The Pontiac Trans Am is the pace car for the Indianapolis 500 on May 28, 1989. It was the third and final time the General Motors brand was designated pace car for the annual race.
Bobby Unser, a three-time winner of the race, drove the 20th-anniversary edition of the Trans Am.
The Trans Am was a top-of-the-line Pontiac Firebird, which shared a platform with the Chevrolet Camaro that GM designed and engineered to rival Ford's popular Mustang, the original pony car. The Camaro and Firebird were introduced in 1966 as 1967 models.
The Trans Am was launched in 1969 and it was a special performance coupe when Pontiac installed an updated version of the Buick Grand National's intercooled, turbocharged V-6 engine for the 20th-anniversary edition.
The 3.8-liter, six-cylinder engine was mated to an automatic transmission, combined with a WS6 suspension package, producing the first car ever to pace the Indianapolis 500 without performance modifications.
The Pontiac Bonneville handled pace car duties for the 1958 Indy 500 and the Trans Am powered by a turbocharged engine was pace car for the 1980 race.
