(in a tone of envy) My! What a treat to drive in a vintage racer! I'd love to have a similar driving experience as this one. A bit of background about those Indy cars (or as USAC branded them back then: "Championship Cars" or "Champ Cars") . . . as that was my era of motorsports interests: The naturally aspirated (non-turbo) four-cylinder Offy engines (at 255 cubic inches/4.2 liters) in rear-engine cars were not fully competitive at Indy with the Ford V8 DOHC Indy engines due to the higher revs and horsepower/kW the Fords had. At shorter tracks on the USAC race circuit, such as Trenton and Phoenix, the non-turbo rear-engine Offys saw victory circle in 1964/65; where the Offy engines with their acceleration torque off the turns put them at an advantage over the high-revving Ford DOHC V8s. Ah! But then the engine builders looked at the USAC rules with regards to smaller-engine-displacement for supercharging. Modifying the smaller sized Offy engine to fit that 168 cubic inch/2.7 liter engine displacement limit was easily done; but supercharging robbed horsepower/kW from the engine when it came to building up engine revs. Turbocharging was looked upon as a better solution as it didn't rob the engine of horsepower/kW when building up engine revs. The technology of turbocharging was borrowed from aircraft/diesel engine usage. The recently deceased Bobby Unser put the turbo-Offy into the Indy winner's circle for the first time in 1968.
@Bloqk-16 With the Offy's great versatility in swapping bore/stroke, I'm thinking the Offy 255 could have been short-stroked for higher revs, moving the torque and HP figures up in power and much higher in the RPM band. Such an engine would have made life difficult for the Ford V8 as the faster torque rise of the 4 cylinder Offy would have given it tremendous advantage punching out of turns, and passing on the straights against the V8.
You may thank me for not severely abusing the drive tires of this beast. We all wouldve been permanently black-listed due to my 200+ mph drifts around the turns on 3 wheels. That mill bucking & striving to get some air under its wings around 4 K is akin to some of Mozart's finest work to me. Thank you SO much for posting this vid.
When he was first getting into the cockpit, that guy on the right with the cell phone is Detroit Red Wing Hall of Famer Larry Murphy. Murph is involved as a broadcaster now for the Red Wings telecasts on TV. I always see him at the Detroit Grand Prix. James Piteo Macomb, MI
It depends on what generation, but Offenhauser engines were around 200 cubic inches, but could make four or five hundred horsepower in an economical and durable little 4 cylinder setup. To this day it's still hard to compete with its size and power. But rules killed the engine, which was truly dominant for 40 years in IndyCar racing
@LSXSean . . . I'm curious if the '66 Conely/Edmunds rear engine Offy Indy car used a two-speed or four-speed gearbox transmission? In the mid-1960s the Indy cars were a mixed bunch of the two-speed and four speed gearboxes . . . with Jim Clark's 1965 winning Lotus 38 using a two-speed ZF gearbox. I'd imagine with the torque of the Offy engine, that your ride was a two-speed gearbox.
BAD GUMBY YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ENGINES! HE WAS BREAKING IT IN, OR DID NOT WANT TO HURT THE ENGINE! PLUS THERE IS NO SAFTEY EQUIPMENT THERE, LEARN SOMETHING B4 YOU MAKE AN IDIOT OF YOURSELF!
(in a tone of envy) My! What a treat to drive in a vintage racer! I'd love to have a similar driving experience as this one.
A bit of background about those Indy cars (or as USAC branded them back then: "Championship Cars" or "Champ Cars") . . . as that was my era of motorsports interests: The naturally aspirated (non-turbo) four-cylinder Offy engines (at 255 cubic inches/4.2 liters) in rear-engine cars were not fully competitive at Indy with the Ford V8 DOHC Indy engines due to the higher revs and horsepower/kW the Fords had. At shorter tracks on the USAC race circuit, such as Trenton and Phoenix, the non-turbo rear-engine Offys saw victory circle in 1964/65; where the Offy engines with their acceleration torque off the turns put them at an advantage over the high-revving Ford DOHC V8s.
