Corvettes, Corvettes, Corvettes; I’m sick of so many Corvettes! Ok, for those of you who love the breed and enjoy seeing as many of them released as I do, take heart, that warning was for the non- Corvette-aphiles. After the first few words here, they probably hit the “Back” button. So now that we’re alone, let me state that I ADORE this new FM offering! In Atomic Orange, I’m reminded of the seventies color, Ontario Orange. A great choice for pace car duties as it is, Corvette added conservative gold striping ribbons, compared to some previous pace cars, which make the Vette shine.
Speaking of previous pace cars, for 2007, Corvette marked the fourth consecutive year to pace the Indy 500. Corvette also set a record of pacing the race nine times! One further demarcation, Corvette hasn’t offered Pace car replicas in 1:1 fashion to the public since the 1998 Pace Car in purple and yellow. The ’07 Pace Car Edition was available in 500 units only. It was distinguished by the gold ribbons, Indy 500 logo on either door, a small spoiler on the rear deck and split-spoke wheels. Additionally, Indy 500 badges were affixed to the front fenders and embroidered into the leather seats. Safety lights were put in place in the pods behind the seats on the tonneau deck and FM got all of this replicated accurately.
They even modeled the seat belt buckles in photo-etched metal and metal-foiled the crossed flag emblems fore and aft. All the color-coordinated interior pieces are in place and the correct matching color fuel rail covers are evident in the well crafted engine bay. The doors are of the old tech but I cannot deduct any major points for that since only the Z06 models received the internal door hinge tooling modifications to date. The seats fold forward and the top deck opens to display a simulated ‘down top’. The ‘up top’ fits remarkably well and the trunk exposes the limited edition plate.
Of all the Pace Car Corvettes to date, this one stands out as one of the more lovely models.
-Tony F Perrone
