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The Chevrolet Corvette has served as the official pace car of the Indy 500 18 times since 1978. That accounts for half of the 32 times that Chevrolet has been given the honor since 1948, which only highlights the sports car’s endearing legacy. Interestingly enough, this C8 Corvette convertible is the first Indy 500 pace car to have a drop-top since the 2011 Chevrolet Camaro.
ZR- World Record Endurance Run Corvette on display at NCM
On March 1-2 1990 a unique group of people using a Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1, reset The 24-hour World Speed Record. That achievement proved unequivocally that the car is indeed...King of the Hill. "The 24" had stood for 50 years. Last set at Bonneville in 1940 by AP Jenkins driving the "Mormon Meteor Ill", a purpose-built. single-seat race car with an aircraft engine. The objectives: set the 24 as well as 5000 kilometer and the 5000 mile marks with a ZR-1 while using an L98-powered Corvette to set the six-hour record and other shorter distance marks.
It was only fitting that the Corvette design team honor the outgoing C5 by saluting its finest racing accomplishments with a special Le Mans Commemorative Edition package for all 2004 Corvette models. The Coupe and Convertible packages included special Le Mans Blue metallic paint, unique badging noting the Le Mans victories, polished wheels, and a special shale-colored interior featuring embroidered Le Mans emblems on the headrests.
Did you know that the earliest ZR1 Corvettes came into existence long before any of these later iterations?  If not, then take a few minutes to acquaint yourself with one the rarest small-block production Corvettes of all time - the 1970-1972 Corvette ZR1. From 1970 to 1972, Chevrolet offered the ZR1 Special Engine Package, which featured a small-block LT1 engine.