For those who havent been to Indy its a great automotive town . Gasoline Alley and the museum at the Indianapolis track are a must see ! Axle
Something else to say;those drivers in their shirt sleeves or work coveralls,even Formula One of that that period was the same types,not like the ballet dancer looking drivers of today.Yes,the smiles,honest,not corrupted by mega millions of dollars.
Awesome... went to Indy in '93 to see the race... and was back there last December to go to the museum... The Museum rocks... plenty to see and soak in! Sam.
From the days when the "500 mile race" was great. Dig the pics, fantastic cars! That Cummins Diesel Special is a great looking car, looks large (and heavy), not for dirt. Interesting to see Alberto Ascari giving the Farrari a run.
I'm really drawn to this era too. My uncle,the farmer,with only a "hands on" education was able to get his hands on a wrecked Indy car,rebuild it with 327 Chevy power and travel the country racing on dirt with much success in the 60's. I'm driving mom home to Ohio this weekend,so great time to pick his brain for more info before its gone.Shown here in the mid 60's...Thanks Al!
I was 5-1/2 years old and listened to that race with my dad. That was and annual thing with him, usually over the car radio at or on the way to a family picnic. Great stuff for a young kids imagination.
Unlike today, when car owners look to So. America or Europe for drivers, the owners then often looked to the C.R. (as in Roadster)A. for talent. A lot of the drivers in that lineup came up through roadster racing and were hotrodders of the first order. Here's a pic of Jack McGraths'(#4 Hinkle Spl.) and Manny Ayulos (#8) "racing headquarters" just a few years earlier.
Here is a little known fact that the gentleman shared with me. Look at the picture above. The signature "52 and 21 were great years". In 1952 when he raced he was only 21, all the race results and data since the race have been wrong. It seems when some filled out the race entry form for the 1952 Indy race, not saying who, lied about his age. He was only 21 when he won that race.
Thanks for the great pictures. The cars had not changed so much by '58 when I attended with my father for the first time. The Novi V8 had a very unique sound as it came down the straight. Many good memories of Indy, even through F1.
Ryan, This is one of the best entries you have had on the Journal. Thanks for taking the time to set if up for us. I just love that era. In the mid fifties I remember riding my bike to the school with my first transistor radio hanging on the handlebars. I would ride around the track and listen to the race, just imagining what it would be like to be there... Thank you J.
Great collection, Ryan. Thanks for posting it. A few interesting details from this bunch: The winning Ruttman/Agajanian (not shown in this post) car is well known. It now belongs to Bruce Meyer, and is on exhibit at the Petersen. Ruttman was, at the time, the youngest-ever Indy winner. This car is shown as Tony Bettenhausen's entry, but the entry list shows a different number for him. The 99 car was, however, the 1951 winner, driven by Lee Wallard. Bettenhausen did drive this car in other events, but I don't think it was his '52 Indy ride. I understand that both the Wallard and Ruttman cars were actually stretched Kurtis midgets, upgraded to run at Indy. They were smaller than many other entries. Vukovich was leading the race in this car but went out. He did win in '53 and '54, and was killed in '55. I believe that this was all in the same car. These two, the Wallard and Vukovich cars, are my favorites among postwar, pre-Watson cars -- largely because of their great color schemes, not visible in these pictures. Others have noted the remarkable Cummins Diesel car, which Fred Agabashian put on the pole. It was, of course, a diesel, and got a lot of press both for its powerplant and its stance. Several writers pointed out that with the headrest and windshield removed, it could roll on its wheels upside down. I think that the Cummins may also have been the last American-built Indy car to run wire wheels -- and bitchin' wheels they are!
A lot of big names in that list! Thank you Ryan for the history lesson. I just don't get the same charge from Indy car racing with the whoosh cars nowadays. It's just too formulated, everything regulated down to the least point. Thank you Relic Stew for the video link. That brought tears to my eyes from the memories. jerry
Indy, yea, as a kid I remember listening to those races, no TV you could hear the Offy,s in the background, and those names, Vukivich,Bettenhousen, Mcgrath, Ruttman, SpiderWebb, Novi,s [they had thier own sound, gave me goose bumps], and the Cummins diesel. Brings back lotta memories, it was a big deal, most everybody tuned in.
