The 1969 Camaro was chosen as the Official Pace Car for the 1969 running of the Indianapolis 500 and as the Official Car of the ‘500’ Festival. This was a repeat performance for Camaro since it had also been chosen as the 1967 Pace Car.
To help them stand out on the large expanse of track, the 1969 pace cars were designed to be visible: Dover White RS/SS convertibles with Hugger Orange Z28 style stripes and orange houndstooth cloth seats. All were equipped with the recently released fresh air hood (aka: cowl hood).
Indy Festival and Courtesy Cars
The pace car was announced to the media at a February press conference in Indianapolis, aided by a display vehicle that showed off the pace car colors. Chevrolet supported the race by providing the actual pace car, a backup pace car, a pace car replica (with air conditioning, power top, and show car finish) to be presented to the winner of the race, and a fleet of courtesy and support vehicles. This fleet included an additional 130 pace car replicas, 16 Impala station wagons, 18 pickups, two Suburbans, and one van.
The Real Pace Cars
The two cars built to actually pace the race, the pace car and the backup car, were both ordered with the L89 aluminum head 375 hp 396 engines, automatic transmissions, power steering, sport-styled steering wheels, consoles, gauges, and AM radios. After assembly, they were shipped from the Norwood plant to the GM Tech Center.
Several external and internal body modifications were made for the pace car duties. Grab handles for the passengers were installed and flag brackets were mounted on the rear bumper. A two-way radio was installed to communicate with the tower. Hood pins and special convertible top boot fasteners were used to keep things in place at the 130 mph pace speeds. The pace cars were driven by Jim Rathmann, winner of the 1960 Indy 500. Both pace cars were used to pace the race.
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