My friend and co-worker, WWII Vet. William C. "Spider" Webb was the driver in the #39 Miller-Ford FWD Grancor Spl. He broke a transmission shaft early on... RIP Bill.... J.C.
I was six years old and saw most of these cars at Milwaukee the week following. I specifically remember the six wheel car. I had a toy of Ted Horn and his Maserati;
Thank you for sharing this! Moore's Blue Crown team was always one of my favourites. One of the first "super teams", with cars designed especially for Indianapolis.
One fascinating thing about this race was that, in victory lane, it was discovered that the windshield of Mauri Rose's car, at some point in the race, was struck by debris hit by another car he was right behind, debris that, if it had been a few inches higher when Rose's car hit it, could have had devastating consequences for Rose.
I met Johnny Mauro during my time working at the track in the 1990's. He explained that he fell a lap down because his gloves had become too tight during the race and they had to cut them off because he was losing circulation.
In another article, Nalon, who credited noboby but GOD for getting him out of that 1949 crash alive, said words to the effect that the Novis were "jinxed. You maybe don't believe in the jinx until you start experiencing it yourself, but these cars were jinxed." But Indy IS a place where all SORTS of nutty stuff can & does happen!
The 6-wheeler placed 12th! 😂 But of course, this was the closest a Novi ever came to winning the race. I wonder if the "fuel faux pas" was due to driver/crew error or if Novis were also gas hogs even for racing engines! Juan Fangio said characteristics of the superchargers made them hard to drive, Nalon said it took HIM 89 laps to learn the "feel" of the Novi, & EVERYONE back then knew they were hard on tires! Still, to run down the Blue Crown cars of those days & lead for 14 laps "running away," & still finish 3rd after a pit-schedule DISASTER said a lot about those cars! Another piece on here said that the Novi engine made 5hp per cubic INCH!!! 😲🤑🤓
Over the years, it's been amusing that actual race time has shortened noticeably. When speeds reach 300mph, the Indy500 may only take a little more than an hour and a half! LOL! ... Waiting for when cars 'lose their wheels' and turn into Star Wars Landspeeders and are powered by a 'Mr. Fusion Home Energy Reactor'.
Why is this music in this otherwise great video? I'm also puzzled, like the early English sports cars,chopping out the entrance or the doors. This absolutely makes no since. I love these but can't figure out why they built them without safety in mind.
more than likely this was an amateur film (judging by the quality of the picture)...so it was a silent film anyway. We still had silent film camera's into the early 70's.
My friend and co-worker, WWII Vet. William C. "Spider" Webb
was the driver in the #39 Miller-Ford FWD Grancor Spl.
He broke a transmission shaft early on...
RIP Bill....
J.C.
I was six years old and saw most of these cars at Milwaukee the week following. I specifically remember the six wheel car. I had a toy of Ted Horn and his Maserati;
Did you get a program? Im from West Allis, 92nd and Beecher, 2 miles from Famed Mile, started goin in 69’, could hear em run from backyard lol.
Thank you for sharing this! Moore's Blue Crown team was always one of my favourites. One of the first "super teams", with cars designed especially for Indianapolis.
One fascinating thing about this race was that, in victory lane, it was discovered that the windshield of Mauri Rose's car, at some point in the race, was struck by debris hit by another car he was right behind, debris that, if it had been a few inches higher when Rose's car hit it, could have had devastating consequences for Rose.
Fantastic racecars! Thanks for sharing, and greets from the Netherlands!
The ONLY footage that shows the race go on AFTER the checkered flag as the crowd continues to cheer. Magnificent video😊
Cars certainly weren't cookie cutter back then. What a wide variety of designs. Really cool.
Nice to HEAR the NOVI
Awesome footage!
I met Johnny Mauro during my time working at the track in the 1990's. He explained that he fell a lap down because his gloves had become too tight during the race and they had to cut them off because he was losing circulation.
johnnystir :O
Of all things 🙄
The 48 race rivals the 64’ installment as far as variety of eye candy goes
When your head was the roll bar.
Back when the helmet was the 'roll cage'!
In another article, Nalon, who credited noboby but GOD for getting him out of that 1949 crash alive, said words to the effect that the Novis were "jinxed. You maybe don't believe in the jinx until you start experiencing it yourself, but these cars were jinxed."
But Indy IS a place where all SORTS of nutty stuff can & does happen!
The 6-wheeler placed 12th! 😂
But of course, this was the closest a Novi ever came to winning the race.
I wonder if the "fuel faux pas" was due to driver/crew error or if Novis were also gas hogs even for racing engines!
Juan Fangio said characteristics of the superchargers made them hard to drive, Nalon said it took HIM 89 laps to learn the "feel" of the Novi, & EVERYONE back then knew they were hard on tires!
Still, to run down the Blue Crown cars of those days & lead for 14 laps "running away," & still finish 3rd after a pit-schedule DISASTER said a lot about those cars!
Another piece on here said that the Novi engine made 5hp per cubic INCH!!! 😲🤑🤓
Over the years, it's been amusing that actual race time has shortened noticeably. When speeds reach 300mph, the Indy500 may only take a little more than an hour and a half! LOL!
... Waiting for when cars 'lose their wheels' and turn into Star Wars Landspeeders and are powered by a 'Mr. Fusion Home Energy Reactor'.
Why is this music in this otherwise great video? I'm also puzzled, like the early English sports cars,chopping out the entrance or the doors. This absolutely makes no since. I love these but can't figure out why they built them without safety in mind.
No roll bars. If the car flipped over the driver was usually a gonner.
Yep.
Someone who drove back then said that if they had time, they got down into the "doghouse," but that was about ALL they could do.
Is there a version of this without the music? Thanks.
What you don’t like to boogie?
NICE
Where did that Merc come from? Did the driver do a deal with Neubauer or something....?
Prewar grand prix cars competed for a few years after WWII, and the 500 was good for World Driving Championship points.
Great
car #19 has a six wheeler
+33kalam training wheels.. love it
Tyrell F-1 would do this in the 1970s.
Got banned!
"MURRAY" Rose?
Mauri Rose
I use to drink with lloydruby
Lots of people drank with Lloyd.
I can only imagine the stories that those times would have revealed!
Seems crazy no one thought to make a wider tire by this point lol there’s so little actually touching the track
why the music? Let's hear the cars
That was the JAZZ on the radios of the period....
Yep. Especially that unique Novi sound that people who were there said was like nothing else on the track.
@@375GTB Yes, & I understand why they did it, but I believe I'm with the faction on here that wishes they hadn't.
more than likely this was an amateur film (judging by the quality of the picture)...so it was a silent film anyway. We still had silent film camera's into the early 70's.
No roll bar. Makes no sense.