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TGP Pace car(s)


Turbo v-sick
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One of the issues is the lack of documentation of any car that could have actually served pace duty and then got sold to the public. The first two cars Adam posted I assume those did not actually have VINs since they have the pre-production wheels on them "
I would half to agree with Matt the 89 Daytona TGP's are not in production form so most likely late prototypes of some sort. The blurb from Jeff M implies that the movie cars were prototypes as well? Is that correct? I have seen where some members state they have movie cars but what is odd is that they have sunroof's.

 

McLaren TGP with its Old Pace Car Photo Inset

 

The owner suggest his car is the pace car for the movie but a good look shows the pace car to have no sunroof. I have never seen a sunroof car in the movie. Honestly haven't seen it lately so please correct me if I am wrong. Matt is spot on without proper documentation it's next to impossible to find out the true story. With a super limited run in 89, pacing most all Winston Cup events and co staring in a movie the following year why did no one keep any records. Just seems dumb to me. I have been in contact with Pontiac Historical Services and hopefully the direction they sent me in will pan out but who knows...

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Could be that the sunroof cars weren't actually Pace Cars at all, but simply made to look like them for close-up work. Wouldn't be the first time Hollywood did something like that...remember in the first Transformers movie, the "Camaro" used for Bumblebee was actually a fiberglass body grafted onto the structure of a Pontiac GTO.

 

http://www.autoblog.com/2006/09/25/hot-rod-tells-all-about-the-bumblebee-camaro/

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I'm not buying that that guy has the pace car from the movie. The movie pace car looks to have the "eyeliner" headlights, and his clearly does not. Since when does the grill say "McLaren" too??

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I would half to agree with Matt the 89 Daytona TGP's are not in production form so most likely late prototypes of some sort. The blurb from Jeff M implies that the movie cars were prototypes as well? Is that correct? I have seen where some members state they have movie cars but what is odd is that they have sunroof's.

 

McLaren TGP with its Old Pace Car Photo Inset

 

The owner suggest his car is the pace car for the movie but a good look shows the pace car to have no sunroof. I have never seen a sunroof car in the movie. Honestly haven't seen it lately so please correct me if I am wrong. Matt is spot on without proper documentation it's next to impossible to find out the true story. With a super limited run in 89, pacing most all Winston Cup events and co staring in a movie the following year why did no one keep any records. Just seems dumb to me. I have been in contact with Pontiac Historical Services and hopefully the direction they sent me in will pan out but who knows...

 

 

I'd have to find Larry's old posts to see what he said about his car exactly. It could have been a backup but unused or something. A sunroof car would make no sense from a continuity standpoint in a film if the others had no sunroofs. I guess they could use it for some low angle shots where the roof wouldn't be visible...but I don't think there's any footage like that anyway.

 

 

Are both of those pictures Larry has from the Days of Thunder movie? Or is that one shot from an actual race paced? If both are from the movie, then there are continuity issues: One car has black mirrors, one has red. :lol:

 

 

If that's yet another red mirror TGP, then it's gotta be pre-production(or they color-matched the mirrors for whatever reason) as all production cars have black mirrors. Even the pace cars on page one have black. The 305hp prototype had red ones though.

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http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y33/mfewtrail/Misc/89TGPPaceCar.jpg

 

I think the 2nd picture Larry has is actually from the Daytona 500(?) and is one of the supposedly seven pace cars they had for the Feb 19th Daytona 500. That picture above shows one of them with red mirrors.

Could be me but Larry's images #2 and # 3 look altered.? In 89 the nascar decal was on the hood so this shot is most likely from 90. Looks like a movie shot to me the bud car behind the exxon car looks like an 87 thinderbird?

http://img148.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=43307_6_122_1174lo.jpg

Image # 1 is the same picture that's on the model car box. GTA rims, solid mast antenna and red mirrors. Maybe the Grand Illusion car?

 

The picture of the Daytona car above I "believe" was taken towards the end of 88 when Pontiac's Turbo Grand Prix was chosen to pace the 89 race. I have not seen a red mirrored TGP in any of the footage I've viewed so far but that does not rule out it was lurking around as a show car on exhibition.

post-3417-143689145839_thumb.jpg

Edited by Turbo v-sick
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I would half to agree with Matt the 89 Daytona TGP's are not in production form so most likely late prototypes of some sort. The blurb from Jeff M implies that the movie cars were prototypes as well? Is that correct? I have seen where some members state they have movie cars but what is odd is that they have sunroof's.

 

McLaren TGP with its Old Pace Car Photo Inset

 

The owner suggest his car is the pace car for the movie but a good look shows the pace car to have no sunroof. I have never seen a sunroof car in the movie. Honestly haven't seen it lately so please correct me if I am wrong. Matt is spot on without proper documentation it's next to impossible to find out the true story. With a super limited run in 89, pacing most all Winston Cup events and co staring in a movie the following year why did no one keep any records. Just seems dumb to me. I have been in contact with Pontiac Historical Services and hopefully the direction they sent me in will pan out but who knows...

a 160 degree thermostat and a chip bumped hp to 352...:skep::psyduck:

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a 160 degree thermostat and a chip bumped hp to 352...:skep::psyduck:

 

Glad I was not the only person wondering about that one, I had the same mods on mine and really only noticed a slight difference.

