Complete Corvette Pace Car Collection Nets $1.7 Million
Complete Corvette Pace Car Collection Nets $1.7 Million
World’s only privately-owned Corvette Pace Car collection brings big bucks at auction, and it’s all for a good cause.
We see rare and interesting cars cross auction blocks nearly every weekend. But never do you see anything like this – a complete collection of Corvette Pace Car examples. Mostly because this is the world’s only complete, privately-owned Corvette Pace Car collection, of course. But when we first brought this amazing set to your attention a couple of months ago, we weren’t quite sure it would even sell as a set. Thankfully, that did happen.
The Corvette Pace Car conglomerate, owned by Indiana businessman Keith Busse, managed to net an astounding $1.76 million at Mecum’s Indianapolis auction, in fact. That’s quite a haul for the 16 car set, many of which are impressive on their own accord. Four of the Corvettes are actually Bloomington Gold Certified and NCRS Top Flight award winners. One of them was used as a factory pilot car, four where official track cars, and five are factory-certified duplicates.
That last tidbit is important. Because not every Corvette Pace Car was offered for sale to the general public. Which was the case in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2017. To replicate those cars, Busse had to get special permission (and assistance) from both Chevrolet and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Chevy provided the original decals for the cars, making them as authentic as humanly possible.
There are in fact two other Corvette Pace Car collections in the world. But they reside in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum and GM’s Heritage Center. And now one new lucky collector has the third. The other good news is that the proceeds from the sale go to benefit the Keith Busse Automotive and Classic Art Foundation. Sounds like a win-win to us, and we hope to see this amazing collection surface out on the show circuit in the future!
