1 of 26: 1990 Chevrolet Beretta Indy Pace Car
With just 6,100 original miles, this 1990 Chevrolet Beretta Indy Pace Car edition may very well be the best in existence. I can assure you given the prevalence of events like Radwood focused on iconic cars of the 80s and 90s, a vehicle like this would be welcomed with open arms at any “youngtimer”-themed shows. The seller notes the Beretta is one of the rarest pace car tributes made, as it is painted yellow and comes with the desirable manual transmission. Find it here on eBay with bidding approaching $10K and the reserve unmet.
The seller is not exaggerating – most of the Beretta Indys I’ve seen have been automatics, and this car with the 5-speed should be heaps of fun to drive and not just to look at. The Indys were optioned with the bigger 3.1L V6, firmer FE7 suspension, and more. The manual transmission / yellow exterior combination makes this Beretta the most sought after of the Indys, as far more were sold in teal with the automatic trans.
The Indys also had unique interior appointments which amounted to badges and upholstery patterns. The interior is in mint condition, which isn’t easy on cars that were somewhat cheaply made to begin with. Efforts have clearly been made to preserve this car as a time capsule, and it really deserves more money than it’s currently been bid to. What’s even more incredible is the story behind the only owner.
The Beretta was a retirement gift to a GM employee with over 40 years of service. The car was presented in a ceremony in the lobby of the GM Tech Center and subsequently stored in the building’s basement, only being brought out on special occasions. No defects are noted and all pace car materials – including additional graphics – remain sealed in protective wrappings. Try and find a better one – you won’t!
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Comments
I love these motors and a 5 speed would be a blast, but a horrible, horrible color…
Love the color!! That is why they make Chocolate AND Vanilla.
I guess I’m old. This makes me think that there may be a barely used collectible paper plate for sale one day. Car was designed by a Commodore 64 computer. It nails the 80’s cars to a t! But no thank you
Wow! You work a GM for 40 years, and all you get is this POS. I’d opt for the gold watch…
Lol,it’s the thought that counts, I guess. Could it be that the retiree didn’t want to be seen in it,so it was put in the basement?
Haha! Sounds like he left the car in the facility in the basement.
Maybe he walked out of the facility in a t-shirt saying “I worked for GM for 40 years and all I got was a stupid Beretta!”
Anyway onto the car. These pace car variants look pretty but they’re strictly standard V-6 Beretta under the surface. It would have been cool had they put in the Turbo 3.1 from the McLaren Grand Prix but it was not be.
I don’t think I would pay that much for this. It’s neat but if I was jonesing for a Beretta, I would get a later GTZ with the H.O. Quad 4, and, of course, some psychiatric help.
Cool car, though I have to point out that even with 6,000 miles, the top of the dash pad is coming apart……
It was common on these, I used to think it was the sun, but this was a stored away car so it makes me think more of a material defect.
Thats about 26 too many….
I bought my wife this same car, hers was an automatic. Hers was bought in 1995 with 63 miles on it, she used it as a daily driver was a fun little car. Now I wonder how many auto vs manual trans were made.
Reminds me of all the different “collectible” Winchester 94’s. Overpriced and the owners would never consider shooting them because doing so would ruin their “value”. Dude, just because you (or your dad) overpaid for a glitzed up Winchester did not impart value.
A somewhat imperfect analogy, but the reason that I would never pay an extra dollar for anything just because it was created (and usually priced) to take advantage of people willing to pay for a label.
Having had my rant, none of the above would prevent me from buying this or any other car if it were priced right and promised value, however I was defining value. In this case, fun to drive? Reliable?
bobk. I like your comment on Winchester 94’s. So true. A neighbor kid in his mid twenty’s came over and showed me a John Wayne 94 new in the box he had just bought. He was excited to show me because I had let him shoot mine a 30/30 and a 32special and I think he paid way to much. But I just told him it was nice. Nice to see younger kids into the old stuff. He wants to buy Colt sa now to go with it.
