1969 BBC 396 Indy Pace Car Camaro Convertible

1969 Chevrolet Camaro Pace Car Description

1969 BBC 396 Camaro Indy Pace Car Convertible. This was a Texas barn find that I have owned since 1989. It has always been stored inside and under a cloth cover. Tilt wheel, P/S, Automatic Trans., PDB with new brake booster, master cylinder and 2- new in the box, correct, 2 piece rotors. Rebuilt 12 bolt rear with new brake cylinders and shoes. The dash is complete with gauges and is uncut. The floor pans are rust free as well as the rest of the car. The bottom of the car has been cleaned and painted before the 2-1/2" factory correct bent exhaust with cross flow muffler was installed. New after market cowl induction hood. I have accumulated many NOS parts, after market parts and spare parts throughout the years. Included in the sale are 4 - Factory 14" Rally wheels with hub caps and beauty rings, several sets of factory bumpers, new A&M Soft Seal weather stripping, new trunk mat, new rear spoiler, NOS side marker bezels, factory parade boot, consoles, a complete interior with additional front seats. Turbo 400 transmission with 2.56 low first gear (RV Turbo 425 transmission). Newly re-corded 4 core radiator. New BBC fan shroud, new battery tray, etc...
The pace car replicas were built at both Norwood, OH, and Los Angeles/Van Nuys, CA assembly plants. Analysis of the CRG database indicates that about 85% (@ 3125) of the pace cars were from Norwood and 15% (@ 550) were from Los Angeles. All pace cars are RS/SS convertibles and will have 50 A paint and 720 interior noted on the cowl tag; they were the only Camaros built in this color combination. The Norwood cars will also have Z11 stamped on the cowl tag. The LA/VN, CA cars were not stamped with Z11 on the tag, but the colors codes on the tag confirm that it is a pace car since no other Camaro convertible received orange and black houndstooth interiors. The pace cars were all built between 02D (4th week of February) and 05A (1st week of May).
VIN: VN292295 ( VN= Van Nuys, CA )
720 ( Orange/Black Houndstooth Interior ) 50 A ( Dover White/White cloth convertible top)
03D ( 4th Week of March )
03= March, the month car was built.
D= Fourth week of the month.
12467= 2 door convertible body style.
VN= Vehicle was assembled at the Van Nuys, California assembly plant.
292295= Unique body sequence number assigned at the assembly plant.
720= Deluxe Orange Houndstooth bucket seat interior.
50 = Dover White lower body paint color.
A = White cloth top, convertible. convertible top color.
This is 1 of the 550 Los Angeles/Van Nuys, CA built pace cars but what is even more rare is that this car came equipped from the factory with a BBC 396!
Estimating the percentage of 396 Pace Cars that were produced is between 15-20% or approximately 550 to 735 cars. Several sources were used for this estimate. CRG’s database contains data on over 95% of the '69 Pace Cars and about 19% of these cars are 396 cars.
Given these numbers, 82 to 110 were BBC powered Pace Cars produced in Los Angeles/Van Nuys, CA.
Reference http://www.camaros.org/69pacer.shtml
The original BBC 396 engine is long gone.
Question: How do you distinguish a Camaro that came from the factory with a BBC without an engine in the car? Answer: 1969 Camaros that were equipped with Big Blocks have the heater core connections located in the center of the firewall heater box cover to clear the passenger head and valve cover, whereas Small Block and 6 cylinder equipped Camaros had the heater core connections near the transmission tunnel.
There is an installed, completely rebuilt, less than 10 hours of run time, 1969 Corvette LM coded, factory rated 390 HP 427 engine with numbers matching, dates matching, heads, intake, exhaust manifolds and Holley carburetor. The engine can be purchased for an ADDITIONAL $10,000.00 or can be purchased separately.
I reserve the right to remove the listing as the car is for sale locally.