The Catfish

Art Sparks and Paul Weirick wanted to race Indy. They were both cerebral fellas and figured what they didn’t have in the bank, they could make up for with their intelligence. With that in mind, the two gentleman began gathering mismatched parts from Ford, Chrysler, Chevrolet, and of course – Miller. Now, they didn’t have the money to stretch the Miller motor like much of the competition was doing, so to make up for the low power they planned to be very slippery.

A pair of Stanford professors agreed to take on the problem and before Art and Paul knew it, they were standing aside a clay model of a very funny looking race car.

“Looks like a catfish…”

Even so, the two didn’t care so long as the car ended up being a FAST catfish. The body was built and their budget was busted. Desperate, Art and Paul approached Earl Gilmore about financing the rest of the build and a run at the Indy 500. Earl liked the novelty of the car and agreed on one condition: If the boys could take the car to Muroc and break the American four cylinder record of 144.89 mph, then Gilmore would pick up the rest of the checks on the path to Indianapolis.

With that news in hand, Art and Paul scavenged their Ascot cars and put together a fairly hot little Miller motor optimized for straight line speed. Their first attempt at the record failed. The little motor was just running too much compression for the fuel Gilmore supplied. Undaunted, the two went back to L.A. and prepped the little motor for alcohol. Running new Winfield cams, methanol, and just enough Gilmore lubricant in the castor oil to say the car used Gilmore products, the car ran 148.218 to take home the record. Our heroes were Indy bound.

The early part of May went well for the catfish. The car actually qualified pretty well (middle of the pack) at 112.899 mph, but the rigors of the 500 mile race proved too much. The fuel tank sprang a leak and the elaborate body didn’t provide access for a fix. A few laps before the finish, the catfish was called off the track. They finished 22 laps down.

Just a week later, the catfish actually won a 100 mile event just a few paces from Indy. However, Art and Paul just couldn’t shake their distaste for the car after their dismal showing at Indy. They sold the car shortly thereafter…

The catfish went on to become a pawn in a war between oil companies as Union Oil (rival of Gilmore) sponsored another run at the same 4-cylinder record held by Art and Paul. They got their record and sold the car yet again. From there, the catfish showed up at Indy again, performed poorly, and was eventually rebodied. Still, I’ve always loved the little car and the story that comes with it. Them were the times…