CRG Discussion Forum
Model Specific Discussions => Promotional Events and Concept Cars => Topic started by: SMKZ28 on April 06, 2020, 03:46:38 PM
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A 1969 Camaro RS/SS 396 convertible was used as the pace car for the World 600 NASCAR Grand National event held at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina on Sunday, May 25, 1969. The car was white with light blue side stripes. LeeRoy Yarbrough won the event in his 1969 Mercury.
The caption for the first pictures states, "CHARLOTTE, NC - MAY 1969: The Union 76 Girls wave to the crowd from the 1969 Camaro pace car during festivities surrounding the World 600 NASCAR Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway." It can be found here: https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-union-76-girls-wave-to-the-crowd-from-the-%C3%B569-camaro-news-photo/103419394
I'm not sure what the long, skinny black item is on the hood of the car in the first picture. Could be tape but I'm not sure why.
The 3rd color photo shows the Charlotte Camaro pace car at at an unidentified race track. "World 600 May 25" does appear on the car in this photo so it must have been taken at a NASCAR event before the World 600 took place. It can be found it here: www.talladegaspoilerregistry.com/2019/04/17/nascar-1969-flat-out/
Also notice the Oldsmobile Toronado pace car parked behind the Camaro.
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As mentioned in my thread entitled Other NASCAR Track 1969 Camaro Pace Cars at Speedweeks in Daytona 1969, the Charlotte Camaro pace car also appeared during the events of Speedweeks held at Daytona International Speedway earlier in February 1969.
Photo one is from www.russoandsteele.com and the rest are cropped versions of photos from https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/historic-stock-car-photos.289913/page-22
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Other shots of the Charlotte Camaro pace car at Daytona in February 1969. These are also cropped versions of photos that appeared here: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/historic-stock-car-photos.289913/page-22
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Here is a press photo of Miss Charlotte Motors Speedway 1969, Judy Rogers. A May 23, 1969 newspaper clipping on the back states that she "will circle the track in the pace laps..."
It came from ebay
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Here are images of passes and tickets for the event. (worthpoint)
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The first picture shows the cover of the souvenir event program while the second photo shows a two-page advertisement for the 1969 Camaro Z28 that appeared inside. (worthpoint)
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The interesting thing about the Charlotte Motor Speedway 1969 Camaro RS/SS 396 convertible pace car is that it still exists! An article documenting the car appeared in the September 2008 issue of Muscle Car Review magazine. The pictures show that the car has a 4-speed manual transmission. Unfortunately the car has been restored in a manner that does not match these original color photos. I assume that when the car was found nobody knew what the car originally looked like in 1969. As a result, I assume generic "Charlotte Motor Speedway" graphics were added because of their lack of knowledge. It would be nice if the current owners of this vehicle would use these photos to return the Camaro to its correct livery. Does anyone know them? If so, perhaps you could refer them to these pictures. It would be cool to see this car brought back to the way it originally looked with chrome trim rings and the light blue side stripe!
ebay
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article continued... (ebay)
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The previous article says that the car was restored in 1992. I have a few clippings from 1990's/2000's Muscle Car and/or Chevy magazines mentioning the car.
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Apparently the car was sold for $258,500 at the 2009 Russo and Steel auction held in Scottsdale, Arizona. I am not sure if the winning bidder still owns the car or not.
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According to these two recent photos the Camaro still looks like it did in the 2008 magazine article.
1st photo is from the 2015 aero car reunion (hotrod.com)
2nd photo taken at the 2019 Good Guys event in Columbus, Ohio (superchevy.com)
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You can see the front of the Camaro pace car in this photo taken during a pit stop in the World 600.
Use the magnification tools to see it better here: https://goldmine.uncc.edu/index/render/object/pid/motorsports:5367/parentPID/motorsports:5364
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Shots of engine bay and interior from the 2009 Russo and Steel auction.
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Does anybody know what it sold for?
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Does anybody know what it sold for?
The car was sold for $258,500 at the 2009 Russo and Steel auction held in Scottsdale, Arizona.
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Really appreciate your thorough research and you sharing it for our benefit.
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Really appreciate your thorough research and you sharing it for our benefit.
Thanks Tim!
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Spotted the Charlotte Motor Speedway 1969 Camaro RS/SS 396 pace car parked behind NASCAR driver Wendell Scott in this photo. You can tell it is the Charlotte car because it is the only NASCAR 1969 Camaro pace car that used the chrome trim rings on the wheels. The side stripe is also a match. I'm not sure if this was taken at Charlotte Motor Speedway or not.
I found it here: https://www.facebook.com/uofracing/photos/?ref=page_internal
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If you look at the top left corner of this picture you will see the 1969 Camaro RS/SS convertible pace car for this event. I know the picture is small but click on the following link and you can use the zoom and magnification tools to get a fantastic view of the car: https://repository.charlotte.edu/islandora/object/motorsports%3A24836
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Very interesting! Looks like it had the short rear spoiler and extended nose stripe!
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Very interesting! Looks like it had the short rear spoiler and extended nose stripe!
Not only those but it is the only one of the 1969 NASCAR pace cars to have the chrome trim rings on the wheels.
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Here is a cropped version of the picture with the Camaro as it appeared in the last photo I posted.
https://goldmine.charlotte.edu