Couple of shots of the rather odd looking 1992 Ferrari IndyCar Pace car.... Image Unavailable, Please Login
A 1:43 resin kit is on eBay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2583&item=5972924386&rd=1
Actually, This Ferrari was a 1987, but it was indeed a pace car for the Indy car series, however it was more of a pre-game show pace car. PPG promotions had several makes, both imported & domestic, all "custom" like that Mondial. To my understanding, it was all wheel drive, and had a 3.4 liter power plant. The first production 3.4 in a Mondial did not start until 1989. Here is a photo of the nose: Image Unavailable, Please Login
ohhhhhhh.... much prettier than it appears in the other pictures. The front end has that whiff of 250 TR.... a good thing IMO.
From http://www.barchetta.cc/All.Ferraris/2000.maranello.galleria/index.html Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Strictly speaking, it was done for CART rather than the Indy 500, and it was indeed part of a "fleet" of CART Pace Cars. It was never used at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It is now in the U.S., and will be the pace car at the Ferrari Challenge races in Las Vegas on May 14/15. The owner is a competitor in the Shell Historic Series in the ex-Paul Newman Budweiser 308 GTB.
Hey guys, I was just looking at that car in person last week! Unfortunately, my digital camera is broken, so I can't take pictures (dropped it a couple weeks ago). It is currently at the racing shop of John Goodman, here in Seattle. I saw the engine, and indeed, it is a 3.4 liter motor, right from a 348. Dash stuff is typical Mondial stuff, but laid out in an odd arrangement. He had some other interesting Ferrari cars, including several race cars. When I get a new camera, I will go down, and get a couple pictures, Gerber, who runs the shop is a super nice guy, and is pretty open to letting me look around. Spasso was with me, he saw the car as well. Dave PS, the one I saw may be it's "twin" or sister, as it did not have the yellow light bar on the back, but did have the two rows of flashing yellow strobes on the back....I made them turn them on so I could see them wink.
Good thing its a one off and it died early, hate to see it multiply and spread like a virus. I see Fiero lineage.
Gotta love the fake painted cheese graters... even that is better than the real thing. Looks like the NSX spoiler config on the back.
I totally forgot about this car, but it's actually one of the first to make me take a good hard look at the Ferrari brand. It's somewhat dated now, but (IMO) it was very elegant and forward-thinking design for its time, especially when put next to a Mondial of the same year. Thanks for the memory! -Chris
I find the car very interesting. Definitly 80's desing, but rather unique. Was there only one made. Performance? Cost?
Being lazy, I don't want to waste the 10 minutes to drive down there right now...but if someone will hit me with a email reminder on Monday, I will check it out. Dave
