The 1971 Dodge Challenger Pace Car
Eugene Piurkowski
Much has been written about the 1971 Dodge Challenger Pace Car over the years. As an owner of one of the fifty original cars, documented by Eldon Palmer, I have done quite a bit of research on the subject. Mr. Palmer sent me a list of the fifty cars by VIN. Decoding the VINs, there were two 383-4V cars that were the actual pace car and back up car. Three were 383-2V equipped, three were 340 cars (these cars were used during the festivities by three of the dealers) and the remaining 42 were 318 cars. This list was recently published by another party in the April 2001 issue of "Mopar Collector's Guide."
I have many pictures that I purchased from the Indy Photo shop of the race and festivities. All fifty of the cars had flat hoods. The reason that they were not "loaded" models was that Chrysler did not supply the cars. None of the manufacturers wanted to supply cars that year as the muscle car market had dried up and publicity was being directed toward Dusters, Vegas and Pintos. So the four local Indy dealers (lead by Eldon Palmer) purchased the fifty cars themselves using their limited budgets. Having read the "Indianapolis Star" newspaper articles of the day, there is absolutely NO mention of anyone being killed as a result of the accident. The most seriously injured person was a doctor from Argentina. I have heard that he was a guest of the Indy 500 for many years after the accident and passed away about two years ago.
The "Star" also reported that Palmer had put up a flag to judge his spot to begin braking that was removed on race day. (An orange cone must have become part of the legend.) Looking at an official photo of the crashed pace car, it is evident that it was far from totaled and that the car was traveling about 20 mph when it collided with the press stand. The car sat at Mr. Palmer's residence for many years and was restored a few years ago. Looking at pictures of the cars, you can see that all of them had decals on cling material (none hand lettered). I spoke with an Indiana Dodge dealer who gave Eldon Palmer a extra set of decals "rolled up in a tube" when the car was restored.
My car, which was assigned to Dr. Robert Tarplee (a member of the board of directors of the Indy 500), was docoumented by Mr. Palmer as one of the cars that was used during the festival parade and on the track during the pre-race parade on race day. It is pictured in the October 2001 issue of "Collectible Automobile" magazine in front of the Yankee Candle Car Museum. It was also featured this summer in the "Invitational Display" at the Chrysler Nationals at Carlisle.
George Lolas
(some details from May 1987's Muscle Car Review magazine)
The 1971 Indy Pace car was a 1971 Dodge Challenger Convertible. 50 were supplied for the event with a variety of engines. Some of the cars were 318 models, while some were 340s and some were 383s. All were painted orange, had white interiors and tops, and flat hoods with hood pins.
These cars were provided by local Dodge dealers and not the factory. Therefore, they were all stock without any type of modification or any special serial numbers to identify them. An official black and white race photo does show aftermarket wheels and Firestone tires.
James Coats
The 1971 Dodge Challenger Pace Car was the only one to date that was wrecked during the Indy 500 race after it paced a yellow flag.
Several factors were responsible for this unfortunate accident at the start of the race, and here is the true story as to what happened. The last Dodge pace car before this one was the 1954 Dodge Royal 500 Convertible. Chrysler figured that with the production of the E-Body convertible soon to end, what better way to bid it farewell than to give it pace car honors. Four area Dodge dealers (Capitol Dodge, McGinty Dodge, Palmer Dodge, and Shadeland Dodge) supplied the official pace car, and its backup, and replicas. They were all painted EV2 Ceramic Red and had the usual options, but all were fitted with manual drum brakes. The replicas were 318 cid cars while the official pace car had the 300 hp 383cid under the hood.
Behind the wheel of the ill-fated pace car was Eldon Palmer of Palmer Dodge. Everything went well during the parade lap, but coming out of turn 4 on the pace lap all hell broke loose. Sources claim that Eldon had placed an orange traffic pylon at a specific point as a braking reference point for when to begin decelerating off of the track and onto pit road. Apparently someone relocated the pylon and Eldon lost his reference point for slowing down. At the end of the pit area was a temporary grandstand filled with photojournalists. Re-entering the track with race cars zooming by was not the way to do things, so Eldon slammed on the brakes as hard as he could. In the car with him were Astronaut John Glenn, sportscaster Chris Schenkel, and raceway owner Tony Hulman. The skidding pace car struck a track patrolman and hit the press stand, causing 19 injuries.
Al Unser Sr. did not receive the pace car for winning the race, instead, Eldon kept the car and has since restored it, and owns it to this day.
Jason Smith wrote: Al Unser does not own the car given to him by Chrysler. A man in Indy owns the yellow Charger, along with the pace car, and the backup car, the Palmer car, and the Queens car. I own a restoration shop in Danville, and we restored the prize car [yellow Charger], the backup car, and are currently doing the Queens car. I do have photos of those cars along with many other Chryslers we have done including Mopar Collectors Guide points champ.
