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Pace car from a lost era…

Ahh the early 80s, not typically a time where you think of the highest quality automobiles coming out of Detroit. The styling was predominately boxy with reduced horsepower engines and fuel economy being a priority the contradiction of a flying brick slicing through the wind was quite comical. However, when the reigns were taken off designers and engineers there were a few bright spots, especially in the race car world. What you are looking at and listening to is the story of the lost 1981 Oldsmobile Omega that was indeed used as one the Official Pace Car for the 1981 PPG-CART-Indy Car World Series from the forgotten car era. This 1 of 1 prototype was the product of the GM beancounter reigns taken off using a mix of factory and aftermarket parts culminating in one of the raddest Omegas ever. For around 30 years this car was thought to be crushed only to live on in photos and memories. However, after a trip to a local Western PA dealership to look for a totally unrelated car Mike Blaze stumbled upon the historic piece and understood the prominence of the car.

Here’s the orgins behind CART/Indy and why it makes this Omega so important. CART was formed in 1979 as a response to the dissatisfaction of many team owners with the management and direction of United States Auto Club, which was the governing body for American open-wheel racing at the time. Several team owners, including big time names Roger Penske and Pat Patrick, decided to break away from USAC and create their own racing series. CART held its first season, featuring races on a variety of tracks, including ovals, road courses, and street circuits. This diversity in race types was a key feature of CART racing. The ‘80 PPG Indy Car World Series had 12 races on the schedule and featured drivers like Rick Mears, Johnny Rutherford, Mario Andretti and Bobby & Al Unser. To help promote the events, PPG worked with different manufacturers, constructing modified and sometimes one-off prototype pace cars to lead the race. The PPG Pace Cars also provided lucky guests with a hot lap around the track, piloted by PPG’s all-female driving team. More on that later in the story…

This 1981 Oldsmobile Omega PPG Pace Car was powered by a turbocharged V6 engine and featured distinctive graphics and modifications to serve its role as the pace car for the race. It was responsible for leading the field of Indy cars during caution periods and controlling the pace of the race. With that being said, an original Omega was an absolute brick from the factory and not a car one would think could keep up with the demands of pacing full on Indy Cars.

The two stipulations that the series gave to the manufactures of the pace cars were they had to maintain 120mph with a light bar on the roof and it had to be colorful. The GM team was up to the task and created a stunning one off front bumper, side skirt, over fenders, rear bumper and rear spoiler package that took the mild styled Omega to a stunningly design that would be worthy of some of the best Japanese aftermarket body kit manufactures. Other exterior parts feature sport mirrors from the GM parts bin, period BBS mesh wheels and custom front headlight covers. The color scheme is straight out of the late 70s early 80s with the gold and brown tones that run though the car and into the interior. The light bar is an actual light bar from the era and as Mike puts it, “there is a Facebook group for everything,” which is where he found it.

The interior of the car stays pretty stock with only minor upgrades. No roll bar or safety equipment, which in todays era would be never be allowed, but mostly upgraded with radio equipment and a pair of rare seats. The Recaro Ideal Seat C were way ahead of their time with heat and all types of adjustability along with an extra air compressor that would fill up the adjustable lumbar support. Under the sun visor is where the passengers would plug in for the radio to speak with the tower along with additional ports at the back of the center consul. There is one button out of place that would power a fan to push air OUT of the radiator, presumably to either cool down or heat up the engine more efficiently as you can’t predict pace laps. The speedo is one of the last changes that went up to 140mph as the standard 85mph speedo would be exceeded.

The motor is the most mysterious on the car. With the transverse V6 mounted dead center this is in fact a front wheel drive configuration! Upgrades under the hood include a turbo that feeds into a handmade top hat that feeds straight into the carburetor. The handmade one off hat is also fitted with a rudimentary blow off valve that is basically a pressure valve that has been turned backwards. Other handmade parts include an exhaust manifold that still dons the handmade welds and marks of its fabricated origins. The Mitsubishi mini turbo looks industrial, perhaps something off of a forklift or small diesel K truck. The fuel system has been upgraded to handle the additional horsepower. As of right now the only upgrade that Mike knows on the engine internals are roller rockers and a larger capacity oil pan. Until the car needs a rebuild or unless someone tracks down the original engineers this will be one of the last mysteries of the car!

We can’t talk about this car without mentioning the driver team which, foreshadowed earlier, was ALL women! Many of the VIPs and ride along participants were rushed around the track in a hot car driven by a hot woman who probably scared them to death! Presumably a part of the promotion and to further pull people into the series, you the spectator could be driven around the track before the race in the pace car piloted by good looking women. All of the drivers had great racing backgrounds and would begin, pace and end each of the races in the series. In many of the promotion items that Mike has tracked down you can see the drivers bios, picture big hair and lots of hairspray!

While the car does not have a lot of documentation the story is unraveling. Mike knows that the car was sold by Bendik Oldsmobile in Pittsburgh PA and after its pace car campaign was sold back. The car was put up on the 3rd story of the facility and used as a promo car until the closing of the dealership. From there the car gets lost in history for 26 years, purchased by the gentleman that Mike bought the car from Marion “Babe” of Marion motors in Connellsville, PA. He used it as a weekend cruiser, changing up some items like the wheels and occasionally took it to a car show. While he knew the history of the car he did not advertise it as it was just another Omega from the era…and this folks is how cars get lost. When Mike purchased the car it had 13.6K miles on the odometer and it still ran! Below is how the car looked that day, no light bar and wheels that had been swapped.

As of right now Mike has plans to do much more research and in search of anyone or any material that might shed more light on the Omega. He’s enjoying reintroducing the car back into the wild, bringing back memories from various show goers and telling the oral history of the car. The car has been featured by Mr. Obscure on Hotcarsz and has a full feature in Hemmings that has yet to be published. The car was featured at the GM Nationals and I can only imagine this is the start of a parade of shows Mike will be asked to.

Big thank you to Mike for allowing me check out and talk about this piece of American history. Go follow the cars journey on instagram @mikeblaze72 and Mike Blaze on Facebook. If you have any old pictures or stories contact the podcast or Mike directly as the story and history of the car is dying to be uncovered. Be on the look out for Mike all around the Pittsburgh area as he takes this piece of history to major shows in the area and don’t be afraid to talk to him, he’s a great story teller!