Indy Roadsters

[bry3500]

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Looks like the Bill Cheesbourg-Greenman Casale Special 1959

[bry3500]

Gotta love the names of some of these cars .. ' ' McNamara Chiropractic Special '... the mind boggles

[Michael Clark]

Mark, the first of your photos - car #51, is the one that now lives in Beachlands.

[Michael Clark]

#76 - the black, white and red car - is a Ewing (basically a Watson copy). It ran, briefly, in the 1960 Indy 500 as the 'Joe Hunt Magneto Special'

[Michael Clark]

#56 looks like the Christensen chassis the great Jim Hurtubise drove in the 1960 Indy 500 - the 'Travelon Trailer Special'

Could #39 also be from 1960 - 'Ridgewood Builders Special' Kuzma

[stubuchanan]

#56 looks like the Christensen chassis the great Jim Hurtubise drove in the 1960 Indy 500 - the 'Travelon Trailer Special'

Could #39 also be from 1960 - 'Ridgewood Builders Special' Kuzma

Car 39 doesn't look like the 1960 entry - here is the Ridgewood Builders Special (from the Floyd Clymer 1960 Year Book)



Car 39 in colour picture has turbocharger - were they used as early as 1960? And colour scheme very different.

Car 56 is indeed the "Travelon Trailer Special" in which Jim Hurtubise set the then record fastest 4-lap qualifying time 2.5 mph or 4 seconds faster than Eddie Sachs' pole position time, but Eddie's was on the first qualifying day and Jim's on the last so he was 23rd on grid.




Not sure about the colour of the #56 car - reports at the time talk of "that purple car" and B/W photos show an off-white main colour. Perhaps an irridescent pale purple and deeper colour on the details.



Note no air jacks, but several cars had them in 1961 including the Cooper.

Stu

[Michael Clark]

I was never confident of #39 being the 'Whatever Special' - but it was the only roadster I could find that ran 39 at Indy...

As for the Herk's '60 ride, the 'Indy 500 Chronicle' shows the colour (actually color) as "Pink pearl, purple" - lovely.

[stubuchanan]

I have been meaning to return "Hurtubise" by Bob Gates to its owner (my brother). It contains this description of the paint-job.



They may have been better advised to spend a little more time on the engine than on the paint. The car retired due to an oil leak caused by a painted-over crack in the oil tank, damaged in Jack Turner's crash in the 1959 '500'. 'Ruiz' was Ernie Ruiz, owner of the car and of Travelon Trailers.

Stu

[stubuchanan]

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This #39 car is a 1963 Watson-built roadster driven in the 1966 Indy 500 by Bobby Grim as the Racing Associates Special. It had a 168 cu. in turbocharged Offenhauser engine that year and qualified 15th and finished 7th. In earlier years it had a 252 cu. in engine. Claimed to be the last Roadster to run in the '500', but Jim Hurtubise qualified his own Mallard front engined car in 1968 but lasted only 9 laps in the race. The Mallard (its tail stuck up like a duck!) was a semi monocoque lightweight car with solid axles, and the Herk entered it, perhaps as a joke, well on into the 1970's. He put in a single lap of 176.991 mph in 1972, but had already qualified faster in a rear engined car.

Stu

[Michael Clark]

You are quite right (again) Stu - 1966 #39 maroon and black - (I didn't look late enough)

In 1968 the Mallard - aka 'The Pepsi-Frito Lay Special' was the last Roadster to qualify.

The last Roadster to finish looks like 1965 and Gordie Johncock in the 'Weinberger Homes Special' Watson. He was 5th.

Of Mark's photos, #43 has me stumped.

[stubuchanan]

Of Mark's photos, #43 has me stumped.

Rainy day, couldn't do anything I had planned, so put on my super(?)sleuth hat and looked for car 43.
It should be the 1961 Ray Brady Special (fuel injected). Al Keller was set down as driver, but swapped to #19 Konstant Hot Special in place of Jack Rounds and set 6th fastest qualifying time but late in the piece so ended up 26th on grid. However he had a good race and finished 5th!

I don't know if #43 actually ran, no reference in the Year Book, only a photo of injection "horns".

I found 2 photos of #43 on http://www.bakerracing.com from 2007 Monterey Historic and these show "Brady" just in front of cockpit. Knowing where to look I could then find it on Mark's #43 photo. Fascinating collection of roadsters, plus a few dirt trackers.

Stu

[Michael Clark]

Yes Stu, it would seem you have nailed it - we can confirm beyond doubt if Mark has a frontal shot showing a black roundel and gold number

[928]

the first version of the 168 CID offy had a roots type supercharger driven by a gear train from the rear of the crankshaft. this is from memry having read a magazine article back in the 60's

This #39 car is a 1963 Watson-built roadster driven in the 1966 Indy 500 by Bobby Grim as the Racing Associates Special. It had a 168 cu. in turbocharged Offenhauser engine that year and qualified 15th and finished 7th. In earlier years it had a 252 cu. in engine. Claimed to be the last Roadster to run in the '500', but Jim Hurtubise qualified his own Mallard front engined car in 1968 but lasted only 9 laps in the race. The Mallard (its tail stuck up like a duck!) was a semi monocoque lightweight car with solid axles, and the Herk entered it, perhaps as a joke, well on into the 1970's. He put in a single lap of 176.991 mph in 1972, but had already qualified faster in a rear engined car.

Stu

[bry3500]

A couple from Milwaukee 1957. First is Shorty Templeman Kurtis Kraft Roadster Midget, the other "City of Miami Beach Special".

[MarkQ]

Michael & Stu,
Sorry I did not take a picture of #43 front on, but I have found that the car was called the 'Roy Brady Special'
from 1957. Did it make the grid for that year?
I know this is a 'Roadster' thread, but I do have a few shots of the Dirt trackers that ran at Indy in earlier years
these were also at Laguna Seca the same year if you guys would be interested?

[Michael Clark]

Mark a car did run in the '57 Indy 500 with #43 but it was a cream and blue H A Chapman entered Kurtis

[Michael Clark]

#43 - The Ray Brady - could be the car that was intended for Carroll Shelby. If that is correct, it never happened and that car never actually qualified for any 500.

[thunder427]

...The 'Legendary ' Dean Jeffries' passed away quietly in his sleep last Sunday........ my 'Mystic' mentor....................Thunder427/MJ

[stubuchanan]

Michael & Stu,
Sorry I did not take a picture of #43 front on, but I have found that the car was called the 'Roy Brady Special'
from 1957. Did it make the grid for that year?
I know this is a 'Roadster' thread, but I do have a few shots of the Dirt trackers that ran at Indy in earlier years
these were also at Laguna Seca the same year if you guys would be interested?

I'm not sure the (Ray) Brady Special ever made the start at Indy. It was there in 1960 as #58 with rookie Lee Drollinger as driver, but he bent it out of shape in practice and didn't qualify. There are photos on Flickr of it at the "Auto Racing Indy 500 Community Day" 21 May 2008. Somewhere it is described as a Kurtis KK500C Offenhauser, and, in 1961 at least, it had fuel injection. Brady (from Norristown, Pa) was a longtime Indy entrant - there was an earlier Brady Special which appeared there from 1950 to 1957. It had a Sharp engine at first and later an Offy.

Stu

[Michael Clark]

May 30 - Memorial Day. Up until the early 70s, the Indy 500 was run on May 30 irrespective of whether it was a Sunday or a Thursday. This means that today is the anniversary of all the guys who lost their lives in the 500 up until the race day was changed to the last Sunday in May.

In particular today I'll be thinking about the greatest Roadster chauffeur of them all - Vukie - Bill Vukovich.