Corvettes for Sale: No Reserve 1978 Indy 500 Pace Car with an L82 and a 4-Speed

We’ve all seen those perfect /1978 Corvette Indy Pace Cars that were hidden away as soon as they were purchased, and 45 years later have just 7 miles on the odometer.

Those are the kind of Corvettes that, while nice to look at, are really only good for just that. If a new owner were to drive them even a few thousand miles, the way Chevrolet originally intended, their value would plummet.

Today, though, we tell you about a Pace Car being auctioned off that still shows well despite having 72,631 miles showing on the odometer, but isn’t in such immaculate condition that a new owner would be afraid to enjoy driving it for fear of hurting his initial investment.

Three more big positives for this Corvette, too: It is one of only 202 Pace Cars (out of a total run of 6,502) that left the St. Louis factory with a four-speed manual transmission and the higher-rated L82 350 V8 engine, and it is being offered at NO RESERVE on eBay out of the Miami, Florida area, with the auction coming to a close Tuesday night. So far, 42 bids have pushed the highest offer to $16,400 – not bad for a Pace Car.

Black paint on these C3s is bad to show nicks, scratches, and other blemishes, but this one doesn’t look too bad overall, at least in the photos.

My favorite part of these Pace Cars has always been the silver interior, and the full-leather seats in this one show virtually no signs of wear. A picky buyer might be concerned with the slightly dirty carpet on the door panels and the floorboard, but that might be rectified with a good cleaning. The paint around the gear-shift lever is also showing some signs of wear, and the rubber console is a little dirty.

The seller describes this Corvette as a “very nice solid car” with a “strong motor and transmission” and “good clutch” – along with “nice” paint, interior, and decals on its “straight body” with “nice body lines and body gaps.”

Furthermore, he reports that the headlights, wipers, and power windows remain functional, with all gauges still working, too, other than the clock and the stock AM-FM radio that “has static.”

Would you like to drive this 1978 Pace Car to your next car show?

Source:
eBay via barnfinds.com

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