<VV> Flat six at Indy?

Thu Dec 16 15:38:37 EST 2010

You are right , Rodney, 

Granatelli was the last of the of the "ALL-American" car builders. I had the privilege of seeing a Gurney/Westlake Ford , and a Granetelli Indy/Plymouth in my boat racing career. The Ford was in a Jones hull called "GOING THING". The Indy/ Plymouth was in a Lauterbach [World's Finest/World's Fastest] hull. The Plymouth was a "ROCKETSHIP" , RUNNING THE KILO IN SLIGHTLY UNDER 150MPH. The Ford set the record at 152 mph, but , every time they met ,"HEAD-UP" in competition the Ford was easily out distanced by "Andy's handywork" in the Lauterbach hull. 
Bob Isaac 
Moonpie Racing 
----- Original Message ----- 
From: rodneyspooner at corvairgarage.com 
To: moonpie8n at comcast.net, virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org, jvhroberts at aol.com 
Cc: virtualvairs at corvair.org, Sethracer at aol.com 
Sent: Thursday, December 16, 2010 11:47:38 AM 
Subject: Re: <VV> Flat six at Indy? 

moonpie8n at comcast.net wrote, "I think we all know the formulas at INDY are politically designed..." 

It was truly amazing that Andy Granatelli was able to get his Studebaker/STP Turbine "Wedge" approved to race at Indy in 1967. 

Those were the days my friend... 
We thought they'd never end... 

Driven by Parnelli Jones, #40 led 171 of 200 laps. On the 197th lap it suffered a gear box failure (reportedly a $6 part) and eventually finished in sixth place. The turbine was never banned, but was made so rule restricted that it was untenable in Indy racing. Politics as usual. So much for innovation, free market, and entreprenurial spirit. 

And speaking of turbines, who can forget the 1963 Chrysler Turbine concept car? The simplicity of the turbine meant fewer parts which implied less maintenance. So why wasn't brought to market? 

Oh, I guess I answered my own question. 

Rodney 

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry 

-----Original Message----- 
From: moonpie8n at comcast.net 
Sender: virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org 
Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2010 23:35:18 
To: <jvhroberts at aol.com> 
Cc: <virtualvairs at corvair.org>; <Sethracer at aol.com> 
Subject: Re: <VV> Flat six at Indy? 

You guys are always one step ahead of me, ..... but , I think we all know the formulas at INDY are politically designed [whatever Penske and Ganassi like]. IN the '80s [maybe a little later too] you had to have a March , or McLaren to be competitive [like Penske and the "POWERS THAT BE"] My understanding is that the "Aero" package was designed for those cars. I wish the "BIG" race was made up of American race cars and engines [like the "OLD" days]. With the exotic metals , and coatings we have today, I am surprized they haven't figured a way to get even expansion and control the heat while making 800 hp [or more]. After all , you can feed it with 200 mph air, then duct it to where you want it to make the "AERO" work...... 
----- Original Message ----- 
From: jvhroberts at aol.com 
To: Sethracer at aol.com, moonpie8n at comcast.net, virtualvairs at corvair.org 
Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 2010 6:02:04 PM 
Subject: Re: <VV> Flat six at Indy? 

Oh, you did it now! You mentioned the P name!! LOL 

John Roberts 

-----Original Message----- 
From: Sethracer at aol.com 
To: moonpie8n at comcast.net; virtualvairs at corvair.org 
Sent: Wed, Dec 15, 2010 3:50 pm 
Subject: <VV> Flat six at Indy? 

In a message dated 12/15/2010 11:58:43 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, 
moonpie8n at comcast.net writes: 

The flat motors wouldn't work at INDY either. They would have to make 
the 
cars wider which screwed up the "AERO" package. Even though the 180 
motor 
has some real advantages, .... Since it has equal thrust on the 
crankshaft 
from each side [not down on a 45 dgree angle], ...,friction can be 
reduced. 
That' s why you never saw one of "Enzo's" engines at "Indy". They were 
obviously powerful enough [kick butt in Formula "1"]..... 
Bob Isaac 

Someone forgot to tell Porsche! 1980 Porsche specs below - Allowable 
boost 
reduced due to political pressure from Cosworth engined teams. Porsche 
withdrew. 

Engine: 2.65 litre, air cooled cylinders and water cooled heads, six 
cylinder boxer. Four valves per cylinder. Over 800 bhp. 

Derivative of the 935 motor. AIr cooled Cylinders! - Cool! 

Seth Emerson 

C's the Day! - Corvair, Camaro, Corvette 
San Jose, CA 

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