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The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was intially built as a testing ground for road cars. Before long it was the Indy 500 which became a proving ground for racing cars.
The Indianapolis 500 has provided a fertile breeding ground for innovative designs over the years. Since the first 500-mile race in 1911 the race has attracted everything from ingenious pieces of engineering to hopelessly misguided attempts. Here is just a small selection of the stranger cars to turn up for the month of May. Marmon WaspThe Marmon Wasp is, quite simply, one of the most famous racing cars in the world. It was markedly different from any other car competing in the inaugural Indianapolis 500 in 1911. At a time when riding mechanics were de rigeur, the Wasp was a bona fide single-seater, driven by Indiana resident and Marmon employee Ray Harroun. The car is best known for carrying the world’s first rear-view mirror. Painted in a distinctive yellow and black colour scheme, Harroun took the Wasp from 28th at the start to first at the finish, cementing both his and the car’s name in Indy history. Lee Oldfield SpecialAt a time when the German Auto-Union team were dominating European Grand Prix racing, along with Mercedes, using rear-engined cars, Lee Oldfield attempted to do the same at Indy. The car he arrived with in 1937 was innovative and outlandish. Powering the machine was a V16 Marmon engine of six litres. The car also featured independent suspension and inboard rear brakes. Although initially earmarked for Joel Thorne to drive, Oldfield decided he’d like to try himself. It had been quarter of a century since Oldfield’s debut at the Brickyard, but the complexities of the car meant that it didn’t manage a single qualification run. Marchese SpecialThe Marchese brothers, from Milwaukee, produced their first Indy challenger for the 1938 race, to be driven by Harry McQuinn. The transversely sprung car was powered by an eight-cylinder Miller engine and had a chassis made from aircraft tubing. Interestingly, the car featured side-mounted radiators, pre-dating modern single-seater design by more than three decades. McQuinn qualified the car in 25th position and, despite retiring with three laps to go, was classified seventh. Miller RE4DHarry Miller had appeared at Indianapolis in 1938 with a rear-engined car, the foor-wheel drive RE4. George Bailey was due to drive it, but after finding it too slow, the Detroit driver changed rides. In 1939 Miller was back with the RE4D, this time with the added benefit of a supercharger. This time Bailey did qualify the car but disappointingly retired just before quarter distance with valve trouble. The RE4D was a heavy car, but with some innovative features. Besides the rear mounted engine the car also boasted independently sprung wheels and transverse springs. Bailey returned with the RE4D in 1940 but, after setting the fastest lap time to date on May 7th, he crashed and succumbed to his burns a short time later. For a selection of some of the strangest cars to appear at Indy after World War Two, please click here.
The copyright of the article Unusual Indy 500 Cars in Indy Racing is owned by Kevin Guthrie. Permission to republish Unusual Indy 500 Cars in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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