The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum inside turns 1 & 2 of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
INDIANAPOLIS, April 28, 2015 — The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Foundation, Inc., d/b/a the Hall of Fame Museum, is pleased to announce several upcoming special exhibits.
The Racing Cars of Dan Gurney – An All-American Exhibition
May 1-Nov. 30, 2015
Retired Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500 driver Dan Gurney is the focus of the Hall of Fame’s latest special exhibit, which highlights 11 cars he built or drove. The exhibit includes several examples of Eagle racing cars produced by Gurney’s All American Racers of Santa Ana, California. The three Indianapolis 500-winning Eagle race cars displayed were driven by Bobby Unser in 1968 and 1975, and by Gordon Johncock in 1973. The 1973 winning race car is on loan to the Museum by a private owner and the 1975 race car is on loan from The Revs Institute for Automotive Research Inc. The exhibit also features the Gurney-Weslake V-12 owned by The Revs Institute for Automotive Research Inc., with which Gurney won the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix, the only World Championship Grand Prix race won by an American driver in an American car. The exhibit includes the 1991 Eagle GTP Mark III Coupe, one of six constructed. It was driven by Juan Manuel Fangio II and won 21 of 27 events entered, including an amazing run of 14 victories in succession. That vehicle is on loan from the Malloy Foundation, Inc.
Vehicle of the Month
Updated on the 15th of every month
The Hall of Fame Museum’s collection includes many more vehicles – by a multiple of more than five – than it can display at any one time. To better share this extensive collection with the community, the Museum will pull one vehicle out of storage each month for public viewing as its Vehicle of the Month.
Through May 15
Ferrari Type-375: As spring reaches Indiana, the Hall of Fame Museum is featuring the Ferrari Type-375, which showcases a 2.5 liter, 12-cylinder Ferrari engine.
Four updated 1951 Ferrari Grand Prix cars were prepared for the 1952 Indianapolis 500, three of which were sold to American customers. Scuderia Ferrari campaigned the fourth itself.
Future world champion Alberto Ascari passed up the Swiss Grand Prix in order to drive the “works” car, the only one of the four to qualify. The choice of wire wheels over “mags” proved costly, however, as Ascari was forced out at 100 miles with a collapsed wheel just after having entered the top 10. The private entries were assigned to Johnnie Parsons and Bobby Ball, plus Johnny Mauro, who entered the car on display. Although the paint work on the display car resembles Ascari’s car number 12, at the time Mauro’s number 35 was white with blue numbers and lettering. Ascari did drive this car briefly during practice.
Coming May 15
1972/73 Sugaripe Prune Eagle No. 2: May will feature a turbocharged Drake Offenhauser-powered, 1972 Dan Gurney All American Racers Eagle, owned by sportsman Jerry O’Connell and driven in 1972, 1973 and 1974 by Bill Vukovich Jr., who finished second in the rain-shortened Indianapolis 500 in 1973. This vehicle will complement the 11 race cars included in the Museum’s special exhibit about Dan Gurney race cars, which are on display from May 1-Nov. 30, 2015.
Coming June 15
1950 Cummins Diesel No. 61: Commissioned for the 1950 Indianapolis 500 by Cummins Engine Co. of Columbus, Indiana, this Kurtis-Kraft chassis housed a 401-cubic-inch supercharged Cummins Diesel truck engine. Driven by Jimmy Jackson, who later broke several speed records with it at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, it was eliminated after 52 laps in 1950 with supercharger drive failure.
To learn what new treasure will be on display each month, check our website at www.imshalloffamemuseum.org. You’ll see what vehicle is currently on display and a hint or two about the next several months’ offerings. You’ll also get a chance to see what you missed.
Hall of Fame Museum
The Hall of Fame Museum at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, one of the top automotive museums in the United States, was first established in 1956 with about a dozen historical automobiles. Today, its collection includes more than 400 automobiles, of which about 75 are on display at any time. The vehicle holdings include Indianapolis 500 winners, Indianapolis 500 and Brickyard 400 pace cars, vintage passenger cars manufactured in Indiana and around the world, motorcycles, vehicles that once held world land speed records, NASCAR race cars and dragsters. The Museum also is home to the Borg Warner Trophy and other auto racing trophies from around the world, among other racing memorabilia. Its Auto Racing Hall of Fame has recognized and celebrated 148 leaders in American auto racing from 1952 to the present. As an independent, not-for-profit Section 501(c)(3) organization, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Foundation, d/b/a Hall of Fame Museum, is supported by revenue from museum admissions and tours, event fees, donations and sponsorships.
For information on the Museum’s collection, tours, and operating hours, please visit: http://www.imshalloffamemuseum.org.
FeaturedIndianapolis Motor Speedway