The recent discussion about Pacesetters encouraged me to do some more research on the topic. I'll probably put this on the site eventually, but for now:
The Chevrolet Pacesetter promotion was intended to leverage the selection of the 1967 Camaro as the pacecar for the 67 Indy 500.
The 4/10/67 initial announcement said “Chevrolet and its dealers are launching a nationwide Camaro Pacesetter sales campaign this month to mark the selection of the Camaro as pace car for this year's Indianapolis 500 race on Memorial Day.”
"During the Pacesetter event, Camaro buyers can get the special hood stripe and floor-mounted shift for three-speed transmission at no extra cost with special savings also available on Powerglide automatic transmission, power steering and power brakes.”
The various Pacesetter ads and literature include some details of the sale, but some details were unclear or appear conflicted.
The specifics of the Pacesetter sale were:
- The D91 bumblebee nose stripe and the M11 floor mount shift were no cost options on both L6- or V8- powered Camaros.
- For both L6 coupes and convertibles, the sale offered special savings on this group of eight options: the L22 250ci L6, deluxe steering wheel (N30), wheel covers (P01), whitewalls (P58), front and rear bumper guards (V31 & V32), wheelwell mouldings and side striping (Z21), and extra interior trim (Z23).
- If the eight-option package was ordered on a L6 car, then there was a small discount on these three options: power brakes, power steering, and the Powerglide automatic transmission.
Data on cars involved in the promotion is somewhat limited, but is sufficient to explain some to the details of the campaign.
The first cars that had the promotion were built in mid-April and, although the campaign was supposed to run through June, it continued until the end of the model year.
The window sticker showed the normal option list and prices. The GMAC invoice to the dealer showed a credit to the dealer for the promotion as a line item. How much of the savings the dealer passed on appears to be at the dealer’s discretion – there are some dealer invoices that show full price was charged to the customer without any discount.
The credit on the D91 stripe ($11.39) and M11 shifter ($8.15) were based on dealer cost, not the suggest retail price of $14.75 and $10.55.
The discount on the eight-option package (L22, N30, P01, P58, V31, V32, Z21, Z23) was $50. These options retailed for a total of $159.
If you ordered the eight-option package, the discount on power brakes was $5, the discount on power steering was $10, and the discount on the powerglide was $15. These discounts could be combined.
It is notable that the promotion focused on L6 cars. There was a notable surge in L6 orders after this promotion started, probably driven by profit potential for the dealers.
The only V8 cars involved in the promotion were those ordered with the M11 floor shifter or the D91 nose stripe. Very few V8 cars have been documented as part of the Pacesetter sale.
