With the recent passing of Rolla Volstedt it reminded me of how things happened between Rolla and A.J. Watson at the time of the 1964 Indianapolis 500. It is best described here from Oldracingcars.com.
" AJ Watson's first rear-engined car was an unashamed copy of the very quick late-1963 Vollstedt design. Rodger Ward qualified on the front row for the 1964 Indy 500 and finished in second place.
Since 1959, AJ Watson had been one part of the most successful Indycar racing team of that era. With team owner Bob Wilke and driver Rodger Ward, the "3 W's" had won the Indy 500 and the national championship in 1959 and again in 1962. But then the Lotus 29s had arrived and after seeing Jim Clark dominate the Milwaukee 200 in August in the Lotus, Ward had insisted Watson build him a rear-engined car for 1963. Although AJ Watson was the most successful builder of roadsters, his cars having already won the Indianapolis 500 six times, his skills would not necessarily transfer to the new rear-engined "funny cars". However, Watson was not the only American trying to build such a car and at an Indy tyre testing session late in 1963, Rolla Vollstedt arrived with an extremely effective car based on a Brabham design. To short-cut his project, Watson copied the Vollstedt and had two new cars ready for Indy the following April. They qualified and Vollstedt's didn't and Rolla's dismay was deepened when the Indy 500 organisers awarded Watson the 'Builder Of The Year' trophy for 'his' innovation. Years later, he handed over the trophy to a rather indignant Vollstedt.
Watson built two different versions of his new car, one with a traditional Offenhauser engine for Don Branson and one with the newly-available Ford V8 for Rodger Ward. Ward's worked best, qualifying on the front row at Indianapolis and finishing second three times that season, at Indianapolis, Milwaukee and Phoenix, but the car never actually won a race.
Both cars survived and have now been restored to the 1964 specification. "
1964 AJ Watson rear engine Indy Car # 2 at Laguna Seca on display. August 2010.
(Ken Hyndman photo )
