Okay, children of the ’60s: Here’s your most memorable Indy 500—repackaged in convenient 20-minute video form.
The year 1965 was a pivotal one at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. After a prolonged struggle, the Indy roadsters were sent to the scrap heap by Colin Chapman’s Lotus, and now the mid-engined cars (we called them “rear-engined” then) were required equipment. And the venerable Offy engine, which had won every 500 since 1947, now had all the competition it could handle in the Ford four-cam V8.
This year signified another shift: With Jim Clark’s wildly popular victory, American open-wheel fans—or at least some portion of them—signaled they were ready to embrace foreign-born talent. With the European car technology came International drivers, establishing the trend that holds today. And Clark remains one of Indy’s most beloved personalities.
This short promotional film was obviously constructed around the STP Novi team of Andy Granatelli and the Granatelli brothers. A good part of the narration is provided by Novi driver Bobby Unser, and there’s a moving segment on teammate Jim Hurtubise and his recovery from horrible burns suffered at Milwaukee the previous year. But on race day, both Novis fall out early—as usual—and the focus shifts to the front of the pack and Clark’s historic victory.
There’s a lot to see here in this brief film, both in detail and scope. Hope you enjoy it.
The kids think we’re just nostalgic old fogeys but dammit, everything really was better back in the Sixties. Well, unless you were black or in Vietnam. The cars may not have been as fast as today’s but you could fix ’em yourself with just a screwdriver, a 9/16 open-end and some baling wire. It really did seem that we’d all be wearing jetpacks by 2013.
It’s strange that with all of the success of the “Ford Total Performance’ years, the small-block Chevy became the gold standard for anyone who wants to build a fast car.
I don’t see how there is any doubt that the 1960s was a golden age in American auto racing that can probably never be duplicated. It was just so special in so many ways.
In a way, the funny cars spoiled the party… Indy at its very best, in my humble opinion, between 1958 and 1964. Great racing in 1960 !