Pacing the 89th running of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's Indy 500 for 5/29/2005 was a specially outfitted C6 Corvette. This 2005 convertible marks a record seventh time for Corvette to pace this race. Driven by former US Secretary of State, General Colin Powell, the C6 was in good hands. In fact the General is a C6 owner, albeit a coupe.

FM, the only game in town for precision 1:24th C6 Corvettes, did a remarkably good and thorough job in replicating the pace car. The paint is outstanding with excellent attention to color breaks as the silver and black graphic art slims down in places to what amounts to being pin striping as it covers the car's decklid. And FM keeps everything squared up with minimal gapping as it mimics the 1:1 car exceptionally well. The safety strobes are seen in the clear rear-facing of the tonneau deck hoops, the passenger side compartment receives the proper fire extinguisher and the safety belts are real enough to look just like the pace car's genuine articles. The seat tops have the "500" insignias to match the ones on the doors and FM even thought to give us the Chevy "Bowtie" outline emblem that appeared on the upper level of the dash board. The car carried an automatic transmission and due dilligence was done here as well. The engine compartment looks spot on and the stance and fidelity of the piece looks grand. FM is keeping 'pace' with the popularity of pace cars by releasing them as soon as they have been. And with the exception of the 1995 Corvette Pace Car and the soon to run 2006 version, has replicated all the Corvettes that appeared at the Indy 500. Nice job FM. The issue price is $120.

-Tony Perrone