MARIOS PACE CAR!

[john fernandes]

IN 69 MARIO WON IT! WOW
GOOD LUCK

[DarrenX33]

Hmmmm.....

[Unreal]

If I remember correctly, Mario was to be given the actual car that paced the race. He wanted A/C, so he did not take it. I think he was offered another car, but I don't know if it was a PC or another car.
I was thinking the actual pace car ended up in Austrailia.

I remember reading about the back-up car in Super Chevy or something, where they found the flags still in the trunk. The exhaust had been rerouted to the sides to allow for the special brackets that held the flags.

[L34Pace]

In both 67 and 69 the actual engineered COPO pace cars along with their backups have been located. Both the athentic 67 and 69 cars are in very good hands As for the mysterious third pace car, "winners award car" for both years, nothing other than the casual mention of them in both speedway and GM documents indicates they even existed. With all the hoopla associated with the camaro chosen as the pace car, in particular 1967, you would think GM might have taken the time to snap a shot of the winner with the car? The $$$ spent on advertising during both events was huge and it intrigues me that not a single photo was circulated of A.J. or Mario with a Camaro pace car being awarded to them. I've heard the story about A.J. turning down the car because it did not have A/C and a substitute was built along with the Canadian offering in June of 67 because the dealers up North felt short changed. It's interesting to note that another Indy car race was held for the first time in Canada at Mosport and guess what they used for official cars? 1967 white convertible RS camaros with bright blue deluxe interiors! As for Mario's 1969 award car the tale I hear the most is that he gave it to a relative who sold it to a collector on the other side of the world. So, did GM build a third car for award purposes and if so were they engineered COPO's? Were they offered the actual pace car? If not the actual COPO engineered pace car, was the presentation car identical to them with respect to RPO's? Did both A.J. and Mario leave the state of Indiana without their Camaro prize? If so, would the cars they eventually received be anything more than pace car replicas with celebrity ties? This is A.J's quote from the awards banquet podium "Its a great honor to win a Chevy, but I may have to trade it in tomorrow on a t-bird". Would you think he would really request another Chevy be built for him with A/C and that would make him happy? I might be persuaded to believe GM gave him a voucher to take to his local GM dealer The facts are at this point in time is that two engineered COPO pace cars were produced for both 1967 and 1969 and all the rest are replicas with varying degrees of importance to the 500 festivities carried out during both years events. Without any substantiated GM or Speedway documentation or vintage photos of the presentation the validity of a third pace car at the 500 and or a GM provided substitute will be exceptionally difficult to prove. It's not all hopeless, if we had all the answers or knew it all the mystery and the quest would'nt be nearly as fun and exciting for us Camaro freaks to waste perfectly good time on Trust me, I own a 67 BB with third pace car written all over it. I'm going to need Michael J. Fox and a time warp Delorean to prove any of it.

[budnate]

has anyone taken the time to contact AJ or Mario...they would probably tell you the truth on the matter when told it is important for the history books as to what really happened with the cars or no cars???

[L34Pace]

I dont know about Mario but AJ was contacted and staying true to character said he didnt remember or care. Just recently one of the Indianapolis papers interviewed past and present winning drivers about the whereabouts of their pace cars. Some answered with pride saying they considered their pace car as valueable to them as the Borg Warner. Others shrugged and said they didnt know what became of them. I guess it just depends on the personality? I agree that these two missing cars are significant to Camaro history. If not for the significance they played promoting the Camaro during the first generation then simply to put an end to the mystery and speculation that has spawned so many half truths and flat out tall tales.

[Stefano]

Good info:

Just FYI,I have number 47 1967 Pace car available for sale.