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1990 Indy 500 Pace Car
Indy 500 Beretta Pace Car

The pace car featured required safety equipment, including strobe lights.


"Though it would never see production, the 1990 Chevrolet Beretta pace car was very special. General Motors had talked with IMS before the 1989 race about pacing the 1990 500 with its soon-to-be-released Chevrolet Beretta convertible. The car was agreed upon, and development was on schedule. However, it became apparent by January 1990 that the Beretta convertible would never meet the quality standards that GM had set forth. So, though Chevy never announced it, they would be pacing the 500 with a lame-duck car.
This is truly too bad, as the Beretta convertible that paced the 500 was thoroughly re-engineered and quite easy to drive around the track at speed. With a modified 3.4-liter V-6 under the hood, the front driver jumped off the line like a scalded cat. Revised front and rear suspension components- many fabricated just for this car- made the Beretta track straight and true through the corners.


Chevy provided 3 convertibles with the hot V6 for the race (note the two in Pit Row).


Since the convertible was never produced (Chevy had gone as far as sending out press releases on the convertible before killing it), Chevrolet elected to sell 4500 special-edition Beretta Indy coupes- 1500 in yellow and 3000 in turquoise.

The above excerpt was taken from the book Indy 500 Pace Cars, by the auto editors of "Consumer Guide."



Then Chevy general manager Jim Perkins drove the pace car during the race.


Pace Car Specifications

Overview:
  1. Convertible conversion by Cars & Concepts, Inc.
  2. 3.4 V6
  3. 245 horsepower @ 6800 rpms
  4. 220 pound-feet torque @ 4500 rpms
  5. High-torque capacity electronic 4-speed automatic transmission
  6. 3.43:1 rear axle
  7. Weight-to-power ratio: 18.3lbs/hp
  8. 0-60mph in 5.8 seconds
  9. 1/4 mile in 13.8 seconds @ 105 mph

Engine Details:
  1. Chevrolet 60 degree aluminum engine block
  2. Strengthened cast iron crankshaft
  3. Melling oil pump
  4. Windage tray added to oil pan
  5. Erson solid tappet camshaft
  6. Isky solid lifter
  7. Isky 110-lb valve springs
  8. Modified Crane roller rocker arms
  9. Custom rocker studs
  10. Modified production cylinder heads with ported/polished ports
  11. Aluminum cast pistons
  12. Modified production intake manifold
  13. Custom intake plenum
  14. Production Corvette L98 V8 throttle body
  15. Custom stainless steel fuel rails
  16. High-flow fuel injectors from Buick turbocharged 3.8 V6
  17. Custom tubular headers

Suspension:
  1. Beretta GTZ anti-roll bars front and rear
  2. Beretta GTZ springs and struts/shocks front and rear
  3. Modified Corvette front and Lumina rear brakes integrated into Beretta GTZ brake system with metallic brake pads.

The above information was supplied by Chevrolet High Performance by Robert C. Ackerson. Krause Publications, 1994.
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Fast Lane created by Keith White.