‘Indy’s tough. So’s the Camaro SS. When it comes to pacesetting,
it’s pretty clear that Camaro knows its way around.’
That’s how the ads for the 1969 Camaro SS/RS Convertible Pace Car read.
And, for once, the ads were right on all counts …

Words & photography: Jim Maxwell

For the 1969 running of the famed Indianapolis 500 - widely know around the world as the ‘Greatest Spectacle in Racing’ - a Chevrolet Camaro was chosen by the USAC track officials. This huge motorsports event took place on May 30th, 1969, and the Pace Car announcement was noteworthy at the time as just two years prior, a Camaro was selected as the Official Pace Car for the 1967 race. For 1969, it returned for an encore performance on the famous oval and went on to become one of the most coveted Official Pace Cars of all time.

     Camaros in 1969 were promoted as ‘Huggers’, that being a marketing nickname referring to its taut handling capabilities. This Hugger promotion was also one of the available colours for the ’69 model year: ‘Hugger Orange’. When the design for the Official Pace Car was being done, the chosen colour for the overall body was Dover White; however, the Chevy folks did manage to fit in some of the Hugger Orange hue, in the way of the car’s lettering, striping and interior colouring.

     The promotion for the 1969 Pace Car was enormous. Billboards all across the country were plastered up with huge images of the white and orange Camaro ‘Huggers’ and magazines ran full-page colour ads of the cars, television spots ran nationwide, plus there was a massive newspaper campaign. Chevy figured that if you’re going to invest the time and resources to get involved in the Official Pace Car of the Indy 500 programme, you might as well create (and ride) the publicity wave that can go along with it. And what a wave it was.

     For the 53rd running of the Indy 500, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway looked like a sea of Camaro convertibles had invaded! There were loads and loads of Pace Car examples scattered throughout the huge facility. Walter MacKenzie was the manager of technical projects for Chevrolet during this time, and he was interviewed by Motor Trend magazine (August 1969 issue) about the economics of Chevrolet being involved in the Indy 500 as a supplier of Pace Cars. He said: ‘As far as expense to Chevrolet goes, our cost is mostly comprised of assembling a fleet of pace car replicas for the press, 500 Festival people and various other dignitaries, plus approximately 20 pick-ups, station wagons and fire trucks to be used by the Speedway. Actually, this isn’t as great a financial penalty as you would normally think because after the race all the cars are sold to dealers. Every year some people who use the pace cars during the month get to like them and buy the car they’ve been driving. Considering the kind of exposure derived from the 500, the total cost to Chevrolet is very reasonable.’

     Records indicate there were two actual pace cars (a primary car and a back-up) that were specially prepared for the duty of pacing on the Speedway. According to a Chevrolet factory technician named Bob Kietman, from back in the day, these Pace Cars were ‘blueprinted stockers’ that were built for the famous race. The engines (375bhp L89 396cu.in. big-blocks) were removed and disassembled, with all parts inspected and checked for imperfections. This was accomplished with Magnafluxing and Zyglo testing, along with visual inspections. Both powerplants were assembled and run at the Chevrolet Engineering Test Laboratory, as there was no desire to have one of them fail at such a huge media event … especially on the car leading the pack!

     It wasn’t just the engines that were tested either. The Turbo Hydra-Matic transmissions got the same treatment, as did the 3.31:1 Posi-traction rear differentials. The driveshafts were specially balanced, and the F-41 suspension components, steering linkage, axle shafts and wheel studs got the Magnafluxing treatment too. Fifteen-inch diameter wheels were supplied and four-wheel disc brakes were used; however, they were not exactly the same as optional equipment (RPO JL8) on production cars. Extra care was given as well, with the brake pads being pre-burnished prior to the cars reaching the racetrack.

     And even though these two cars were not equipped with A/C, the stock radiators were removed and replaced with (RPO VO1) heavy-duty A/C radiators, along with temperature-controlled fan clutches. The optional RPO T60 heavy-duty battery and heavy-duty 63-amp Delcotron alternator (RPO K85) were also added to the cars. The V-belts were specially ‘prestretched’ items and standard clamps on all hoses were replaced with aircraft-quality pieces.

wwChevrolet didn’t want any problems to happen with their cars, and this extra precautionary preparation was a way to help assure that. The driver of the pace car was 1960 Indy 500 winner Jim Rathmann, and he was chosen because he was a talented veteran at Indy and had some 5300 miles of competition there under his belt. No one on the planet had more experience at the 2.5-mile Indy Speedway. The car he drove had flag holders on the rear bumper distinguishing that it was in fact the actual Pace Car. Could you imagine how easy it was to get all those white and orange Camaro convertibles mixed up on race day?!

     Another Pace Car was specially prepared for duty at the Indianapolis Speedway that year as well, only this one wasn’t used for pacing the racecars, it was there for one reason and one reason only - to be given to the event’s winner! The car was equipped with air conditioning and a power top, and the paint was ‘show quality’ (extra detailed with more gloss than a standard car in the showroom) and the recipient of the machine was none other than Mario Andretti, the man who saw victory that year, driving for Andy Granatelli.

