#Novi50: Novi Special

- If you went anywhere in the country and talked to people about Novi, they would say, oh, the Novi race car, we know Novi because of the Novi race car. What people don't realize is that it was the most famous race car in Indianapolis from the mid-'40s to the mid-'60s. I mean, it's got a pretty big heritage down there. - The most important thing we are famous for is the Novi Special, which was raced in the Indianapolis 500. That's always been Novi's claim to fame. - The Novi Special is considered the best car to never win the Indy 500, but it still managed to become an Indianapolis icon without even entering the winner's circle. - The Novi part of the car is the engine because it is a one-of-a-kind, double overhead camshaft, supercharged engine that was manufactured as an engine.

I mean, it wasn't a car engine or someone else's engine. It was a unique engine. The part of the car that was really

special

is in its early years, the supercharger. I guess it made a sound like a siren. It could be heard from 10 miles away, they claimed. (engine roar) (upbeat music) - With a tremendous roar, that Hotel Tropicana Special rolls down the starting line. - A fan favorite due to its overwhelming power and sound, the crowd loved the high-pitched scream of the Novi engine. -I remember my dad turned on the radio and said, well, they're getting ready to start the big Indy race, he says, and boy, we hope the Novi car wins the race this year. - The origins of the Novi Special date back to the 1930s.

In 1937, the Indianapolis 500 ended its junk car formula, which was implemented during the Depression to allow cheaper engines to compete in the race. Once restrictions were lifted, brothers Ed and Bud Winfield wanted to build a new Indy car. They gained sponsorship from Lew Welch, owner of Novi Equipment Company. - Lew Welch was a parts manufacturer for Ford Motor Company, more specifically, Ford Tractor Parts. He was a friend of Henry Ford. If you look at the old Novi racing cars, the Ford V8 logo was on the front of the car. I guess he had permission from Henry Ford to use the V8 logo on his cars.

He had the engines designed and built. They were not designed or built here, but were based here. That's where the water tower is. - The engine, designed by Bud Winfield and Leo Goosen and built by Fred Offenhauser, was first used under the Winfield name in the 1941 race. It was immensely powerful, producing over 450 horsepower, much more than the 300 horsepower typical of other engines on the market. The front-wheel drive Novi was heavy, thirsty and extremely hard on its tires. Therefore, the car was incredibly difficult to control. Lew Welch originally chose Ralph Hepburn, an experienced Indy driver, to drive his new car.

Hepburn achieved a respectable fourth place in the 1941 race. Other drivers, such as Chet Miller, Paul Russo and Duke Nalon, later drove the car at notable speeds, but none of them won a race. Tragedy occurred in 1948 during a practice run when Ralph Hepburn lost control of his Novi and crashed head-on into a wall. He died instantly. The Novi had begun to gain a reputation for being cursed. Duke Nalon drove the Novi that year and was the fastest qualifier for the race. With only 13 laps remaining, Nalón had to stop to refuel. He finished in third place, which would become the best result in the history of the Novi motor.

During the 1949 race, Nalon crashed his Novi into the wall, leaving an inferno of fire in his wake. He narrowly escaped, jumped out of the car at the last second and survived the accident with severe burns and bruises. Bud Winfield was fatally injured in a car accident in 1950. The Novi team lost its chief mechanic and the heart and soul of the team. After failing to qualify in 1950, Duke Nalon again took pole for the 1951 race. Once again, engine failures plagued the car, causing Novi to retire early. In the 1952 race, the Novi Special again qualified for pole position, but both cars broke their driveshafts during the race and retired early.

In 1953, Novi claimed another life. Chet Miller crashed his Novi into the wall during a practice run, eerily familiar with the accident that claimed Hepburn's life. The Novi would not be qualified for a race until 1956, when they switched to rear-wheel drive. The car held a brief lead until a flat tire took it out of the race early. For 20 years, Lew Welch chased an elusive victory at Indianapolis in the Novi Special. In 1961, he sold the Novi assets to Andy Granatelli for $10,000. Granatelli's work on the car would generate a record-breaking output of more than 700 horsepower. In 1963, Paula Murphy became one of the first women to drive at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway when Granatelli asked her to perform some tire testing on her new Novi racer.

Bobby Unser would be the last driver to compete with the Novi in ​​the Indy 500 in 1965. The car failed to qualify for the 1966 race, marking the end of Novi's ill-fated odyssey, one that had promised so much, but had delivered. so much. little. -When I went to the Indy 500 wearing a jacket that said Team Novi, I couldn't believe how many people from out of state came up to me and said, "Are you from Novi?" "Are you from Novi? The Novi Special engine?" And I started saying, wow, everyone knows more about him than I do. Of course, Ed Krewall, really.

He really knew a lot about it and had done a lot of research on the engine itself. And it was his goal to have one of these. Belong here, belong here. I traced the Novi stable to Andy Granatelli in Van Nuys, California. I talked to his son, Vince, and I said, where is everything? Novi racing cars? He says, well, museums have a couple. We have all the engines and transmissions. He said, we have it all here. Through some astute negotiation, Ed Krewall finally brought back a Novi Special. Funded by donations from Spike Walker, a local businessman, and the Novi Economic Development Corporation, Novi now owns the car named after him. - Our car is a moving car.

He did a couple of laps at MIS one year during one of the races there. We just walked around it slowly, walked around the track. But we ended up with the last Novi, completely restored, no taxes involved. That was a good thing for the city and it's the most important historical thing about Novi when you really look at it, I mean, because it's a very important thing. (upbeat music)