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Camaro SS Festival Cars Roll into Indy
- Updated: April 10, 2017
by Allan Brewer
The April showers continue in central Indiana but time marches on toward the 101st Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 28th with the introduction of the 2017 Chevrolet Camaro SS convertible event cars. The distinctive Chevy rolling stock will serve as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s on-the-road and in-the-community good-will ambassador in the run-up to and through the Month of May.
A nifty 101 samples of the muscular Camaro SS model took up residence in the paddock of the Speedway this week, awaiting distribution to 500 Festival Committee board members, VIPs and other major contributors to the Memorial Day 500-mile race. Between now and race-day the cars will provide transportation for various community outreach programs as well as chauffeuring the 33 starting drivers of the Indianapolis 500 in the annual 500 Festival Parade the day before the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
“The sight of 500 Festival cars on the streets of Indianapolis and beyond is a sure sign the Month of May is right around the corner,” said J. Douglas Boles, Indianapolis Motor Speedway president. “Our friends at Chevrolet once again have delivered a fleet of beautiful Chevrolet Camaro SS convertibles that will build even more anticipation with fans for the 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500.”
The event cars are lightweight, one-off clones of the Camaro SS convertible featuring the 455 horsepower LT1 6.2L V-8. Yes, that’s just south of 500 horses in the Camaro—the most ever under the model’s long hood—mated to a performance chassis rolling on chromed Fittipaldi-style wheels. There’s also a fully automatic convertible top that is operable at-speed (up to 30 mph) for on-the-fly opening or closing.
Available exclusively in the brilliant Summit White exterior color with a blue center stripe the car is dressed out in Adrenaline Red leather covering its all-business interior. Not to mention the conspicuously-placed Indianapolis Motor Speedway Wing and Wheel logo, red fender hash marks, gloss black lower front splitter, special SS grille with red accents and black Chevrolet bowtie emblems.
“Racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is such a special part of Chevrolet’s history, and we are extremely proud of our longstanding partnership with this iconic racetrack,” said Jeff Chew of Chevrolet Racing who was on hand for the introduction.
Only half of the vehicles will actually serve in the festivities leading up to the Memorial Day event. The others are going to central Indiana area Chevrolet dealers for immediate sale to the public.
Allan Brewer covers IndyCar and other racing series for RacingNation.com. Allan is a fixture at the race track, armed with keyboard and camera, eager to take you inside open-wheel sport where the news is being made. He comes to RacingNation.com with multiple professional awards from the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association (AWWRBA). He began his motorsports writing career at FastMachines.com; and solely published IndyProRacer.com and A1GP.com, two award-winning websites for open-wheel racing’s junior leagues, prior to becoming IndyCar correspondent at Motorsport.com. He has also covered Formula 1, NASCAR, Formula E, the Indy Lights Series and its predecessor Indy Pro Series, NHRA events and major auto shows. His major interest outside of competition is automotive technology and its application to the cars we drive every day on the public highways.