K_Watson Posted May 6, 2010 Report Share Posted May 6, 2010 I was at a local repair shop and I spotted an all gold Olds Cutlass Supreme Convertible. I got out and checked it out and I spotted a Quad 4 HO through the hood vents. This car had "Indy Car World Series Official Pace Car" on the side. It had a real light bar on the roll bar, strobes, 4 two tone black/tan leather bucket seats, a crude looking heads-up display bolted to the dash, and many switches and lights not on a normal Cutlass. I'm pretty sure this was THE pace car for that and maybe other races. I read online that most of the 50 actual Cutlass pace cars were destroyed and that only about 10 survive. Also this car DID NOT have a VIN so i have no idea of the year, but a copy of an old magazine on the web says this car should be from the 1993 Indy Car World Series. The repair shop did not let me take a picture but after reading how rare it is I will go back and try to get one anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tornado_735 Posted May 6, 2010 Report Share Posted May 6, 2010 Dude, try like hell to get a picture of it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94 olds vert Posted May 6, 2010 Report Share Posted May 6, 2010 Dude, try like hell to get a picture of it! x2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twenty Posted May 6, 2010 Report Share Posted May 6, 2010 Dude, try like hell to get a picture of it! x3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euro Posted May 6, 2010 Report Share Posted May 6, 2010 It's probably that same one that's been on ebay numerous times before. I think Ken was the one who went to look at it. He has a bunch of pics I think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IRONDOG442 Posted May 6, 2010 Report Share Posted May 6, 2010 Old news ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian P Posted May 7, 2010 Report Share Posted May 7, 2010 Olds news ! Fixed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White93z34 Posted May 7, 2010 Report Share Posted May 7, 2010 Its probably one of less then 50 there were 50 pace car convertible replicas There were far less of the real deal. Was it black? Did it even have a convertible top? manual transmission? Turbocharged? What did the seats look like? I would probably respect the owners decision to not let pictures be taken, however I would try to chat him up more about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor Posted May 7, 2010 Report Share Posted May 7, 2010 i think I have a bunch of pics of it on my home computer. I will see if I can dig them up. I think it WAS an official pace car that he customized. It was almost the same shade of gold that my 1988 Cutlass Supreme is. Almost this shade: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted May 8, 2010 Report Share Posted May 8, 2010 YOUR LOCATION????????????????? WHERE DID YOU SEE THIS?????? (and welcome to the site, btw?) WAS IT A STICK? What you describe matches VERY closely to a car I have fully documented. What you have seen is a CONVERSION of a real pacecar, and not one of the 250 replicas... and SPECIFICALLY... the ROLLBAR was added ONLY to the RACING PACE CARS, not the SHOW PACE CARS. clarification of vehilces: pace cars: 1 test mule TECH 4 manual transmission 1 barrier certification test vehicle 2-5 REAL PACE CARS quad 4, pie wheels, real rollbar, amber lights all over, hood vent 2-5 SHOW pace cars no rollbar, pie wheel parade cars: (250 total) 200 coupes crosslace wheels 50 conversion convertibles crosslace wheels The VIN NUMBER is on a manufactor's tag under the hood on the core support, as the car was a hand built vehicle it only got a blank tag with the gm logoing on it in the dash. The only thing that sound different is the logo on the side(but could attributed to memory). But here... let me try this: Look at the album and images I am linking to. Tell ME if it is the same. http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm293/1988pacecar/PPG%20Pace%20Car/ LOOK AT THE SUB ALBUMS TOO! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IRONDOG442 Posted May 8, 2010 Report Share Posted May 8, 2010 Ken I am sure its the same car, gold and black interior, come on who else besides PPG does tht? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss427 Posted May 8, 2010 Report Share Posted May 8, 2010 Awesome pictures. Did you happen to take any of the white Reatta in the background? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twenty Posted May 8, 2010 Report Share Posted May 8, 2010 Olds news ! Fixed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K_Watson Posted May 12, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2010 (edited) I Got two pictures of it. (Sorry I'm a little clumsy, I'm not used to this forum's style of post/reply views.) I can't say where I found it, but I'll tell you it's in Indiana. One guy at the shop said it's not a turbo, but I didn't actually see the engine bay. It looks exactly like the one Crazy K posted a picture of. It is a manual. It has a roll bar with lights, It does have a hood vent. The VIN tag in the window is blank like you said it would be. I could not find an actual top, where it should be is covered by a plastic deck as you can see. Does it even have one? Sorry this one's blurry Edited May 12, 2010 by K_Watson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted May 13, 2010 Report Share Posted May 13, 2010 (edited) It is one and the same car that I posted. the PPG car was a definite one off, with not another made like it. Prior to being gold the car was red, though