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CART: BMW M Coupe Joins PPG Pace Car Team

28 December 1998

WOODCLIFF LAKE, NEW JERSEY--A BMW M Coupe will join the PPG Pace Car team and be featured at select CART Championship Series races in 1999. The car will debut at the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show January 2-10 before heading to race tracks around the country.

The PPG Pace Cars are a team of custom-built, high performance pace cars that appear in parade laps and alternate as the starting pace cars for the CART racing series.

The exciting and artistic paint scheme for the M Coupe which features BMW's signature motorsport colors was created by the BMW subsidiary, Designworks/USA, located in Newbury Park, Calif. The complex design features a brilliant display of shapes that highlight the unique body style of the M Coupe.

"The PPG Pace Car program gives BMW a unique way to showcase the M Coupe in front of CART Champ Car racing fans," said Vic Doolan, President, BMW of North America, Inc. "Designworks and PPG produced a fabulous looking car and the M Coupe's quick acceleration will give it the power it needs to pace the field at CART races."

The M Coupe is fitted with special light alloy wheels and the interior design coordinates with the paint scheme. The M Coupe PPG Pace Car is the result of numerous hours of work between Designworks and PPG to produce what will be one of the most noticeable cars at any CART race.