Indy’s were big money back then. I had a 86 Daytona CS Turbo Z an had a 8 mile race with one. We were apples to apples thru the turns an both top at 125ish.
Optioned with the bigger 3.1L motor, like every other non-base in 1990. “Bigger” then the ’89 2.8L sure, but its nothing special for 1990 (there were 3 special motors built in the real pace cars) This car was already up for sale once and failed to meet the reserve when it ended at $11900, they’re asking too much, could have had a GM prototype with a V8 or TTV6 w/AWD few years ago at Barret Jackson!
Remarkable to find a car like this in such pristine condition. Most of these were used up and junked.
Only one probably more rare than this was the teal 5 speed convertible that was donated by GM to my high school automotive class. It was also basically a brand new car.
Lot #103 – The car was driven by legendary Chevrolet General Manager Jim Perkins. Chevrolet’s popular Baretta paced the Indy 500 that their engine won with Arie Luyendyk driving. This was the first and only Chevy “Concept” car ever selected to pace the 500. In this case the Beretta’s 3.1 liter V6 engine required some performance enhancements. Its displacement was increased to 3.4 liters and its horsepower was increased 60%-From 135 to 225. Chevy produced a total of 4,500 special-edition Beretta coupes to commemorate the event. 1,500 were made available in the brilliant yellow of the actual pace car, and 3,000 were offered in a distinctive turquoise color. No Beretta convertibles were ever produced for public sale. THIS IS A MODIFIED VEHICLE. NEITHER GM NOR BARRETT-JACKSON MAKE ANY WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, CONCERNING THE VEHICLE, INCLUDING NO WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE VEHICLE IS NOT CERTIFIED TO COMPLY WITH ANY FEDERAL, STATE OR LOCAL LAWS, RULES OR REGULATIONS AND MAY NOT BE DRIVEN ON PUBLIC ROADS. This vehicle will be conveyed to Buyer with a “scrap” title. **TITLE IN TRANSIT**
There was a yellow convertible in the lobby of the Broward Technical College ASEP(Automotive Service Excellence Program) tech center that was donated by GM. Don’t know if its there anymore, this was in the late 90’s
A friend had a teal one when these were brand new, but I’m pretty sure it had a slushbox. It almost goes without saying that her dad owned a Chevy dealership. :-)
I love this MT. I’d rather have teal than yellow, but this should be a cool score for someone.
I test drove and hammered one of these equipped with the quad4/5 speed combo and was expecting great things but was ultimately disappointed by the lack of low end torque and torque steer when you drove it hard. I would have rather had my friends Gran Am? equipped with the quad four/5 speed that was not a high output motor, much better street manners. This one is pretty and the 2.8/3.1/3.4 V6s are decent motors when maintained but not very fun to drive. My bro in law had a beretta equipped with the 2.8/5 speed it was civilized but boring. This one is pretty for what it is worth…
I get a kick out of the guys that talk price and if the truth was known they probably drive a cookie cutter car that lost the price of this when they drove it off the lot. Of course this doesn’t have heated seats, etc. that pampered people have to have but they’re happy with their “boxcars” that they can sling thru the 405 at 20mph.
I had those rims on my Z24. It’s a little 90’s cheese that they painted the inner blades to match the body. This is a great 90’s time capsule though, I liked these a lot.
Seeing what this car will sell for is interesting. Late 80’s-early 90’s FWD cars are not the most desirable. Most people would rather have an A, G, or F-body car over a FWD car. It’s a shame because cars like this would greatly outperform the average rear-drive cars of the day. I had a Sunbird with this motor and an automatic. I could easily blow away most 5.0 IROC’s and any G-body other than a turbo Buick with my FWD turd.
Sold for $15,100.
i have a 1990 indy beretta with the 5 speed manual. so they only made 26 in yellow with the manual transmission?
I had one of these in high school. It was a manual transmission as well. Very fun car to drive.