INDY 500 PACE CAR REPLICAS ADDED TO BIG US AUCTION

The pace cars were all originally part of the 'Rag Tops Auto Museum' in Indiana. As the name suggests, the Rag Tops museum was devoted exclusively to convertibles, and the entire museum's collection of 68 cars will join other private collections and individual consignments for the Auburn Fall auction.

The oldest of the five pace car replicas is the Mercury Turnpike Cruiser, which paced the 1957 Indy 500. One of the most ostentatious cars of the Chrome Age, the Turnpike Cruiser on offer is one of between 700 & 1,000 believed to have been sold with the pace car decal package in 1957. All were painted Sun Glitter (the decal package wasn't available with other colours) and featured a continental kit spare wheel. Power came courtesy of Mercury's 368ci V8 with a four barrel carby, dual exhaust and automatic transmission. The fact that the consigned example has only dual, not quad headlights, suggests it may not actually be a Turnpike Cruiser, but a Monterey or Montclair model from the same year.

A pair of Camaros from 1967 and 1969 are also part of the auction. Chev's all-new Camaro was chosen to pace the 1967 Indy 500,only the third time that the iconic American marque had paced the race to that point in time.A full-spec SS 396 convertible was chosen for the actual pace car duties,with an L78 V8 producing 375hp. They were amongst 81 Camaros that served so parade and official's cars throughout the festival. Afterwards, 100 pace car replicas were produced, powered by a milder 295hp small block V8 than the actual pace cars. The pace car replica on offer has been fully restored and features an automatic transmission, factory air conditioning, power disc brakes and more.

The popularity of the Camaro saw it pace the Great Race again two years later. Again, an SS-spec Camaro was the car of choice, with a 396ci Turbo Jet V8, finished in Dover White paint and Hugger Orange racing stripes and the RS-spec hidden headlights. By this time, Chevrolet had seen the potential in offering more replicas to dealerships, so for 1969, 3,675 pace car replicas produced. All were finished in the same white/orange livery, and most featured a 350ci V8. However, five were produced in accurate RS/SS pace car spec with the 375hp TurboJet V8, and the consigned example is one of these. It also features the optional power-assisted front disc brakes, power steering and a 4 speed manual transmission, but doesn't wear the optional pace car graphics. Unrestored since new and incredibly rare today, the '69 is expected to be the top seller amongst the pace car lots on offer.

Proving that Indy pace car duty was open to any US manufacturer, Cadillac was given the honour in 1973, and the vehicle of choice was the barge-like Eldorado convertible. More than 50 vehicles were supplied by Cadillac for that year's Indy 500, with 566 official pace car replicas offered through dealerships afterwards. The actual pace cars featured special engineering changes to enable them to match the increasing pace of the race cars. These included removing the pollution control gear and air conditioning, replacing the steel bumpers with aluminium items, and extensive engine and exhaust changes. This enabled the normally 235hp Cadillac V8 to push out more than 500hp! The lot on offer isn't one of the the 500hp examples, but is significant in that it was the actual car presented to the winner of the 1973 Indianapolis 500, Gordon Johncock. The Cadillac features air conditioning, power everything and the Cotillion White over red leather interior that was common to all Indy 500 pace car replicas from that year. It also features the special pinstriping and graphics that was part of the pace car package.

The fifth pace car replica on offer at the Auburn Fall auction is a Oldsmobile Delta 88.For 1974,Oldsmobile's Cutlass was used for actual pace car duty, but all the other official and parade cars were Delta 88s. Confusingly, the pace car replicas were all Cutlass hardtop coupes (no targa or convertible was available in the Cutlass lineup at that time), but the Delta 88, which couldbe had as a convertible, was not offered to the public. 42 examples were specially built for duty by Hurst and Oldsmobile in 1974, and the significance of the example consigned is that it was once owned by 'Miss Hurst Golden Shifter' herself, Linda Vaughn. The busty blonde became synonymous with Hurst during the late 1960s and still makes appearances at SEMA and motorsport events today. This car was presented by Hurst Performance to Vaughn in 1974 and shipped to her California residence, where she kept it for many years. Restored in 1996, the car appeared at many auto shows, including Oldsmobile's 2003"farewell tour".

The final addition of significance to this section of the Auctions America by RMAuburn Fall auction is not actually a pace car, but is still exceptionally rare. In addition to the Cutlass and Delta 88 models produced during the 1974 Indianapolis 500, Oldsmobile also created a one-off Cutlass four-door sedan in pace car livery for Tony Hulman, the owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. With a 350ci V8 engine and power everything , the Hurst/Olds Cutlass sedan was owned by Hulman until 1995 and had travelled less than 75,000 miles. Both the 1974 Oldsmobiles had previously been offered for private sale, but as a pair.

These vehicles will join dozens of others in the Auctions America by RM 'Auburn Fall' auction this September 1 - 4.