Photo: Mecum
The 2004 Corvette Daytona pace car in the gallery below is so rare and valuable that it had to be kept in a temperature-controlled garage to preserve its value. And now is going under the hammer.
Back in 2004, Chevy built three Corvettes as pace cars for the iconic Daytona 500 NASCAR race. It was the year when Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the race exactly six years after his father did the same, and three years after Dale Earnhardt Sr. died during the same event.
This feat allowed the Earnhardts an entry in a very select group of people, father-son duos who managed to score wins at Daytona, alongside Bobby and Davey Allison, and Lee and Richard Petty. It also increased a lot the value of any item related to the said race.
Not that the Corvette needed a boost in that respect. The car sitting in the gallery above, and also on the lot of cars that will sell in June at the hands of Mecum, is as said one of three ever made, but one in two to still be around to tell the tale.
To make sure the value of the car goes up in time, it has been preserved just as it showed itself on the track 16 years ago, complete with Millennium Yellow exterior and Daytona 500 pace car livery (red, white and blue), and the track light bar fitted on the roof.
The car packs of course the original engine, the 5.7-liter V8 linked to an automatic transmission and developing 350 hp. The engine has just 406 miles on it.
The “ultimate tribute to both Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Sr., as well as NASCAR and Chevrolet” is part of the Eddie Vannoy collection and it sells with no reserve, meaning it will go to the highest bidder no matter the price paid for it.
This feat allowed the Earnhardts an entry in a very select group of people, father-son duos who managed to score wins at Daytona, alongside Bobby and Davey Allison, and Lee and Richard Petty. It also increased a lot the value of any item related to the said race.
Not that the Corvette needed a boost in that respect. The car sitting in the gallery above, and also on the lot of cars that will sell in June at the hands of Mecum, is as said one of three ever made, but one in two to still be around to tell the tale.
To make sure the value of the car goes up in time, it has been preserved just as it showed itself on the track 16 years ago, complete with Millennium Yellow exterior and Daytona 500 pace car livery (red, white and blue), and the track light bar fitted on the roof.
The car packs of course the original engine, the 5.7-liter V8 linked to an automatic transmission and developing 350 hp. The engine has just 406 miles on it.
The “ultimate tribute to both Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Sr., as well as NASCAR and Chevrolet” is part of the Eddie Vannoy collection and it sells with no reserve, meaning it will go to the highest bidder no matter the price paid for it.
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