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1988 Olds Pace Cars - production numbers?


sean1991olds

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I'm having a hard time finding actual numbers on how many 1988 Indy 500 Pace cars were made (convertible or coupe)

Generally I think it can be agreed that there were 50 convertible pace cars (and yet I've also read press releases where Olds reps have said they'd release 40 to the general public)

Now for the coupes, some say there were 200, some say 250

Here is something interesting I found for CONVERTIBLES specifically, a memo from Oldsmobile (on Olds letterhead 1988 date) saying:

1 Prototype - Pilot car will be kept in engineering fleet
1 Production Vehicle - Use for barrier certification
54 Production Vehicles - Will be sale-able vehicles
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56 Total Vehicles Built by C+C Inc.

2 Pace Cars are having the HUD system added
2 Lookalike pace cars are having the HUD system added
--------------------
40 Total vehicles with HUD systems (not sure on the math here??)

Edited by sean1991olds
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Also, I have to say the more I look into things, I'm finding some interesting details about the 1988 Convertibles.

The going story is that 50 1988 Indy 500 Pace Car Convertibles were made, then sold but recalled because of the lack of structural rigidity added causing numerous issues such as windows not sealing and door alignment being off. Subsequently, people say that this is the reason there was no '89 convertible, because they suddenly had much to figure out structurally.

But I've read in a April 1988 article from the Chicago Tribune:
"Olds will build 50 pace car convertibles in cooperation with Cars & Concepts, the custom house, to test the Heads Up Display. Consumers for the test have been chosen by participating dealers. The cars will be sold after the test is over. Olds won`t build a Cutlass Supreme convertible in 1989, so the 50 cars will be instant collectibles."

So, Olds didn't stop building convertibles because the 88 was so bad, they'd always planned to not build an 89. I'm surprised to read that the 50 convertibles were "tested" for some period of time before being sold. What was being tested, the HUD? And if you bought one of these "test" cars, why would you be so surprised that it could have issues? 

Did they do the testing, and recall the vehicles (never getting to the point of selling them)? But this  goes against what I've read - that a dealer personally commented he'd sold 2 at his dealership. Maybe they were given to the dealers with an agreement that they would have consumers test the cars, but instead the dealers sold the cars from the get go?

Or did they sell the test car to the person testing it once the tests were done?

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