1976 Free Spirit Buick Century Pace Car
Showcasing the 1976 Century Pace Car and the Replicas Buick produced



What you see before you is the first car to ever pace the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race with a V6 engine. This is the 1976 Buick Century "Free Spirit" Indy 500 Pace Car. It's special turbo-charged V6 engine spun out horsepower ratings in excess of 300. It's speed was greater than that of the 455-equipped Buick Century Pace Car of the previous year. This is one incredible machine. Although this was the second year in a row that the Buick Century was used for Pace Car duites no "official" replicas were built. However, 1,290 cars were produced which looked a lot like the two cars built for Indy. These 1,290 Buicks were just Century Customs with an appearance package consisting of a rear spoiler, stainless steel sail panel band, and, on some cars, Hurst Hatch T-Roofs. These cars were not "official" replicas because they did not have the many modifications that the actual 2 Pace Cars had, like an aluminum trunk lid, hood, and fenders, as well as the 307HP Turbocharged V6. These cars were called "Replicars". They could be ordered with or without a full-decal set identifying them as an "Official Pace Car" of the 60th Annual Indianapolis 500-mile race.

On this page I have included details about one of the 1,290 cars that is in the possession of my brother and I. This particular car was purchased back in 1995 by my brother from the second owner. Currently the car's condition is worse than the picture shown - quite a bit worse. It may need new quarter panels and a new front fender, but I think I'm up the to challenge to restore this rare gem back to it's original glory. Following are some basic specs on the car:

Our "Replicar" '76 Pace Car - CLICK ME VIN: 4H57J6H210255 Engine: 350ci Buick V8, 4bbl QuadraJet Transmission: GM TH350 Rear-end: 10-bolt Buick rear - 3.23 posi Heavy-Duty cooling system (4-core radiator) Air-Conditioning Rear Spoiler "Hurst Hatch" T-Roofs Interior Features:    - Tilt Steering    - Power Windows    - Power Door Locks    - Power Trunk Release    - Bucket Seats    - Console with "aircraft-style" shifter    - Electric Rear-Defrost I just recently ordered and received the GM Vintage Vehicle Information Package (call 1-888-467-6853 in Canada to get yours). I will post the info from that as soon as I can.

	The image on the left shows what the car looks like today (except that a lot of the trim has been removed at the moment to do body work). I have several more pictures of the car's current condition. Click the "MORE PICS" link below to see them.
	MORE PICS

The following article is from the June 1976 issue of Motortrend Magazine. Many, many thanks go to Dean Plunk, Director of the Lone Star Performance Buick Chapter GSCA for passing this article on to me.

Click here to access the article (contains black and white pictures)

These pictures accompanied the above article.
Click the pictures for a larger view of one of the two official Century Pace Cars for the 1976 Indy 500

© SCREECH.WS