Two Engines And No Chance: The Indy 500s Most Incredible Home Built Entry
2024 ж. 10 Сәу.
155 541 Рет қаралды
The Indy 500 has long been recognized as one of the most amazing hot beds of racing innovation in history. The 1966 race saw a car that may well stand as one of the most unique, inventive, and downright odd of the era. The Stein-Valvoline Special was a twin Porsche engined, four wheel drive, California garage built machine from the mind of a former midget racing champion and his friends.
The story of this car, its driver, and their attempt to qualify at the insanely jam packed 1966 Indy 500 is one every hardcore racing fan should know.
Man.... The pics and visuals are every bit as good as the storytelling. Lohnes nails it once again.
Thank you!!!
Holy shit I agree… Completely. No question
How do you find/locate the really specific images? Some of them in your videos look like the kind of pics in family photo books that never get scanned. But you always have the exact images for what you are talking about! Do you research with the families of the subjects of your videos? You are a real research historian!
My Father made custom machined parts for that car when I was a child in the middle 1960's .My father ( Bud Wisecarver of Bishop Wisecarver Corp ) knew Al Stein from when he and his friends were racing Midgets back in the early 1940's in the east bay area near San Fransisco. My father owned a engineering machine shop in Pittsburg Ca. located in Camp Stoneman park. I went more than several times with my father and watched as that car was built and assembled in a home garage. It was first tested on a oval track that was located in Vaccavile Ca. I think we still have the 8mm film from that testing day.
This is astounding!!!!!!
Joe Huffaker Sr is my grandfather in law. I have spent many an hour in the office of Steve Torp’s Classic Autobody in Berkeley and saw the nose of this car there. I asked Joe about this car several years ago before he passed away and all he had to say was something along the lines of “it was doomed to start with”. Joe was so sharp, he likely knew it wasn’t going to fly when it left their shop. Still an amazing story though and I like the way you framed it. I love your videos Brian. They are all incredibly well researched and put together! Always very entertaining.
Hi Ethan
Boy Brian you really KILLED IT with this fantastic story! The underdog always makes the best topic for stories. Win or lose, the story and the narrator - are winners.
The 1960s was the best time to watch INDY, the cars where cool and not a bunch of cookie cutter crap like they are today. Thanks for the great story!
That's pretty much true of all motorsports today.
So cookie cutter cars just means that driver talent counts more.
@@massmike11 Not necessarily.
Indy was _AWESOME_ when the rulebook was thin, and innovation was king.
I can't help but wonder what it would be like under USAC. It's a dinosaur series now.
as an OLD guy I remember this car in Hot Rod mag., various other stories of it and the innovative/odd stuff that raced at Indy in those day. GOOD STUFF Brian, thanks
Old Guys Rule..
Wow what a story, the dream of racing at Indy. How many had it, and how many never made it. Thank you Brian, I enjoy your work
In high school, in the mid 1960s, my all out hobby was slot car racing. I remember well, a really good car I had built with this body on it. Vacuum formed plastic, 1/24th scale, as most were, it was marketed as the Huffaker Porsche. Detail was great as the front and rear intakes were molded into the body. I had painted it a maroon metalflake, and always attracted people asking, 'what is that' ? Great memories. 😄
I still have a body by Lancer NOS in the box was named INDI PORSCHE PORSCHE . Never got around to painting it. Yeah fun times.
Here in Durango CO, there is a gentleman that I met, he has a really neat little VW baja and I'm a VW guy. I have done some work on the car for him, what makes it unique is the car was owned by Bobby Unser and it was built by Bill Cheesebourg. And it's built kind of like an old indy car, lots of aircraft plumbing and such. This guy used to own a local MC and Snowmobile dealership here, and the Unsers bought all their sleds from him and he got to be pretty good pals with Bobby, bought the baja from his daughter after he passed.
No idea there was a Bobby Unser connection coming out of Durango, that's pretty damn neat!
