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The actual Corvette Pace Car that served at the 79th running of the Indianapolis 500 was a near-stock LT1 Corvette Convertible, except for the mandatory safety features that were required by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  The Official Pace Car cam equipped with strobe lights, a special roll-bar, five-point safety harnesses for the driver and passenger and an on-board fire suppression system. Chevrolet built just three of the actual pace cars.
In 1969, Chevrolet changed the perception of Corvette forever by introducing the ultra-powerful ZL-1 Corvette with a 427 CI engine producing 585 horsepower! The 1969 ZL-1 Corvette came equipped with an entirely new big-block engine option that produced more horsepower than any Corvette that had come before it. Any Corvette, when ordered with RPO ZL1, came fitted with an all-aluminum 427 C.I. engine that featured a dry-sump oil system and which weight approximately 100 pounds less.
While it was not the rarest Corvette Pace Car Replica ever manufactured by GM, the 1998 Chevrolet Corvette Pace Car Replica was – and remains – one of the most desirable pace car replicas ever made. This is primarily due to the fact that this replica is nearly identical to the actual pace cars that were used during the 1998 Indianapolis 500. It was fitting given that 1998 also marked the brand's 20th anniversary as "Official Pace Car" of this momentous race.
When first introduced to the world by Pontiac in 1964, the car showed so much promise that Chevrolet (allegedly) put a swift end to its development to prevent its production from hindering the sales of the Corvette.  Afterall, with the introduction of the 1963 Split-Window Corvette, Chevy was finally seeing an increase in sales, something lacking for most of the first-gen.
1962 corvette
While there are some early C1 Corvettes out there that are exceedingly rare and prohibitively expensive, there are plenty of first-generation Corvettes - especially those between 1959 and 1961 - that are well within the range of most budgets.
2017 corvette c7 z06
You can find a newer, low-mileage, Corvette at a price point that is reasonable when looking at a C7 vs the competition. You'll pay more than you would for a Mustang, Challenger or Camaro, but you'll get a lot more car for the money too.