The Chevrolet Camaro had the honor of being the official pace car for the 1967 Indy 500 and in this week’s Throwback video, we bring you an ad that used the pace car duties to help promote the brand new pony car.
This 1967 Chevrolet Camaro commercial talks about “Pacesetter Days”, which seems to have been a sale period centered around the upcoming Indy 500 with the promise of “sure savings”. The commercial starts off by showcasing the official Indy 500 pace car, followed by highlighting the key features of the vehicle.
While there are some attributes of the Camaro which continue to be important today – like the fact that it is lower, wider and roomier than the competition – but the ad also boasts that the Camaro is heavier than other cars in the price class. I’m not sure why that would have been an advantage back then, unless buyers related more weight with being safer.
During Pacesetter Days, Chevrolet was pushing a special package that had the six cylinder engine, bumper guards, pin striping, whitewall tires with wheel covers, a deluxe steering wheel, a floor mounted manual shifter and a special front end stripe. The ad doesn’t mention the pricing, but considering that this is a near-base Camaro with a few options, I imagine that this was a pretty popular package back then.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