@@coliimusic so the story goes, Bobby had loaned Bill some money to get him out of a jam. He later called Bobby and said he had his money and a surprise, the baja being the surprise. I guess he built it and gave it to him as a thank you for helping bail him out of whatever jam he was in. That's as told to the current owner of the car.
@@coliimusic Since the Unser's are from New Mexico and they were regulars at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb out of Co Springs. Durango sure is close to that border now ain't it?
All I can say is: WOW. That V12 Corvair is a work of art. I've seen it up close, and talked to the owner. I had no idea it was Mr Itell, nor did I have any idea of Mr Itells history. This was an incredibly fun video to watch, and well narrated and edited.
Fascinating story. And well-told by an actual flesh-and-blood human being speaking into a mike instead of the irritating, mistake-prone prattling of yet another robo-voice. Thank you! 👍
You said Cheesbourg so many times I was craving white castle 🏰 burgers 🍔 😂😂😂❤❤❤❤
You have hit another HOME RUN Brian. Great story.
Every time you download something, I end up enjoying myself immensely! Thanks for a high quality production. You're obviously a scholar and a gentleman!
You have no idea how happy that makes me to hear!!
@@brianlohnes3079 You're very welcome! My comment was heartfelt and sincere.
One of my favorite threads in racing is finding drivers that have ran the Indy 500 and raced in a professional drag race
Surprised I'd never heard of that car, absolutely love these stories. Thanks Brian !!
Thank for checking it out!!
@@brianlohnes3079 do you know about the Chevrolet tractor? They only build one and it still exist,I done a bunch of reading about it several years ago and it's a interesting story. Thought it might make a good video for you to do. again I really enjoy your videos.
When motor racing is no longer a job, but a way of life. Great stories very well narrated👍
Another great story from the era of innovation at Indy that started in 1962 and went to 1980. Every year entrants brought new technology to the track. It kept the sport interesting.
Brian, you tell the best stories. I love turning on these videos and learning about the past of the sport I love. The way you tell the stories makes it very hard to stop listening. You have a perfect voice, you have all the information and you have all the pictures and visuals. These are my favorite videos to watch on KZhead. Thank you so much for doing these videos, and I am so happy I found your channel.
I am very appreciative that people spend their time giving this stuff a chance. I always try to make them as best as I can so it’s not wasted time but something you can come away with after watching. Appreciate your words!
I can't say enough good things about your channel! The time it must take for you to research the people and cars, along with the photos... outstanding! Coupled with your loud and clear voice, this has become my favorite channel of all and I always jump to hit play when a new one shows up! Thanks Brian, and keep up the excellent work!
Remember the 6 wheeled Tyrrell P34 "Elf" car. I'd love for you to do a story on that sometime. Keep up the GREAT work Sir.
I just watched one on here.
They also banned it,other motors have been banned also.
I grew up in the bay area and when I was young the shop that was building this car was down the block from my cousin house. We would go there and watch them build this car. I remember the car was drawn out on the wall of the shop and we stood there and said it is going to be fast with 2 engines.
I´ve read about this car some 30 years ago in a book called "Porsche specials and prototypes" by Jürgen Barth. Yes, that Jürgen Barth, the quite famous Porsche works driver and Le-Mans-winner and later chief of the customer racing department at Porsche.
Always great racing history! Love hearing all of these amazing stories of what people would go through to go fast! Keep them coming love these videos!!!
Thank you for tuning in!
its a crime you don't have more subs, i love listening to these when im falling asleep :)
I can't believe this channel only has 30k subs
Hey, i don’t sweat it! Thanks for watching this stuff!
Thoroughly enjoying this eclectic collection of stories. Tank engines to Indycars!
You're probably tired of hearing this but, man, incredible job! I consider myself a long time fan of oddball Indy stuff and I knew nothing about this car
Glad you enjoyed it and boy there is a lot of that stuff to be a fan of!!
