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.