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A well-documented example of Chevrolet's most colorful C5-era limited edition is currently up for bid on Hagerty Marketplace. This 1998 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible Indy 500 Pace Car Edition shows roughly 50,200 miles, wears its factory Radar Blue paint over a yellow-and-black interior, and comes with a clean Illinois title. As of this writing, bidding sits at $17,750 with the auction still open.
Chevrolet's fifth-generation Corvette arrived for 1997 with a stiffer hydroformed frame, composite body panels, and the all-new aluminum LS1 V8, a combination that reshaped what an affordable American sports car could do. When the convertible joined the lineup for 1998, GM tapped the drop-top to pace the 82nd running of the Indianapolis 500 and marked the honor with a dedicated replica package sold through dealers nationwide. Only 1,163 examples were built, one for every Chevrolet franchise in the country at the time, each finished identically in a purple-tinted Radar Blue with yellow pace car graphics and a matching yellow-and-black interior.
The car listed on Marketplace has been with its current owner since 2012 and recently received a coolant flush, new upper and lower radiator hoses, fresh drive belts, and a full brake service covering pads, rotors, and fluid. Power comes from the 5.7-liter LS1 paired with a four-speed automatic transaxle, a common combination for Pace Car replicas since most were ordered for parade duty rather than as manual-shift specials. A clean CARFAX report shows prior registrations in Nevada, Tennessee, and Illinois, and the sale includes the car's original manufacturer's literature and its special Pace Car identification plate.
Hagerty's price guide currently lists a #3-condition (Good) 1998 Pace Car convertible at $20,800, up 4% over the last review period, with automatic-equipped cars carrying a modest discount versus their manual-transmission counterparts according to Hagerty's valuation tools. Hagerty's own sales data also shows real-world results swinging widely, from lightly optioned drivers changing hands for well under $10,000 to concours-level cars pushing into six figures, which underscores how much condition and originality matter for this niche. Against that backdrop, the current $17,750 bid on this 50,000-mile example sits below guide value for a Good-condition car, worth watching as the auction heads toward its close.
Pace Car aside, the C5 generation has become one of the more interesting corners of the Corvette hobby to collect, since clean, unmodified cars from the platform's first few years are getting harder to find. For a look at how well an early, unmodified example can hold up, we recently featured This 1997 Corvette Coupe Is a Low-Mile Time Capsule From the C5's First Model Year, and for the full story of America's sports car across every generation, our deep dive Motorious Explores The Chevy Corvette is a good place to start.
Whether it ends up as a weekend cruiser, a static display piece, or a stepping stone into C5 ownership, this Pace Car Edition is a reminder of how much personality Chevrolet packed into a single limited-run option code. The auction remains live on Hagerty Marketplace, with bidding open through its scheduled close.
