The 2003 71st Edition of the 24 Hours of LeMans - Pace and Safety Cars

The 71st edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans took place from June 14-15, 2003 at the 8.482 mi (13.650 km) Circuit de la Sarthe road racing circuit close to Le Mans, France. The race was first held in 1923 after the automotive journalist Charles Faroux, the Automobile Club de l'Quest (ACO) general secretary Georges Durand and the industrialist Emile Coquile agreed to hold a test of vehicle reliability and durability. The 24 Hours of Le Mans is considered one of the world's most prestigious motor races and is part of the Triple Crown of Motorsport (Indianapolis, LeMans, and Monaco).

This year, Chevrolet 50th Anniversary Corvette Coupes were used in the Pace Car and Safety Car roles for the race. Two Pace Cars and four Safety cars were sent (with one being the backup for each type if needed). The cars were prepared in Michigan and then shipped over to LeMans France.  Pace Car #1 was an early 2003 Pilot car (vin #0007) and had a Manual Transmission while Pace Car #2, and the four Safety Cars were normal production vehicles with Automatic transmissions. The build seq # of these "normal production" cars (based on the 11,632 50th Anniversary Edition cars (RPO 1SC) that were produced) were 9,000 for Pace Car #2, and the four Safety cars were produced between 8,912 and 8,948.