Pace Car Info

    "Chevrolet has made history at the Indianapolis 500 since the early days of America's greatest motor race.  Louis Chevrolet was on the track when the Indianapolis Motor Speedway opened in 1909.  Chevrolet and his two brothers, Arthur and Gaston, were familiar figures at the imposing Indy oval.  Eight decades later, the Chevrolet name is leaving another permanent mark in the rich tradition of the Indy 500.  When 33 adrenaline-charged drivers head for the green flag on Memorial Day weekend, a bright yellow Beretta convertible will lead the snarling pack of Indy cars.  The 1990 pacesetter is powered by a specially modified Chevy 60-degree V6--the first V6/60 to pace the Indy 500.

    The Beretta pace car's powertrain blends advanced engineering with timeless hot rodding techniques.  Its modified 3.4-liter V6/60 packs a 225-horsepower punch--a 66-percent increase over the production 3.1-liter engine's 135-horsepower rating.  The electric yellow convertible sprints to 60 mph in 6.5 seconds, and covers a quarter-mile in just 14.5 seconds.  On the "Brickyard's" famous straightaways, the topless Beretta can hit 130 mph.  This impressive performance is the product of a carefully engineered combination of production, heavy-duty, and aftermarket components.

   Chevy's 60-degree V6 has proven itself a worthy successor to the venerable small-block V8.  The Chevy V6/60 has won championships in offroad racing, and it is winning converts in midget competition.  As the new decade begins, the Chevrolet V6/60 is becoming the engine of choice among innovative racers, street rodders, and performance enthusiasts.  The V6/60 is Chevy's most popular powerplant; more than a half million will be installed in Beretta, Corsica, Lumina, Cavalier, Celebrity, and Camaro models in 1990!  Chevrolet's recipe for a red-hot V6/60 pace car engine shows the performance potential of this compact powerhouse."  - excerpted from PACEMAKER!, "Chevy Thunder", 1990

This same magazine article goes on to describe the modifications to the 3.4 V6/60 engine; the main points are listed below:

• Bow Tie aluminum V6/60 block, bored to 92 mm diameter
• Billet steel four-bolt main bearing caps
• Production 3.1-liter crankshaft, main bearing journals were cross-drilled and micro-polished
• Prototype cast-aluminum pistons
• Priority main feed oiling system modeled after the small-block V8 design
• Production "Generation II" aluminum splayed-valve cylinder heads, ported and polished, combustion chambers relieved enlarging them from 28cc to 34cc, producing a 10.7:1 compression ratio, Iskenderian valve springs, titanium spring retainers
• Crower solid lifter camshaft with .459-inch max intake lift and .484-inch exhaust lift, Iskenderian solid lifters, custom-made Smith Brothers pushrods, Crane aluminum roller rocker arms, special studs from Ryan Falconer Racing Engines
• Production 3.1-liter intake manifold modified with 1.25x2-inch runner tubes 6.5 inches long, custom built stainless steel fuel rails with .5 inch primary tubes and 5/16-inch secondary tubes, high capacity fuel injectors from a turbocharged 3.1-liter V6
• Fabricated intake plenum equipped with a production Corvette L97 throttle body, custom PROM for the ECM
• 4 speed automatic transaxle
• Custom headers, single high capacity transverse muffler in place of the spare tire
• Twin ram air inlets behind the grille feed a pair of high-flow filter elements for the air cleaner assembly
• Water pump had every 3rd vane removed to reduce coolant flow through the block at high engine speeds
• Engine mounts filled with polyurethane, upper radiator support reinforced, second torque steer strut installed, diagonal braces from upper radiator support to the strut towers
• Aluminum half blocks replaced the steering gear's stock rubber mounting blocks, metal bushings replaced production tie rod bushings, stock 14:1 steering gear ratio was retained
• Corvette electric radiator fan, battery box relocated and radiator core moved forward for additional clearance, auxiliary coolers for engine and transmission oil mounted in front of radiator core
• Production Beretta GTZ brake system augmented with modified Corvette Z52 front disc brakes, high-metallic front pads, high-capacity rear drums, front suspension features a '90 Beretta direct-acting stabilizer bar, Beretta GTZ springs, Delco gas-charged front struts and rear shocks

The two pace car photos were purchased from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Photo Shop, and the engine photo was scanned from the article cited above.