That Turbo Rambler Six is the forefather of the Jeep 4L.
The Barney Navarro stuff was awesome
Another fine post. Just finished mowing my lawn to it. Took forever. I kept having to stop to listen more closely.😊
My father was heavily involved in open-wheel racing in the 1930's & 40's in the Midwest. He was a friend of Ray Nichels. I know a fair amount about the evolution of Indy cars but until I saw this thought Smokey's pod car was the strangest to show up at Indy in the 60's. Seeing Gary Congdon's name brought back old memories of his Midget racing days, I knew him and was a fan of his. R.I.P. Also, kudos to you for your great commentary on the televised NHRA events.
Another great historical tale of motorsports we'd never heard before, along with the backstory of the iconic cheery picker. Thank you Brian, and I can't be the only guy that thought 'cheeseburger' every time Bill's sir name was mentioned. Cheers!
You aren’t the only guy! Haha
Thanks Brian for bringing this memory back to me. I worked for Cheez from 1968 to 1973 building VW buggies, then servicing the air cooled VW's and doing all the welding on the race cars. I still have 2 of the trophies for his winning of those 1/2 mile dirt races in Tucson. He was a great guy to be around and working for.
Here is one you might want to consider someday-A rear engine, steel bodied 68 Mustang funny car driven by Gary Read. Saw it at Irwindale(push start!) and as a 14 year old, to me it was the most evil thing i had seen to that point. Lets just say i saw it before and after..to this day i have never been able to find a picture of it. You can read details of its adventure that night- Drag News Vol.14 No.8 August 10 1968. And THANK YOU for this story - the innovation of the Indy Cars was incredible back in the day. Now, not so much.
I've known a couple of great storytellers during my life and you are absolutely one of the best. I hope I can shake your hand at Zmax at the end of April. Thank you for what you do for drag racing and also the non-drag racing content on this channel.
Sounds like a plan on the handshake!
Outstanding Indy Race History ! Lost if not for this video, Thank You for all the Camera / Edit work.
Thank you!!!
Cool, great story. And that V12 Corvair is pretty cool as well.
Another great story I had no idea about. Thanks Mr lohnes
Thank you for watching these trips into history!
I knew almost nothing about this car except that it existed and was too heavy to be competitive. It's cool to know more. Coming from you, I know it's not just rumors and opinion. I really enjoyed it. I'm hoping there's going to be a video or two about one of my personal heroes, Barney Navarro. That guy is an icon and deserves to be much better known. I wish he'd have built that Rambler 6 a couple years earlier and could have had another year or two to develop it before the independents got pushed out. Anyway, thanks again, we all dig what you're doin'
As many have already said, your research and commentary are the best. I really appreciated the NOVI photos. We grew up rooting for that car, and I do remember its 10th place finish, as a little kid. Thanks again for your history lessons!
I love this channel. The narration is top notch. Great storytelling. And then all the photos and clippings make all these videos unmatched in keeping automotive history alive.
It looks like Donald Davidson needs to check his mirrors! Nice job as always...
Great Job Buddy, this stuff is Gold!
Thanks Jeff!!
The Fittipaldi brothers made a 2 engine VW Beetle in the 60s that won many races against european race cars in Brazil. They united the two blocks together into a 8 cilinder 3.2 liter boxer (1.6 + 1.6) producing more than 400 hp. The gear box was mounted upside down, turning the car into a middle engine nimble beast... I guess you guys can find about it in some youtube videos (even in english)
That is so sad but so cool. At least he built the car and proved that it worked. We got some awesome pictures of it now.
About 5 years ago I bought a lot of old car magazines off EBay. One of them had a pic or two of this car. What a Rube Goldberg contraption!
Hey Brian, amazing work AND great narration buddy! A1! Thank you for keeping history alive :)
Yep ! You don't have to win too be a winner ❤
Now that is quite the fascinating look into history. Many thanks for another well done episode.