     Legend has it Mario ended up giving the Pace Car prize to his twin brother, Aldo (the Andretti brothers used to race together prior to a bad sprint car crash Aldo had that ended his driving career). Some say Aldo was the quicker of the two. Aldo Andretti reportedly drove the ’69 Pace Car until some time in the mid-Seventies. Word has it the one-of-a-kind vehicle left the US back in 1975 and today its whereabouts for certain are unknown. Some believe it’s in New Zealand. The two Engineering Division-prepared cars that saw track duty are survivors today, with car No1 owned by Gary Nicol and the back-up car owned by Mark Levi.

     To commemorate the selection of a Camaro for use as the Official Indy Pace Car in 1969, Chevrolet offered their customers a Pace Car replica of their own. A confidential Chevrolet Passenger Car Product Bulletin was issued on February 4th, 1969, describing this unique option as ‘Midseason Change No. 13’ and it stated the following: ‘A new Regular Production Option (Z11) will be released to provide a modified Camaro SS/RS Convertible similar to the Indianapolis 500 Pace Car’ (see sidebar).

     The Z11 option was available for SS/RS convertibles with the 350cu.in. 300bhp V8 or 396cu.in. V8 (325, 350 or 375bhp versions). Pace car door decals with the markings: ‘Chevrolet Camaro OFFICIAL PACE CAR, 53rd ANNUAL INDIANAPOLIS 500 MILE RACE MAY 30, 1969’ were available with this Z11 option, but not mandatory. The decals were included inside the trunk of the cars (for installation at the Chevrolet dealerships) for customers who desired the door graphics. Z11 Pace cars were produced at both the Norwood, Ohio, and Van Nuys, California, assembly plants and records show that vehicles built at Norwood had ‘Z11’ stampings on the Fisher Body cowl tag, while Van Nuys produced versions did not.

     A total of 3675 Z11 Official Indy 500 Pace Car Replicas were recorded as being built. Of those, 43 were Festival Pace Cars used by Festival Committee members and Speedway Officials associated with the race. There were an additional 80 Pace Cars allocated for the press and other members of the media. Some reports indicate that as many as 116 additional cars were designated as USAC Official Cars.

     The model year for 1969 Camaro body shape actually ran from September 26th, 1968 until February 26th, 1970, as there was a delay in getting the all-new second generation F-Body ready for market. Early 1970 Camaro buyers got cars that were identical to the 1969 models.

     While on a short sojourn to the Phoenix/Scottsdale area of Arizona, we ran across this splendid pictured Z11 Indy Sport Convertible Camaro and after a quick visual inspection, it didn’t take long to realise this car is one of the best detailed examples of the 1969 Pace Car Camaros around. Ace restorer Ward Gappa (who specialises in muscle car restorations and repairs, Quality Muscle Car Restorations, 001-602-810-2039) is based in Scottsdale, and is well connected in the world of collectible Detroit iron. This car underwent a lengthy ground-up resto and when I say lengthy, in this particular case it means just short of 12 years! And not a single detail was missed …

     In November of 1987 Gappa first noticed this car parked outside an ice cream parlour in the Scottsdale area. He had liked the ’69 Pace Cars since he was a kid, and recalled seeing them at the dealers when new and always thought it would be cool to own one.

     The car was a 300bhp L48 four-barrel small-block and was outfitted with desirable factory options, so when the chance came to purchase the car from the ice cream storeowner (Gary Ballard, the Camaro’s second owner, who purchased it June, 1970), Gappa did it, knowing these cars were collectibles.

     After a couple of years the decision was made to properly restore the limited-production ragtop, and in typical Ward Gappa style, the effort was all-out and the results show the intensity of his work. Some 3000 hours were invested into the project. This guy is serious about authentic restoration work.

     Gappa’s Z11 was built at the Van Nuys Assembly Plant in the fourth week of March, 1969 and is factory coded as a ‘T481’ car, which translates into ‘Indy Pace Car’ for those that keep track of sequential internal code numbers. This is not a clone car; it’s the real deal.

     During the time the car was fully disassembled, Gappa researched all the stampings on the various parts (engine, heads, water pump, intake manifold, distributor, carburettor, alternator, transmission, rear axle, voltage regulator, exhaust manifolds and wheels) and determined the car was all original and never crashed. He even verified the windshield and glass had the correct date codes, and the only items that were no longer on the car (as delivered originally from the factory) were the battery, starter and radiator. Not many cars of this vintage have this type of completeness!

     After the photo shoot on the car (which happened to take place on one of the hottest days of the year - and in Arizona that is a big deal!), Gappa took me out for a high-speed spin in his pristine first-generation Camaro, and we toured all around the Scottsdale area. Without question the car runs and drives like it was just driven off the dealer’s showroom floor back in 1969. The A/C blows cold air and the car gets neck-twisting looks everywhere it’s driven.

     We were out in the hot sun all day so a trip to the nearest Baskin Robbins was in order - we ordered double scoops and to pay homage to the car and all the hard work that was put into its intensive restoration, we chose this flavour combination of ice cream: Orange Sherbet and Fresh Cream Vanilla! The dairy treats were great and a fantastic way to enjoy the cruise.

     And Gappa isn’t afraid to take the 350 engine all the way to redline, as well as drive in hard into the twisty turns we encountered. The sound of that wide-open throttle Rochester four-barrel was a pleasant reminder of ‘the good old days’ and we thoroughly enjoyed the high-adrenaline speed run we did with the car. However, we couldn’t help but ask him one pointed question after a particularly swift session: ‘Hey, you think you’re a Mario Andretti, right?’ Gappa smiled and thought for a second, ‘No, but maybe Aldo.’  You had to be there …