this was after being pacecar black/dark silver but before the facelift. the front fenders (and probably the rest of the 92+ parts) came from a blue car, as evidenced by the un-repainted lower fender. May i ask if it is still in Indianpolis? It was supposedly moved to a garage 1/2 mile south of the speedway. I notice the plates... makes me wonder if he got it legal. The car has no top at all, and was a real pacecar with a permanent rollbar in place. the cover that came with the car at the auction is still in the car in the front seat. If you were to get a chance, the VIN is on the core support on the drivers front. The engine and tranny in the car are not the originals it had when it was a pacecar, nor is the pacecar engine the original engine that car was equipped with when it was made. it has a High Output Quad 4 with a 5 speed getreg transmission, basically the engine/tranny option that was used only in 1990 CSs. Note that I documented the firewall plate was from 1989(?) meaning it was changed to accommodate the conversion from automatic to manual. As a pacecar it had a forced induction system(which I still do not know anything about) on a quad 4 with a 3 speed automatic transmission. As built originally the car had a 2.8 based on the VIN and the fact that the mounting holes used by the 2.8(and 3.1)in the core support are tapped/threaded having previously been used. Edited May 13, 2010 by Crazy K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K_Watson Posted May 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2010 It is the same car. The auction tag confirms it. And, yes, it is still in Indy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euro Posted May 15, 2010 Report Share Posted May 15, 2010 So wait...this car was originally black and silver(pace car), then painted red, then painted gold by PPG? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted to eaton Posted May 15, 2010 Report Share Posted May 15, 2010 yeah, Pretty stupid huh matt? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted May 15, 2010 Report Share Posted May 15, 2010 So wait...this car was originally black and silver(pace car), then painted red, then painted gold by PPG? yeap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88 PACE CAR Posted June 6, 2010 Report Share Posted June 6, 2010 Well I do know the gent that bought this car at Mecom and it will be restored to 88 pace car trim in the future. We are looking for the fascia and air dam and the rest of the trim to put it back in 88 form. I'm hoping to photograph it later this week and assess what it needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walleyeguy69 Posted December 2, 2010 Report Share Posted December 2, 2010 Shouldn't have gotten on the streets. Generally for the 500 there are 50 cars total. Or maybe 53, because 3 are the actual pace cars, maybe only 2? Olds paced 11 or so Indy 500's. I have driven a 1988, it had the 2.8L and wouldn't get out of it's own way. I won't even mention the cowl shake. These were all boght back from the customers and scrapped for safety reasons. The actual 93 Pace cars probably had a SC Quad 4. The other 50 probably 3.4L. No vin, means not title, no drive. See if they would donate it to the Olds Museum in Lansing, MI? I worked for Olds div from 87 to 99 when gm reorganized the field. I even found a 88 pace car at a dealer and nobody from Olds even knew it was there. What a temptation to tell them I would get rid of it. Had been setting from 88 to 93. But anyway, off to the scrapper. Hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1988PhantomFE3 Posted August 15, 2011 Report Share Posted August 15, 2011 (edited) Don't you also own 2 older Olds Pace Car that were featured on TV? I heard you were looking for a 1988 Cutlass Supreme Pace Car front air dam to restore this car back to original, it is ONE of the Pace Cars! If I remember right, the guy in the TV show was Joe S. ? Edited August 16, 2011 by 1988PhantomFE3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1988PhantomFE3 Posted September 17, 2013 Report Share Posted September 17, 2013 Old News? More like OLDS NEWS! This Pace Car wound up back in the Public's Hands, thru a Dealership. Someone contacted me today, thru our wonderful W Body site. I'll keep you all posted on what happens with her...I'm not too keen on taking Grandpa's TRIBUTE Car apart just to get a NON VIN'd, non licensed, non SAFE, non street legal, non insurable, ACTUAL #2 1988 Indianapolis 500 Pace Car... OH THE PAIN... Talk to me gang! PLEASE! Seriously! should I save her? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l67ss Posted September 17, 2013 Report Share Posted September 17, 2013 Save it! If i can hel find parts lemme kno lotta cs in jy round here Old News? More like OLDS NEWS! This Pace Car wound up back in the Public's Hands, thru a Dealership. Someone contacted me today, thru our wonderful W Body site. I'll keep you all posted on what happens with her...I'm not too keen on taking Grandpa's TRIBUTE Car apart just to get a NON VIN'd, non licensed, non SAFE, non street legal, non insurable, ACTUAL #2 1988 Indianapolis 500 Pace Car... OH THE PAIN... Talk to me gang! PLEASE! Seriously! should I save her? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1988PhantomFE3 Posted September 19, 2013 Report Share Posted September 19, 2013 I'd have to restore her back to original, she's the actual #2 Pace Car! I'm not sure why the curent owner Joe is parting with her... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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