Ah! But then the engine builders looked at the USAC rules with regards to smaller-engine-displacement for supercharging. Modifying the smaller sized Offy engine to fit that 168 cubic inch/2.7 liter engine displacement limit was easily done; but supercharging robbed horsepower/kW from the engine when it came to building up engine revs. Turbocharging was looked upon as a better solution as it didn't rob the engine of horsepower/kW when building up engine revs. The technology of turbocharging was borrowed from aircraft/diesel engine usage.
The recently deceased Bobby Unser put the turbo-Offy into the Indy winner's circle for the first time in 1968.
@Bloqk-16 With the Offy's great versatility in swapping bore/stroke, I'm thinking the Offy 255 could have been short-stroked for higher revs, moving the torque and HP figures up in power and much higher in the RPM band. Such an engine would have made life difficult for the Ford V8 as the faster torque rise of the 4 cylinder Offy would have given it tremendous advantage punching out of turns, and passing on the straights against the V8.
You may thank me for not severely abusing the drive tires of this beast. We all wouldve been permanently black-listed due to my 200+ mph drifts around the turns on 3 wheels. That mill bucking & striving to get some air under its wings around 4 K is akin to some of Mozart's finest work to me. Thank you SO much for posting this vid.
I have been to more than 25 Indy car events, the vintage cars were always a high point for me, thanks to those that keep them running. HISTORY!!!
When he was first getting into the cockpit, that guy on the right with the cell phone is Detroit Red Wing Hall of Famer Larry Murphy. Murph is involved as a broadcaster now for the Red Wings telecasts on TV. I always see him at the Detroit Grand Prix. James Piteo Macomb, MI
Offenhausers sound so good.
Thanks for the upload, what's the race history of the car and what kind of BHP do the 4 cylinder Offenhauser engines produce?
It depends on what generation, but Offenhauser engines were around 200 cubic inches, but could make four or five hundred horsepower in an economical and durable little 4 cylinder setup. To this day it's still hard to compete with its size and power. But rules killed the engine, which was truly dominant for 40 years in IndyCar racing
God I love those sounds
Oh, hell yes!
when they fly by at full scream the offies sound like a v8 roar ,and as if they had an extra 4 cylinders on em
@LSXSean . . . I'm curious if the '66 Conely/Edmunds rear engine Offy Indy car used a two-speed or four-speed gearbox transmission? In the mid-1960s the Indy cars were a mixed bunch of the two-speed and four speed gearboxes . . . with Jim Clark's 1965 winning Lotus 38 using a two-speed ZF gearbox.
I'd imagine with the torque of the Offy engine, that your ride was a two-speed gearbox.
Nice wheeling around the racetrack, we can tell that engine does NOT like low revs though
First time out with the car and It was jetted very rich. Car has sense been re tuned and will be out when the vintage event returns to indy.
Its painful to watch these cars driven so slowly.
no turbocharger?
This car was last ran in 66. No turbos yet.
Awesome visor cam shot at first and then switch to wheel cam on the track. Why?
Unfortunately the visor cam moved while on track and all you could see is the steering wheel.
Sad how he couldn't really open it up. 😕
I was there in 2019 with a different car and we managed a bit faster....185mph at the S/F line ;)
Sounds like a SAAB 9k... 😅
Sorry, but it's a race car. Drive it like one or park it.
BAD GUMBY YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ENGINES! HE WAS BREAKING IT IN, OR DID NOT WANT TO HURT THE ENGINE! PLUS THERE IS NO SAFTEY EQUIPMENT THERE, LEARN SOMETHING B4 YOU MAKE AN IDIOT OF YOURSELF!
That car is priceless, it is a work of art and cant risk being crashed like a Porsche 911 or something!
if it crashes, rebuild it. i dare say that’s a feat of great engineering- the ability to rebuild
Nothin' sounds as good as an Offy all pissed off