Corvette Of The Day: 1986 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible Indy 500 Pace Car

The arrival of the 1986 convertible brought with it Corvette’s ceremonial return to racing.  Although the announcement came late in the automotive season, its introduction occurred in time for the Corvette to be invited to participate in that year’s Indianapolis 500 as the official Pace Car.

The 1986 Corvette convertible would become the second Corvette in history (second only to its 1978 forerunner) to serve as a pace car at the Indianapolis 500, and Chevrolet was more than proud that its two-seat convertible needed no special performance or engineering modifications to help the car reach the necessary speeds to lead a field of race cars around the famous Brickyard racetrack. With the exception of safety-conscious strobe lights, a pair of five point harnesses (driver and passenger), and an onboard fire system, the yellow, 230-horsepower convertible that led the pace lap on May 31, 1986 was nearly identical to all other Corvette convertibles sold to the public that year.