Ferrari’s distinctive 1950s Indy 500 racer
In 1950, the FIA declared that the Indy 500 would qualify as a round of the Formula 1 World Championship, a move that presented European teams with the problem of adapting their cars for oval racing. With its banked corners and absence of right-handers, it’s a discipline with very different requirements to conventional Grand Prix racing, hence why few teams took it up in those early years.
While Alberto Ascari championed the race’s inclusion in the F1 calendar, Ferrari caused a stir when it opted to send four of its 375 models to compete in the 1952 Indy 500. The Scuderia’s first ever Grand Prix victory had come the previous year at Silverstone with José Froilán González behind the wheel of the 4.5-litre V12 375, but a change in regulations had since rendered the cars and their huge engines otherwise obsolete.
To better suit the demands of the circuit the chassis was extended and the new model was known as the 375 Indianapolis. Of the four models to cross the Atlantic, one was a works entry driven by Ascari while the other three were sold to privateers by American Ferrari importer Luigi Chinetti. Ascari was the only one to qualify for the race, but on lap 40 of 200 he was forced to retire with failed wheel hub and was classified 31st.
The Grant Piston Ring Special was one of the privately-owned cars that failed to qualify for the race due to issues with its ignition. The car owes its distinctive livery to sponsors Grant, an American company that first sold engine rebuild kits and then began to manufacture piston rings, and remains a glorious car to drive according to James Wood, who pedalled it at the 2022 Goodwood Revival as part of the parade celebrating Ferrari’s 75th anniversary.
“They’re a very impressive car, the engine is so beautifully smooth,” said Wood. “There’s a lot of torque. Once it comes on cam, the note changes and it’s a really sharp sound. Anyone who has driven one is in love.
“Because it was a parade, we didn’t have to have the current safety equipment and I wore a helmet from the ’50s that my father had raced in here. I brought that just for some pictures but ended up driving around in a ’50s Grand Prix car in that helmet.” Undoubtedly an evocative sight for a significant car.
Photography by Michal Pospisil, Jochen Van Cauwenberge and Pete Summers.
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