1964 - Safety officials watch as Smokey Yunick's #47 Hurst Floor Shift Special is pulled along the grass by a rope. But what's the truck in the background? "Official Truck" Indy 500, 1964
So where is the innovation today that characterized Indy racing into the late 60s? Too many rules. I recall the late, great Can-Am series of years past that had one rule: no rules. Think of all the wonderful, weird cars we saw then. Is it just a coincidence the series died at the same time all kind of restrictive rules became the norm?
and everyone got priced out of racing except the millionaires too. Right about the time that cars became specially fabricated chassis, special made engines, exotic tires you had to be a dealer to access (Parnelli, Shelby) etc. That's my assumption. Racing became too expensive in the mid 60s for most people, and fewer people were involved, and less innovation, plus higher speeds and not much more safety (helmets, safety belts and nets)
Agree. I think there's a niche for Formula Libre and unlimited displacement; it'd be a good promotion for hydrogen powered internal combustion, something that awaits only the economics because the engineering is ready. I'm sure people would prefer to watch hydrogen burning 7 litre V8s race rather than 1.5 litre hybrids. The Can-Am, run under the FIA's Group 7 regs was great while it lasted but even they used the rule book, banning the Chaparral 2J "suction car" because the fans were deemed a "movable aerodynamic aid", a rule intended to outlaw adjustable spoilers because of their fragility at speed. The original Can-Am actually ended because (1) the turbocharged Porsche 917s had rendered the competition obsolete and (2) the oil crisis (which started 50 years ago this month) made such racing unfashionable.
So where is the innovation today that characterized Indy racing into the late 60s? Too many rules. I recall the late, great Can-Am series of years past that had one rule: no rules. Think of all the wonderful, weird cars we saw then. Is it just a coincidence the series died at the same time all kind of restrictive rules became the norm?
ReplyDeleteand everyone got priced out of racing except the millionaires too. Right about the time that cars became specially fabricated chassis, special made engines, exotic tires you had to be a dealer to access (Parnelli, Shelby) etc. That's my assumption. Racing became too expensive in the mid 60s for most people, and fewer people were involved, and less innovation, plus higher speeds and not much more safety (helmets, safety belts and nets)
DeleteAgree. I think there's a niche for Formula Libre and unlimited displacement; it'd be a good promotion for hydrogen powered internal combustion, something that awaits only the economics because the engineering is ready. I'm sure people would prefer to watch hydrogen burning 7 litre V8s race rather than 1.5 litre hybrids. The Can-Am, run under the FIA's Group 7 regs was great while it lasted but even they used the rule book, banning the Chaparral 2J "suction car" because the fans were deemed a "movable aerodynamic aid", a rule intended to outlaw adjustable spoilers because of their fragility at speed. The original Can-Am actually ended because (1) the turbocharged Porsche 917s had rendered the competition obsolete and (2) the oil crisis (which started 50 years ago this month) made such racing unfashionable.
Deletecoincidentally, I used the suction car as the banner just a couple days ago
DeleteYunick's car was inspired by a Blohm & Voss BV 141 he saw while flying bombers over Germany in WWII.
ReplyDelete