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Could be me but Larry's images #2 and # 3 look altered.? In 89 the nascar decal was on the hood so this shot is most likely from 90. Looks like a movie shot to me the bud car behind the exxon car looks like an 87 thinderbird?

http://img148.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=43307_6_122_1174lo.jpg

Image # 1 is the same picture that's on the model car box. GTA rims, solid mast antenna and red mirrors. Maybe the Grand Illusion car?

 

The picture of the Daytona car above I "believe" was taken towards the end of 88 when Pontiac's Turbo Grand Prix was chosen to pace the 89 race. I have not seen a red mirrored TGP in any of the footage I've viewed so far but that does not rule out it was lurking around as a show car on exhibition.

 

 

Now that I've looked more closely Larry's photo is in fact modified in some way that made the black parts of the TGP take on a red appearance.

 

http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4032/4687803926_e2c8fe991f_o.jpg There's a direct link to that particular photo. The mirrors/trim are actually black but whatever was done to the photo has made them look red.

 

 

That first picture is the Grand Illusion car for sure.

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Glad I was not the only person wondering about that one, I had the same mods on mine and really only noticed a slight difference.

 

That's either a typo or someone is misinformed.

 

 

 

PS: Keep those old TGP photos coming if you've got more Adam. :thumbsup:

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a 160 degree thermostat and a chip bumped hp to 352...:skep::psyduck:

Just like everything else in that movie it's exaggerated quite a bit. Larry's car had been reviewed by Jeff M when he rebuilt the transmission and from his post many years ago he seemed certain it was a movie car. I was not trying to discredit Larry or Jeff I was just stating the obvious about the discrepancies between the pace car and his. We have been taught to question everything and I find it hard to believe a 90 model sunroof car was in a movie with nothing but 89 hardtops. I would need to see further documentation. I have been in contact with the Heritage Center and they are researching my build sheet and invoice from asc. It was reported to me it could take up to six weeks for a complete analysis of the vehicle. I also told them the community itself is interested in anything they can provide pertaining to the platform.

Edited by Turbo v-sick
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Does anyone have the entire vin list for TGP's in the 89 model run. I have found a way to narrow down the results for possible pace and/or show cars provided by Pontiac. :D

Edited by Turbo v-sick
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Does anyone have the entire vin list for TGP's in the 89 model run. I have found a way to narrow down the results for possible pace and/or show cars provided by Pontiac. :D

 

Entire list? Nobody has that. You could try contacting CompNine and see if they're willing to pull all vin V cars from their database if you were to pay for a subscription...Other than that, I don't see any easy way of figuring all out vins for these cars.

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Entire list? Nobody has that. You could try contacting CompNine and see if they're willing to pull all vin V cars from their database if you were to pay for a subscription...Other than that, I don't see any easy way of figuring all out vins for these cars.

 

http://www.w-body.com/showthread.php/26645-TGP-database/page8

 

Post 117 implies differently. Did this not actually happen? If the post is correct would it be possible for me to use the list for my own personal research? I am looking for possible pace car candidates from the 1989 Nascar season. At least one of these TGP's has all ready been lost due to lack of documentation and physical proof. As mentioned above we have come up with a method to find TGP's that Pontiac used for show/evaluation/etc...

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http://www.w-body.com/showthread.php/26645-TGP-database/page8

 

Post 117 implies differently. Did this not actually happen? If the post is correct would it be possible for me to use the list for my own personal research? I am looking for possible pace car candidates from the 1989 Nascar season. At least one of these TGP's has all ready been lost due to lack of documentation and physical proof. As mentioned above we have come up with a method to find TGP's that Pontiac used for show/evaluation/etc...

 

 

The info Ken had became corrupted or something if I remember correctly.

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  • 2 weeks later...
The info Ken had became corrupted or something if I remember correctly.

Makes sense he replied to my pm but said he would half to get back to me on that. Maybe I was drinking too much coffee during the days leading up to Christmas break as a detailed vin list is a huge project to take on and would require the work of many not one. If their is interest those of you that would like can call the GM media archive and buy a copy of your original window sticker. 1989 Media/Pilot cars will not have the traditional window sticker as they were ordered from PMD for the show car pool. The order number will start with AK and the invoice will have extra RPO's added to it. I am getting conflicting results on RPO code 9DO and would appreciate any feedback you guys may have. I have attached the 89TTA vin list for observation. Notice the order numbers for the first five pilots are very close to the order number on the second TGP invoice below.

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post-3417-143689147301_thumb.jpg

TTASerials_Merged - Ttop_Hardtop_Cloth_Leather - Indy Car No - 4WEB (1).pdf

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  • 3 weeks later...

Notice the Michigan tags present on the pace car. This confirms PMD(Pontiac Motorsports Division) supplied all the pace cars for the season. These particular cars seem to have production rims and the black stripe under the headlamps unlike the Daytona specific cars.. Just how many cars did PMD supply to Nascar???

post-3417-143689148686_thumb.jpg

post-3417-14368914869_thumb.jpg

post-3417-143689148694_thumb.jpg

post-3417-143689148698_thumb.jpg

post-3417-143689148702_thumb.jpg

post-3417-143689148705_thumb.jpg

Edited by Turbo v-sick
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