I'm not sure, but Lohnes is 'THE MAN'!!
Appreciate this!!!
Thank you so much for this excellent video! As a young boy, I saw Cheeseburg run both this twin-Porsche and the Demler turbine at Indy practice in 1966. My clearest memory is of the Demler turbine, which was an Epperly roadster, not a Watson. I don't recall the Demler car ever approaching anything near qualifying speeds.
For those who don't know, he is the voice of NHRA drag racing events. Now you know why his voice is so familiar.
Perfect voice for it.
i must have spent an hour of mu life just staring at a front view of this car under dnqs in my History of Indy book. FINALLY i get to see MORE. The only other place i caufht a glimpse of this car is in a Phoenix home movie of the day that has this…and a few other,,very creative entries. Thank you thank you THANK YOU, i went from falling asleep to wide awake the second i saw this lol
Your the best Brian. Thank you.
Awesome video Brian! Thank you.
Sir, your video documentaries are beautifully researched and presented. Superb work with respect for the people who made it all happen.
Absolutely fantastic story, Thanks Brian!
This has to be my favorite yet. Any discussion of the variety of engines at Indy is going to be awesome, and a twin 911 motor Indy racecar is just incredible. I learned stuff about the supercharged and turbo Offy’s as well, which is a favorite subject of mine.
Brilliant research, thank you. Once upon a time the 500 was all about innovation. Please can you look into the mid engine Miller 6 that appears briefly? It was destroyed in the tragic 1941 garage fire.
Another amazing story Brian. Thanks
thank you brian, just amazing,,cheers from torino, italy,,
How cool is that. What a awesome story.
Appreciate you checking it out!
Mr. Cheeseborg did win a fair amount of USAC Stock car races. He won at Langhorne, Milwaukee Mile, foe example, against some of the biggest names of the day.
Thank You Brian. Even without the 'Hollywood' ending this is a Fantastic story of 'Indy Dreams'! Maybe with a couple small Turbos added this car could of went 230 on the backstretch! (By the way. The 'Novi's were said to go well over 200 on the straights). Thanks again from a Huge 1960''s Indy and Drag car fan! 😊
As a long time gearhead this was a great story thank you for your time and expertise in that histories time period 👍
Great post, Brian!! Thanks
Thanks for watching!!
thank you Brian! Loving your youtube post almost as much as Dorkomotive podcasts! keep up the great work!
Another great story!!!! Keep them coming!!!
Cool story as always, many thanks for putting in the work and posting, always educational
Great yet again!
Sir, you have a great voice and sense of timing!
A great story beautifully told, sir. Enjoyed that a lot 🙂
If my memory is correct...one of those 1966 Indianapolis "500" entries, one (if not both) BRM H16 powered engines was going to be driven by the great Jimmy Clark of Duns, Scotland. Colin Chapman along with sponsor Andy Grantelli & his brothers, Vince and Joe, decided to stay with the reliable DOHC Indy Ford V8. I remember seeing the Stein Twin Engine Porsche in the late afternoon WFBM TV-6 (NBC affiliated Indianapolis station) "Trackside 6" daily shows with Chief I.M.S. Track Announcer, Tom Carnegie and Sprtscaster for WFBM, John Totten. Great documentary on this intresting twin engine car, and the historic news of the '66 Indy race, let alone J.I. Tell innovator ideas.
Your memory is correct my man. The Lotus was actually designed for the BRM H16. But in testing the engine proved to be an unreliable boat anchor!
I’m commenting again, sorry. This is now, honestly, my favorite video on the internet. I miss the kind of racing where someone with vision can build a machine and attempt to compete on a high level. The lower lsr classes are about the only place that I can think of where that still exists. Sprint cars and midgets are still awesome, relatively simple machine, but even those are pretty homogenized. It’s completely trite to say, but as a fabricator, I was born several decades too late.
That was excellent!
