The AV-21 was developed in parallel with the IAC's simulation phase, which ran from November 2019 to mid-2021, allowing competing university teams to build and refine autonomous driving software before taking delivery of physical hardware. The vehicle design originated from work at Clemson University's Deep Orange Project and was formally presented at CES 2021.
The AV-21 is rear-wheel drive and powered by an internal combustion engine producing 335 kW (449 hp), paired with a six-speed sequential gearbox. Its sensor suite comprised six monochrome cameras, four radars, three LiDARs, and an RTK GPS — a package chosen to balance perception capability with the computational constraints of onboard processing. Assembly, servicing, and maintenance were handled by an external contractor rather than the competing teams themselves. Teams were required to purchase the car in order to participate in the first physical IAC race.
The first physical IAC race took place on 23 October 2021 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, following a simulation-only qualifying phase. Nine teams entered with AV-21 cars. The event was reformatted from the planned multi-car race into a time trial with an obstacle avoidance test. TUM Autonomous Motorsport won the US$1,000,000 prize; Euroracing placed second, and PoliMOVE was awarded third despite crashing, having already posted its qualifying time.
In January 2022 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway as part of the Consumer Electronics Show, the IAC introduced multi-car competition in the form of an "Overtaking Game" — a head-to-head elimination tournament in which one car defended a constant speed while the other attempted an autonomous overtake, with defender speed increasing after each successful pass. PoliMOVE won the final by completing an autonomous overtake against TUM Autonomous Motorsport defending at 150 mph (240 km/h).
The IAC then expanded to further circuits. A race at Texas Motor Speedway in November 2022 introduced greater trajectory freedom for the defending car, raising the difficulty. PoliMOVE won again. At Las Vegas in January 2023, PoliMOVE claimed another victory, reaching approximately 180 mph (290 km/h) and setting a new speed record for the event.
In June 2023 the IAC made its European debut at Autodromo Nazionale di Monza as part of the MIMO event — the series' first road-course competition. The format reverted to a single-vehicle time trial due to the increased complexity of road course navigation and GPS coverage limitations. PoliMOVE again took the fastest lap.
On 28 April 2022 at the Kennedy Space Center runway, a Dallara AV-21 set an autonomous land speed record of 309.3 km/h (192.2 mph), the highest speed recorded by an autonomous vehicle at that time.
By 2024 the IAC moved to the Dallara AV-24 specification. The AV-24 retained the same base Dallara chassis but featured a fully re-engineered compute platform, sensor suite, and software stack — including Allied Vision colour cameras at higher resolution and frame rate, a Luminar Iris 360-degree long-range lidar, Continental ARS 548 radar with a range of up to 1,500 metres, and a New Eagle custom steer-by-wire and brake-by-wire system. The transition was prompted in part by reliability issues with the AV-21's wiring harnesses, which had caused recurring problems for multiple teams. At the January 2024 CES event, AV-21 teams competed in one final passing challenge round while AV-24 teams ran demonstration laps.
The Dallara AV-21 established the foundation for competitive autonomous racing at closed-circuit tracks, demonstrating that university-developed software stacks could achieve sustained high speeds, successful lane changes, and multi-car passing manoeuvres in a real competitive environment. Its operational record across Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Fort Worth, and Monza validated the IAC's format as a meaningful proving ground for autonomous vehicle technology.