This year the Chevrolet Corvette convertible returned to pace the Indianapolis 500 (it's ninth Indy Start) and in honor of being selected there were 500 replicas made for sale to the public.

But the 57 used at the track were the very first to be produced out of the total run of 500 replicas. The remainder of the replica production began in early June.

Indeed these will be collector cars as they were built in time to be used as Track / Festival cars for this year's race. The bulk of the group (48) arrived at the Speedway on March 15th, with the last nine coming in on the 17th. In all, two of the loads were shipped open carrier and the rest were shipped enclosed per GM orders from Detroit.

In addition to the Pace Car graphics package, these 57 Corvettes were specially marked at the Speedway with an event car decal and a two color sequence number assigned to them on the windshield and a matching black number placed behind the license plate.

Can you identify some of the differences between the actual Pace car pictured in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum and the Replicas seen here?? First, on the actual Pace car, there is a larger "Wing and Wheel " graphic on the front fenders, while the Replicas have a stunning 3-dimensional Emblem. Secondly, the actual Pace car does not have an onboard Navigation system. Third, the steering wheel trim is Orange on the actual Pace car, where on the Replicas it is the standard silver. What else will we find???

These Corvettes were assigned to the Speedway and Indy 500 Festival personnel and were used from April 4th until May 30th, 2007, after which they were turned back to General Motors for distribution to dealers for sale to the public.