Been a racing fan since 1966, this is a machine I'd never heard of. I admire the grit and the passion that went into this The picture of Lloyd Ruby; looks like he's driving an AAR Eagle, but they weren't at Indy that year, I think
Brian, I always like the stories you publish. And being a big drag racing fan, I also like your commentary at the tracks. And I personally know a man in his 80s who raced a turbine-powered sprint car. To date, he placed the highest finish in a turbine sprint car ever. Anyway, that would also be a great story for you to look into. Great work, keep it up, please.
What I find fascinating is that they did not consider the weight during the design process. Back when I was doing my motorcycle racing hobby, I weighed countless individual parts, down to the smallest assemblies. I still have the postal-type scales that weigh to the gram, and the shipping scales to weigh larger parts (or entire bikes).
I've been watching Indy since the 60's, I remember Jimmy Clark winning with the rear engine Ford but had no idea there were many weird combinations and basically anybody could build at home and try to qualify. Great delivery you have here and at NHRA events announcing and interviewing. Thanks.
Your vids are nothing short of awesome!
🏁Great vid!!!! 🏁
More Lohnes greatness !!!! Many thanks.
That was an excellent video! And I thought I knew Indy pretty well, but hadn’t heard about this story! Good stuff
Great stuff, Brian! I grew up in Indpls in the 70s through the early 90s but this is one of the great Indy 500 stories that I didn't know. If you haven't covered it yet, Jim Hurtubise was a great Indy 500 character. Herk was the last to try to qualify a roadster, in 1980. Would make a great yarn for this channel.
Thanks for sharing… love to hear these mechanical innovation stories… just doesn’t exist like that anymore.
Excellent details, narrative and photos! Look forward to more interesting autosport tales like this one, subscribed. 😊
No matter which Motorsport; Twin engine cars are Great, Crazy and Interesting. Quality Video as always 👍👍👏👏
Another cracking vid, as always ❤🎉😊
Great video 👍👍👌👌
Great video Brian . Very interesting story. How about doing one on the Surfers top fuel team?
Good one, BL! 👍😎
Gorman's Auto Repair in Seattle built a turbo Indy car in the late 50's . Many times I would hear the sound of the car being tested on Gilman Blvd. In the early morning hours, sheer mechanical music.
2:42 This is the Rounds Rocket, an Offy-powered, mid-engine car, entered in the 1949 Indy 500 but failed to qualify. You can see it in the movie _The Big Wheel_ , which shows many scenes from the 1949 500. This movie is worth any car fans' time to see amazing aspects of racing in those days, such as no seat belts.
What a wonderful tale you've shared, Brian. Thank you so much for taking the time and care to present this story- and hats off to the research team... For my money, the last real independent team to qualify for (and run) in the Indy 500 was in 1982, when Buttera, Capps & Varnberg put their entry on the outside of Row 7. The record books show the engine as a Milodon but it was a normally-aspirated SBC. Have you considered sharing this story on your channel?
I adore your essays, from UK
Superb vid. Thank you Sir. I remember these cars. Not specifically. I was a kid. I was REALLY into Craig Breedlove/Spirit of America……… the Green Hornet (?) etc. The land speed attempts. Please keep them coming!
first i knew about the yellow Zinc turbine car. i love it when that happens, now i dive into research
I vaguely recall a mention of this car in a book about 4-wheel drive racecars I read many moons ago. IIRC, it was a one line mention of a Porsche powered twin-engined car attempting to qualify at Indy, with the implied suggestion that it may have had a small part in the inspiration of the Granatelli/STP cars. Two things it didn't have was a picture of the car, or any detailed description... Great work Brian! A fascinatingly obscure underdog tale, masterfully told. I'm left wondering if the car might have been more successful if the lighter 4-cylinder engines had been used - the better torque might've outweighed any loss in top end Hp..? Ah well, we'll never know. Cheers... G
These kinds of stories are what made the Indy 500. Sadly, today, it’s just another spec series where the priority is “The Show” not “The Race.”