The Silent Screamer - Andy Granatelli’s gas turbine car run at the 1967 Indy 500

This little red racer, with his calm manner, created the biggest explosion and the entire long and noisy history of motorsports occurred in Indianapolis during the last half century, most of the major automotive engineering developments came to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but during the fifties, the last developments were slow to reach the race track aircraft developments have long been applied to ground vehicles in the a3 salty bun you go in a straight line and can use a parachute to stop, but where a car had to maneuver had to pass through the wheels the well-known piston The engine still dominated the development of an airplane.

The

turbine

engine had been tested, but none had made it into the initial lineup. Anthony Granatelli, manager of the famous STP racing team, set out to change that throughout the year, the shops have had their problems and I just feel that all the time back in 1952, Andy's brothers were equally anxious, Joe and Vince Co, the designers and builders. The Granatelli brothers turned to a circle of associates in aviation and space speed. Space age experience and techniques were essential to Andy's plans. He wanted the The car was innovative and he wanted it to succeed, then break came and I knew there was an industrial

turbine

engine that would do the job.

All the things we needed for our race car. Acceleration, acceleration economy, those things are unknown, unheard of in turbines. Power, unlike a jet which obtains its forward motion by directly pushing hot air behind the turbine engine, forces it through a turbine wheel that turns a shaft. The very essence of the turbine is balanced. Precise and uniform rotation with few moving parts and tight tolerances given to the turbine. Its smooth running and tremendous reliability The engine can burn almost any flammable liquid but its normal diet is kerosene The fuel is ignited by a unique device called a glow plug A plot developed as a result of research into aircraft lighters in collaboration with the engine manufacturer Unlike spark plugs and igniters the firing end of glow plugs has the coil that glows red hot to start burning fuel and provide reliable continuous power, finally the right engine, how do we harness all this torque?

How do we make a car handle the technical support we need? section drawing of aircraft designs the engine should hang like an airplane wing the driver should hang to the side this means wishbone-type centerline construction the frame is the most complex aluminum structure of its size ever built an important feature of safety centerline fuel storage Various body shapes were studied to achieve the best aerodynamics, paying special attention to ground effect, the compression of the air flow between the car and the surface of the track beam, even a new shape called ellipse variant. It arrived and began to take shape in fiberglass.

All-wheel drive means extra weight, but it also means vastly improved handling and much more efficient use of engine torque. I think we've finally built the car. That's the safest car loan you want. Coming home, the construction type to withstand a 30g frontal crash, the kerosene fuel contained just hits the side of the car on the frame and the drop in travel through driving because I'm driving unsurpassed after three long years of development thorough. The car was revealed to the public now the only thing it was missing was a driver and they wanted the best Parnelli Jones wanted so he asked me if I was interested in driving and I felt at that moment that the mat had a response and I liked the acceleration. but he told me he would do the test in Phoenix to get a good honest review when I hit the gas and I was really impressed and I didn't even mind going back other than Mother Audible, yeah and So I don't really know.

I fell in love with your nap, Begleiter, so again Christian training with an Indian accent was very important and we didn't have much time to run, but I said 162 and I said, I certainly wish I was being arrested I was driving the car, the car had been built to exactly comply with the US auto club rule. I guess you want to bet that USAC officials do an MOT to make sure it's illegal there and we'll take it now, we want to check the front of your suspension your transaxles here your arms I don't see anything wrong with this place I also want to check the flap the flap installed since the Phoenix tests added aerodynamic braking to help the four wheel disc brakes I want to congratulate you on the design and structure of this chassis it is one of the best cars on the run and as pleased as Andy was with the buyers, Burlingame management's representative on the project, the floor proved its practicality and the process of preparing for the race began.

