[PIC] Throwback Thursday: Betty Skelton and the 1956 Daytona Pace Car Corvette

It’s time for Throwback Thursday where we feature vintage photos of Corvettes. Here’s a picture of Corvette Hall of Famer Betty Skelton and the 1956 Daytona Corvette Pace Car.

Betty was an amazing woman whose accomplishments were many. A noted pilot with altitude records and aerobatic championships in the ’40s and early ’50s, Betty went to work for GM’s advertising agency Campbell-Ewald in 1956 where she became a spokesperson at autoshows. But don’t call her a booth girl because this girl was a racer at heart.

1956 was a busy year for Betty. She would team up with Zora Arkus-Duntov and racer John Fitch to drive the 1956 Corvettes during Daytona’s NASCAR Speed Week trials and she averaged 137 mph during her flying mile test despite a major headwind.

For the 1956 NASCAR race at Daytona, GM Design Chief and father of the Corvette Harley Earl designed this special 1956 Corvette pace car for Betty to drive.

Betty was nomintated to the National Corvette Museum’s Hall of Fame in 2001, rejoining the likes of Zora, Harley Earl and John Fitch once again. Corvettes never left her blood, having owned 10 in her lifetime and driving a Corvette convertible right up until she passed away 2011 at the age of 85. Today she is known as the “First Lady of Firsts” for her accomplishments and records in aviation and automobiles.

Source:
Cars and Parts

Related:
[PIC] Throwback Thursday: Bill Mitchell’s XP-700 Corvette Concept
[PIC] Throwback Thursday: The First Three Chief Engineers of Corvette
[PIC] Throwback Thursday: Zora with a Couple of 1971 Corvettes