I listened to Indy on the radio from 1954 through 1963 (?). In '64 I paid some exorbitant price to watch a closed-circuit telecast at a local movie theater. The radio was cool, but I sure do enjoy watching racing from my living room.
As a young kid in the early 60s it was a tradition for my dad and I to sit in the car (and I don't know why ?) and listen to the 500 on the radio. All the while he quite enjoyed telling of the exploits of Gus Schrader, Emory Collins et-al, that he witnessed, when they barnstormed through the midwest in the 1930s.
Uploaded a few more. A mix of 50's and 60's cars. Some Offy's, a Chrysler, and some, like the red Novi were replaced with sb chevy. This front drive Miller has a nice gear/supercharger whine.
A great set of photos. Thanks Jim for sharing Jack Zink was a good friend of mine and shared many stories of Indy in the 50's. He ofter told of arrriving for his first Indy in 1950, a 22 year old team owner with a Kurtis Offy on an open trailer behind a Plymouth sedan driven non-stop from Oklahoma. The gate guards sized him up and had a good laugh at the kid while he went though all his papers to find the entry letter before being allowed to enter Gasoline Alley(Cecil Green drove the car to a fourth place finish). How times have changed...
Outstanding photos and memories. I remember as a young kid what a treat it was to get an STP sticker! Or a Hilton Hyper Lube decal! Can anyone tell me what the plunger like device alongside the cockpit was for?
lots of memories here for me. got to see greg weld trying to quailfy the novi in the 60,s. drove in a stock car race in albq nm with roger ward and raced a lot with bill cheesburg in tucson and phx. duke nalon was president of the stock car association for a while when he retired in phx.met myron stevens famed miller mech. still had a new never raced 1948 kurtis midget in his car port in sun city. this was about 1975. great post thanks.
Rolla was a mainstay at Indy for many, many years. He worked with just about everyone... The man can tell you every detail of every thing he has ever been a part of. He wears the same hat he has worn for years and the only time I have seen him without it is when I gave him one of ours after we won Indy in 2000. I was Chief Mechanic on the winning car that year and Rolla was one of those guys that all of us "newbies" looked up to. He was there in times gone by that we could never hope to recreate but to those of us that appreciate the path they forged it was something very special to walk alongside them. The Month of May is always packed with history; be it the people or the cars there is an ever present link to the past wherever you go at the Indy 500.
Great pics of great cars and good stories too guys. Intersesting that we try so hard to be traditional around here. I saw at least two 4 bar front ends and numerous sets of disc brakes on this thread. I love how all the cars were different. The formula had yet to be set in stone. Pete
AJ Watson installing a fresh 270 in the 1954 Bob Estes special. He and Jud Phillips built it and were co crew chiefs in 1954.
Ryan, I forwarded this to a buddy of mine dave. Dave was into the sprintcar scene here in the N.W. here is his reply to me. Eric "A few notes-- the winner, Troy Ruttman was 21 years old and the car was a stretched sprint car owned by J.C. Agajanian. The Novi, was a front wheel drive car and the Novi engine was a dual over head cammed v8 with a centrifugal supercharger. In the late 50's they were known to have reached speeds of 200mph on the backstretch! They had 3 main bearings like a Flathead and a 180 degree crank! The Cummins diesel sat on the pole--- was very fast but was hard on tires. In 1949 and 1950 the City of Tacoma raced at Indy--- in 49 it sat on the outside front row. The car was later raced out of Portland as the Scoval Offy--- I raced against it many times and finished second in points in 1966 to Gordy Youngstrom who drove the Scoval Offy. I drove two Rangers that year to finish 2nd. One was an upright sprint car that had the same wheelbase as the Indy cars. The other was a roadster with a lay down engine that I owned. The Ranger was 440 cu. in. aircraft engine, inline 6, weighed 300 lbs. had a single overhead cam and 6 ports on each side of the engine. Burned alky and was Hilborn injected. If you looked at the stats for the race you would see that a lot of the cars were KK designated--- or Kurtis Kraft. We have a guy that is local and just bought a KK roadster like the Fuel Injection Eng. Special that was in the race and was driven by Bill Vukovich. That was another name for Hilborn Engineering. Vuky was killed in the 55 race. Your talking my subject now--- Dave."
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