Along with the Indianapolis 500, the greatest spectacle in racing, there’s a great historic Indy car show at the Speedway each May. Veteran automotive journalist Jim McCraw was there to give us a full report. 

 

The Past Is Always Present at The Indianapolis 500

by Jim McCraw

 

As they have for the past few years, a whole bunch of vintage Indy roadsters showed up before the big race, this year to pay tribute to 1963 winner Parnelli Jones on the 50^th anniversary of his victory in J.C. Agajanian’s no. 98 A. J. Watson roadster.

The cars in the field included a 1914 Stutz, a rare Locomobile, the last surviving Miller TNT complete with 1919 straight-eight DOHC engine, an early Studebaker, and two dozen postwar Indy roadsters built by the likes of Watson, Lujie Lesovsky, Quinn Epperly, Eddie Kuzma, and Frank Kurtis.

Most of the roadsters were powered by various versions of the venerable Offy engine as conceived by Harry Miller and built by Fred Offenhauser and Meyer & Drake.  Some of the Offys were vertical, some of them canted, some of them mounted horizontally with the cylinder head to the left, a couple of them turbocharged.  They were all beautiful.

For variety, how about the San Diego Steel Products Special, the roadster that appeared at Indy with a Chevy small-block engine, offset waaay to the left and fitted with Hilborn injection.  Or, how about a Ford DOHC Indy V-8 in a Watson roadser, offset and tipped over on its side with all eight pipes going right past the driver’s ear.

The variety and the quality of the cars that showed up this year to honor Parnelli’s finest hour were the best we’ve ever seen, and if you’re smart, you’ll come to Indy early next year to see these magnificent cars with your own eyes.  A sampler of photos follows.

 

 

The San Diego Steel Products roadster features a heavily offset small-block Chevy engine, the first ever to attempt to qualify at Indy. Simply irresistible.

 

Bob Sirna brought his 1958 Kurtis Kraft from Rochester,Michigan, powered by a laydown Offy four and sponsored by the D-A Lubricant company, which is still in business.

 

This Watson roadster roadster was adapted to accept the same DOHC Ford Indy V8 used in the rear-engined cars, and it must have been very hard for the driver to hear what his crew chief was saying.

 

The black-and-gold paint job is a dead giveaway to the fact that legendary builder Smokey Yunick was behind the City of Daytona Beach Special, a Kurtis-Offy now owned and campaigned by Ohio collector Bob McConnell, who brought four cars to the event.

 

On Saturday morning, Parnelli Jones slipped into the cockpit of his 1963-winning ride, the Willard Battery Special fielded by owner J.C. Agajanian, to lead the field of vintage Indy roadsters for a few laps around The Brickyard.  Note safety baseball cap.

J.C. O’Steen, right, with son Jason, brought this 1914 Stutz to Indy from Tallahassee. Three generations of crew were all decked out in white Stutz coveralls and leather helmets.

 

Larry Pfitzenmaier of Tucson brought the no. 16 Simoniz Special Watson-Offy in which Jim Rathmann drove at Indy in 1959 and won the only Indy roadster race ever run at Daytona.

 

Bill Akin of Nashville wheels the Mid-Continent Securities Special shown on the formation laps.  Akin brought three of his roadsters to the Indy event, and personally fired each one every morning.

 

Thom Taylor of Hot Rod Magazine got to drive one of Bill Akin’s other cars, the #33 Bowes Seal-Fast Special, for a video segment and, like many of the others, the car just didn’t run right when it counted.

 

One of the earliest cars in the garage was the deep green no. 2 Miller 122 powered by a jewel-like aluminum straight 8.

 

This Watson roadster’s original 252 CID Offy engine wasn’t turbocharged. In an effort to keep the aging racer competitive,  a 168-inch Offy with outboard turbo, manifold, and wastegate were adapted.  The turbo-Offy roadster is now owned by Bob McConnell of Ohio.

 

Yes, it’s pink.  The Racing Associates Lesovksy-Offy, driven here by Bob McConnell, was on the pole in 1959 with driver Johnny Thomson and finished third in the race.

 

The no. 34 Studebaker two-seater was a serious factory effort.  The no, 35 sticker on the hood signifies that this same car also competed in the Colorado Grand, a 1000-mile road rally that never leaves Colorado.  Pretty stout for a car meant to go only 500 miles.