Vehicle Description
The Royal convertible picked to pace the Memorial Day Classic race
was finished in Pace Car Yellow and Jewel Black and was equipped
with a Continental kit and Kelsey-Hayes chrome wire wheels. This
example is powered by a 241ci Red Ram HEMI V8 engine outfitted with
a Carter AFB 4-barrel carburetor on an Offenhauser intake manifold,
a factory-cataloged dealer-installed option, mated to a Powerflite
automatic transmission. To capitalize on the huge publicity given
by pacing the 500, Dodge built replicas of the yellow and black
pace car for customers. The Royal 500 Pace Car Edition models all
had the correct appearance and the dealer-installed
high-performance 4-barrel intake that rendered them virtually
indistinguishable from the actual pace car on which they were
based. This genuine 1954 Dodge Royal 500 Pace Car was found in
California by its previous owner and given a full restoration that
included a rebuilt engine, Powerflite automatic transmission,
steering and brakes. All of the work was done to a high standard
and the car is in good condition from top to bottom, inside and
out, including its original trunk mat without a cutout for the
spare wheel and tire.
