Granatelli, Indy 500-winning car owner, dies at 90

AP - Sports ^ | 12/29/2013 | AP - Sports

[Chode]

MONTECITO, Calif. (AP) -- Andy Granatelli, the former CEO of STP motor oil company who made a mark on motorsports as a car owner, innovator and entrepreneur, has died. He was 90.

Granatelli's son, Vince, said his father died Sunday of congestive heart failure at a Santa Barbara hospital.

[Chode]

RIP

[Chode]

ping...

[freedumb2003]

Bummer

A legendary name in Indy

RIP

[Perdogg]

Michael Schumacher injured and in a coma in skinning accident

[Chode]

not F1, but...

[Chode]

yup, off-piste skiing is dangerous

[mountn man]

In 1967, car owner Andy Granatelli arrived at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with something totally different. Instead of a traditional piston-powered internal combustion engine, Granatelli’s STP-Paxton entry had a gas turbine. The radical four-wheel drive car featured what essentially was a small aircraft engine alongside the driver.

This incredible car not only looked radically different, but it sounded very different as well. The car soon earned the nick-name ‘The Whoosh-mobile.”

paxtontWith Parnelli Jones at the wheel, the car practiced and qualified respectably taking the sixth starting spot at The Brickyard. The competitors felt that something was amiss, and accused the team of sand-bagging during time trials.

The sand-bagging claims proved to be true when Jones passed four cars at the drop of the green, and took the lead before the fourth turn of lap one. Jones went on to crush the competition leading 171 of the 200 laps. In the end, Jones had a full lap on the field when a transmission bearing failed with only four laps to go.

Lotus-56-TurbineUndaunted, Granatelli returned to Indianapolis in 1968 with four turbine-powered entries. USAC aimed to outlaw the turbine by reducing air intake. To curtail this, Granatelli utilized a Lotus-designed chassis with a sophisticated suspension design, a lighter overall weight, and an aerodynamic shape to cut through the air.

The Lotus 56, known as ‘the wedge’ arrived on Gasoline Alley in 1968. Sadly, Mike Spence lost his life practicing one of these cars at Indy. Joe Leonard, Graham Hill, and Art Pollard were entered the race with the remaining three cars.

Leonard easily took the pole and ran respectably in the race. The giant advantage from the prior year was gone, but the aerodynamics made the car competitive. Leonard was leading with just a few laps to go when the car’s fuel pump failed. Chapman tried to run the Lotus 56 as a Formula One Car with an normally aspirated engine, albeit unsuccessfully. While the Lotus 56 never won a race, it’s wedge-style nose would resurface on the Lotus 72: a car that won three World Championships.

wedge-complete-red-frontUSAC banned both turbine engines and four-wheel drive following the 1968 season. We don’t see it on the race track these days, but the Lotus 56′s wedge design will never go away.

This simple, but effective, design has been a favorite amongst Pinewood Derby competitors at Cub Scout meetings across the country on a regular basis for many years.

[SERKIT]

Big name in racing and a last vestige of Studebaker. STP was originally Studebaker Tested Products.

[clintonh8r]

I knew AG in the early 1970s when he moved STP to Ft. Lauderdale. I was in banking and STP was my client. Even though I was much younger than Andy, and rarely had direct personal contact with him, he always treated my with respect and was always willing to chat with me about racing. He had a gentleman side that few people probably realized.

Sincere condolences to the Granatelli family.

[doorgunner69]

There went a giant and true innovator of the sport.

RIP, you gave us all some great spectacles to watch.

[Chode]

i learn something new everyday here...

[cripplecreek]

I saw the news about Michael Schumacher and it doesn’t sound good.

[mountn man]

Scientifically Treated Petroleum

[Chode]

those were the days

[Chode]

it was destined to be legislated against...

[Octar]

I knew him years ago he was my neighbor. He was a very nice man.

[Chode]

you musta heard some great stories

[SERKIT]

STP

[IronJack]

STP = Scientifically Treated Petroleum

[bmwcyle]

It was a great car. I wished it would have finished.

[Wingy]

I was always told that it meant: ‘Sticks To Pistons’, but your story rings true. I had no idea of the connection between Studebaker and STP. Thanks for sharing.

[henkster]

This was Indy in the Golden Age; the 1960s. I remember my dad taking me to the track in 1967 for practice to see Parnelli Jones in the #40 turbine. What a marvelous machine.

[doorgunner69]

I was a kid getting ready to go to RVN in the summer when the turbine came out, and had zero knowledge of Indy race cars, rather than a smattering of Le Mans/Sebring stuff I read about in Sports Car Graphic and R&T.

The turbine car seemed so other-worldly and cool. Like the Jim Hall's Chaparral cars later on, too good for competition to keep up with, so just ban them. Can't have innovation ruining things now...........

Sounds like the democrats in some ways: if you cannot compete, call for legislation and their banning!

[SERKIT]

STP=Studebaker Test Products

[TChad]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STP_%28motor_oil_company%29

Founded in 1953 in Saint Joseph, Missouri, the company’s name, STP, was derived from “Scientifically Treated Petroleum”.[1] The company entered into the marketplace with one product, STP Oil Treatment.

In 1961, the company was acquired by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation. Studebaker briefly tied STP into its advertising as an abbreviation for “Studebaker Tested Products”.

[gura]

He was a great driver, but a dirty one at the same time. That said, all prayers to him. :-) Hopefully the coma is medically induced. I immediately thought of the Natasha Richardson skiing accident.

[Zuriel]

I was there, my first and only time to Indy, and seated in the main grandstand just before turn one. The turbine was so quiet, and seemed to make it look so easy. Then rain came, and the race was stopped after only 18 laps, The man that took my dad and I there was scheduled to be back in Moline, IL early the next day, so we couldn’t stay over to see the race finished. Boy, I was one bummed out 12 yr old kid.

[fieldmarshaldj]

RIP.

[Jimmy Valentine]

He also tried to make the Novi engine competitive against the Offenhauser which was the standard power of that era

[mountn man]

http://www.stp.com/faqs/general/

[mabarker1]

RIP Sir

A Leader in innovation on many fronts.

[Chode]

like the Howmet

[fredhead]

What a memory I have....

As a kid I read a bio about Andy, and the part I remember now is how in one race (Indy?) Andy drove with a broken hand taped to the steering wheel.

RIP

[ZirconEncrustedTweezers]

You mean it doesn’t stand for Stone Temple Pilots?

[ColdOne]

I just loved him. He was on of the best.

[Cboldt]

I always thought is was Stop Teen Pregnancy

[nascarnation]

One of the greats of racing.
Of all the Andretti involvement at the 500, Granatelli provided the only win in 68 starts.

[gortklattu]

As a kid, I was at the '63 Indy 500. You could not miss Andy's Novi, driven by Jim Hurtibese

[Chode]

the Right Stuff...

[Chode]

1 for 68, that's really saying something...

[Chode]

guess that answers where the red in the STP oval came from

[gortklattu]

The car was florescent orange.

[gortklattu]

I once read that Colin Chapman's design was considered or given an engineering award that normally went to aircraft.

[gortklattu]

ping to above

[Chode]

yeah, guess so... my monitor is a 1995 Vivitron and the color definitely isn't what it used to be 8^(