Whereabouts of rare '74 H/O Pace Car

[GT73]

Anyone know the whereabouts of the '74 Hurst/Olds Indy 500 Pace Car with the targa roof (only one made) that was awarded to Johnny Rutherford upon winning the 1974 Indy 500?

Latest I heard, Rutherford had it on his farm in Tenessee.

This has to be the most valuable '73-'77 Olds made. I put it in the same ballpark as the extremely rare '69 H/O convertibles (only 2 made), in which I saw one at the Homecoming Show in Lansing earlier this year... very hot car!

Anyone know how much either car(s) would be worth?
'69 H/O convertible
'74 H/O Indy 500 Pace car (Targa roof)

[Hurstolds1973]

Joe Spagnoli has one of the 74 convertables. Check the WWW.hurstolds.com, look in the pictures section. Beautiful car! I think he bought it at an auction.
http://www.rmauctions.com/CarDetails.cfm?SaleCode=BR06&CarID=r103#

Joe

[GT73]

Thanks for the info Joe. I did not realize that they made 3 with the Targa roof. $80,000 seems like a good deal.

[Hurstolds1973]

Not sure if they made 3. I am not versed on the 74's. I am a HOCA member though & I dream about his car all the time! LOL There was another member that posted pics I remember & it is an awesome car! I'm sure Jon knows alot more about the car or one of the other 74 owners. Joe

[76HOProposal]

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[RocketMan]

Actually if you look closely at the original press photos, the car in the picture does not match either pace car. I remember someone telling me that at the time the pix were taken - which may have been late fall '73 - they just cut the roof off a prototype to mock one up for the pix. Supposedly the car was real unstable and was only pushed around. This is worthy of a little research :)

[76HOProposal]

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[58thndy]

(2) Real Pace cars built in 1974. Rooster B. has #1. And Joe S. has the back up car. That's all!

Thanks for finally clarifying that. I'd had too many people try to tell me the Spagnoli car was a third one that had recently surfaced.

I'm sure those of you who were at Charlotte Motor Speedway in '86 remember what Rooster's dumbass son did with the Pace Car instead of taking us around the track like he was supposed to do. His daughter should have been the one to get custody of that car. I saw it around 1992 or so and it was parked in an outbuilding at the dealership, literally crusted with pigeon spoor. At least it's been taken better care of the last ten years.

[texxas8902]

[QUOTE=58thndy;4333]
I'm sure those of you who were at Charlotte Motor Speedway in '86 remember what Rooster's dumbass son did with the Pace Car instead of taking us around the track like he was supposed to do. QUOTE]

Okay, I wasn't there. What did the dumbass do with the pace car? Sounds like a good story.

[GT73]

I never realized there has been so much controversy over these cars?

76HO, I respect your knowledge and opinion a great deal.

Based on its equipment and rather unique features, I can't think of a more valuable Olds 'A' body built from '73-'77 than the '74 H/O Pace Car with the Targa roof. This is based on fact, not opinion. (With all due respect to the various prototypes out there).

Still curious to know more about the 2 Targa cars.

[76HOProposal]

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[58thndy]

Little Bush was supposed to bring the Pace Car from Hickory NC to Charlotte for the 1986 H/OCA National Meet. Part of the plan was that the Pace Car would lead the Club around the track a couple laps.

The night before the parade lap, after everyone had turned in, Randy and one of his buddies decided to take off to Myrtle Beach in the Pace Car. Next morning, we waited, and waited... and no Pace Car nor little Bush. No one remembered seeing the car at the hotel that morning, so someone called the dealership to see if they had come home early, nope, hadn't seen 'em. So no one knew where the kid or the car was. This was pre-cellphone era, so no such thing as quickly tracking him down.

After a bit, the Speedway folks offered to lead us around the track with one of their 1986 Monte Carlo SS pace cars, and I think it was Doug Badgley said he was not going to follow any Chevrolet around the track.

Has always said that those two cars "were really rough"

Anyone who has ever had the vinyl top off their replica can vouch for that! 'Course, that simple piece of galvanized sheetmetal did make it a lot easier to replace. Let no one tell you galvanized won't rust.

[RocketMan]

Well since there are some people who are interested in the original cars that were produced, I would recommend looking very closely to the original press photos. The targa car is OBVIOUSLY different than the 2 real pace cars. At the risk of being attacked by a "higher authority", I think the differences are easy to spot. This means that there was most probably a third car that had its roof removed. I do remember being told that this photo car was very unstable and could not be driven safely - so it was only pushed around for the photos. I really dont remember who told me this, I have spoken to so many people about these cars over the last 10 years or so, but since I dont know any "joe six packs", I doubt it was him. I was fortunate enough to speak with Dale, and he gave me an informative letter along with a copy of his book. There were very few people who even knew the #2 pace car still existed before it was auctioned off, so I dont see any harm in discussing these rareties. If, however, harmless speculation and discussion offends you, well perhaps you should re-evaluate your choices in regards to how you spend your time.:D

[76HOProposal]

After a bit, the Speedway folks offered to lead us around the track with one of their 1986 Monte Carlo SS pace cars, and I think it was Doug Badgley said he was not going to follow any Chevrolet around the track.

Ha Ha Good for Doug! :D

[76HOProposal]

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