Boulevard:
https://tinyurl.com/y3tv2uwp
In 1998 I did not seek to acquire any photographic representations of the 1998 Indianapolis 500 Pace Car Replica for my cubicle at the Renaissance Center.
I remember the automotive press being very enthusiastic about that rear transaxle when this model year came out.
Having looked at the bottoms of Alfas, I always thought it was a neat idea, although it meant that the driveshaft would spend a lot of its life spinning faster. And if it was such a great idea, why didn’t more carmakers do it and why didn’t Chevy do it with the Corvette sooner. Still, a pretty neat feature.