The month of May is dedicated to practicing learning. how the car handles in the corners tuning the chassis tuning the car to the driver the challenge the best and equipment of the best drivers Jimmy Clark and Jackie Stewart from Scott Graham Hill from England Dennis, home of New Zealand, yuck, car rental Austria and Belgium's Lucien Bianchi: Chapman, whose rear-engined Lotus designs help them. The reign of the front-engined roadster takes a look at what's to come. It's a hectic, sleepless time as 90 cars and 61 drivers compete for 33 starting spots. Technical experts. help the teams to have the cars in optimal condition as qualifying tests approach where the pace despite some running problems due to a defective piece of material Parnelli pushes to accelerate up to the race range 164 165 166 miles per hour it looks good, it's a happy team that's waiting for the qualifying tests the first day of qualifying the drivers drew lots on war nights and parnell Eastern is too far away for its number 42 to appear on the pylon it will be a long wait I knew that the car wouldn't be an extreme grader because I knew the other guys could use the Nitro and get pretty bad horsepower out of the high energy nitromethane fuse used by piston engine cars.

Qualifying speeds were very high, but Parnelli didn't do too badly using his normal fuel on his first lap speed was 160 6.48 at qualifying speed is the average of four laps 166 point four eight two again one sixty five point eight nine nine one sixty five point four four one for an average of one sixty six point oh seven five the turbo car finally qualified sixth out of 33 on the front row was Gordon Johncock Dan Gurney and in the poll with top qualifying speed of 168 point nine eight - Mario Andretti Parnelli wasn't too worried about his starting spot. I thought that when the race started when they took off the nitro, their speeds would continue to pass mine.

There is nothing left before race day except pit practice where pit crews rehearse routines to minimize the time that will be spent on each of the two mandatory pit stops over the course of those 500 miles. three STP specials and three Wagner Lockheed cars will be in the lineup, more qualified from one sponsor than ever before. Memorial Day

1967

dawned cloudy and humid, but gray or not, the weather was a man after the traditional parade and the payrolls that brought the cars up to date and starting order the safety car stops in the pits and the race begins Jones climbs the outside out of the groove grabs the stretcher now John now gets angry, let's play it again to get a closer look and prepare downshifts to multiply his torque he makes the jump onto the field but damages his clutch.

He really didn't intend to pass all those guys, but they all started to get into the rhythm. I'm sitting there, I can't bend over anyway, on my side, he backs up and I follow two or three more, which we all say was behind me, so I thought I might as well pass two or three of them and see which one. is the result after coming out of the turn relatively easy, hit behind that. ready and we actually gained a right to turn the same way and move towards the fence which is wide open for me so halfway through the first lap Nellie Jones hit her turbo car in first place, it looked easy from there .

The race became a battle for second place and then, for the second time in Indianapolis history, the finish of the race was postponed due to rain. A clear day for the restart with the cars in the order they were running when the red flag fell. Marnell lost his 13 seconds. lead Dan Gurney due to the restart and the race starts again, it seems like a repeat of yesterday's parade until at fin 51 Jones and the associated light return to the group and I tell them what they spend on the car to keep them racing. I thought I never really lost control of the car during the spin, of course I got out and pointed it in the right direction and was able to continue.

Parnelli broke records on almost every lap and broke them easily for some. The race is too predictable. but it's not that bad, the turbo car suddenly slowed down on the main straight at 196 lat with seven and a half miles to go, the car lost power, the wheel I tried my passenger car on the highway, suddenly, it stopped. It came out like this. and then in the 200 we looked like a sure win for Parnelli Jones and the STP turbo award now became a third Indy win for AJ Foyt. It was a victory not only for POI, it was a victory also for the coyote car he designed. and for the tires that carried him those 500 miles to victory at midnight, so I've felt it many times and I don't feel any worse than I do, but I really feel sorry for parkour, they don't know if you're gone.

Take heart despite the disappointment, the turbocar team was aware of the importance of what they had done today. I drive, make sure that being a new version of this car, the turbine engine is the most reliable ever, wouldn't that be nice to have? a car whose engine would run for 10 to 20 years without even touching it, is smog free for a long time, is gorgeous and has a cool climate, is exciting because it's tomorrow