1954 Indianapolis Indy 500 Pace Car 8x10 Gelatin Silver IMS Photo

Description: This 1954 Indianapolis Indy 500 Dodge Royal 500 Pace Car 8x10 Gelatin Silver IMS Photo William C. Newburg Driver is the exact item you will receive and has been certified Authentic by REM Fine Collectibles. This image was acquired along with 100s of other Official Indianapolis Motor Speedway photographs from famed Indianapolis 500 Photographer Jim Haines' personal collection. The Indianapolis 500 auto race has used a pace car every year since 1911. The pace car is utilized for two primary purposes. At the start of the race, the pace car leads the assembled starting grid around the track for a predetermined number of unscored warm-up laps. Then if the officials deem appropriate, it releases the field at a purposeful speed to start the race. In addition, during yellow flag caution periods, the pace car enters the track and picks up the leader, bunching the field up at a reduced speed. The 38th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 31, 1954. Bill Vukovich had to work much harder in this race due to his car was now 2 years old and the team had trouble getting it up to speed leading to a 19th place starting spot inside of row 7 for the race. Vukovich did not see the lead until lap 61 when he led 1 lap. He then after losing positions during pitstops worked his way forward, seeing the lead again on lap 92 leading for the next 38 laps until falling back due to another round of pitstops. Then Vukovich took the lead for good on 150 to win his second consecutive 500, setting a record (at the time) 130.840 mph average race speed. Prior to the first "500" in 1911, in the interest of safety, Indianapolis Motor Speedway founder Carl G. Fisher is commonly credited with the concept of a "rolling start" led by a pace car. Nearly all races at the time, as well as all Formula One races even to the present, utilize a standing start. Sarting in the mid-1950s, the auto manufacturer who provided the official pace car started selling replica pace cars to the general public. In many cases, the official on-track pace car was modified from its street-legal counterpart. Strobe lights, roll bars, multi-point harnesses, television camera mounts, two-way communication (for officials), and removing the air conditioning, are among some of the more routine modifications made for the actual pace car. Some official pace cars, however, have undergone extensive performance modifications, including suspension, transmission, or even engine modifications from their production counterpart (the 1990 Chevrolet Beretta is an example of this). Race-duty pace cars may also have the factory fuel tank replaced with a fuel cell, and usually have an on-board fire extinguisher installed. The special edition production replicas available to the public usually come with full paint and "Indy 500" decals, and may be part of a performance package upgrade. In addition, the track typically is provided with dozens of lower-end ("base model") pace car production replicas (or different makes by the same manufacturer) for use as festival cars throughout the month. Examples of this practice date back to the mid-1920s. The company who provides the pace car also often provides safety trucks for use at the track. The replica pace cars and the festival cars are usually worth significantly less than the actual car used to perform the pace car duties. Few festival cars may actually have been driven on the track. Actual pace cars are rare and most are kept and owned by the Speedway museum and the manufacturers. Since 1936, the winner of the race has traditionally been awarded a pace car. In some years, and in most cases for the past several decades, the winner is actually presented with one of the official street-legal pace car replicas.

Price: 194 USD

Location: Beverly Hills, California

End Time: 2024-10-09T15:33:43.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD