Carl Fisher, Jim Allison and Arthur Newby enjoyed racing their Purdy Boat Company cruisers on the Great Lakes and while wintering in Miami Beach. To get a competitive advantage, they wanted a very powerful engine. The solution was just down the street from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at Allison Engineering ...
The Miami 12 Engine
March 25, 2024 by uvsw14Leave a comment
Published in Uncategorized
Book Review: Thunder at Sunrise, A History of the Vanderbilt Cup, the Grand Prize and the Indianapolis 500, 1904-1916 by John M. Burns
March 18, 2024 by uvsw14Leave a comment
In the beginning of international auto racing, there was the Gordon Bennett Cup. Established by American ex-pat James Gordon Bennett, Jr., millionaire owner of the New York Herald, in 1900 it revealed in stark terms how uncompetitive American automobiles were. The races were between national automobile clubs or nations and ...
Published in Uncategorized
Boat Building at IMS
March 11, 2024 by uvsw14Leave a comment
As inconceivable as it might sound, for a short time boats were built in the infield at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Carl Fisher loved to race. It didn’t matter if it was bicycles, automobiles, or boats. His obsession with boat racing initially resulted in him having speed boats and cruisers ...
Published in Uncategorized
F. W. Cook Brewing Company
March 4, 2024 by uvsw14Leave a comment
With a German heritage, Tony Hulman was familiar with beer. Following World War II, Hulman explored purchasing a brewery. It became a reality in 1949 when he purchased fifty-two percent of F. W. Cook Brewing Company in Evansville, Indiana.
F. W. Cook Brewing had a long history dating back to ...
Published in Uncategorized
Eddie Rickenbacker Repaves the Speedway
March 4, 2024 by uvsw14Leave a comment
The opening weekend of racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was disastrous with five dying. It was enough to cause race officials to stop the 300-mile feature race at 235 miles. The future of the Speedway hung in the balance and the owners decided to pave the crushed stone and ...
Published in Uncategorized