Collection of 18 Indy 500 Chevrolet Corvette pace cars for sale

One of the largest collections of Indy 500 pace cars is up for sale in the United States, only a few weeks before the Greatest Spectacle in Racing gets underway.

In the lead up to this year's Indianapolis 500, Mecum Auctions has listed the Dr Richard Foster Corvette Pace Car Collection, consisting of 18 Chevrolet Corvettes which are either replicas or genuine race-used pace cars from the iconic race.

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Spanning from 1978 (Corvette C3) to 2022 (Corvette C8), there are just two vehicles in the collection which were a part of the Indy 500, with the 2005 and 2006 Corvettes being the first two of the C6 generation to be a part of the official race fleet.

Of the remaining 16 vehicles, eight have been authorised by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as replicas of the genuine pace cars from their respective years, while six are offical Corvette Pace Car Editions – sold through Chevrolet at the time.

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One of those eight IMS-authorised cars is a 2022 Corvette C8, which is yet to be completed by the Bowling Green, Kentucky plant – although the seller says it will be shipped to the winning bidder upon completion of its production and conversion to pace car spec.

Chevrolet has had an exclusive run as pace car supplier to the Indy 500 since 2002, with General Motors' tenure stretching back to 1997, as the last non-GM product to lead the field to the green flag was a Dodge Viper in 1996.

This year's Indy 500 will take place in the early hours of May 30 (AEST), with streaming platform Stan providing NBC's coverage of the 500-mile Indycar race.