Engine development for Indycar from back in the day

[GTXDAN]

This is a pretty good article from Brian Lohnes (NHRA announcer) about the development of the NOVI engine for Indy with some little known information about Henry Ford and Indy.



Brian has lots of good videos on YT.

 

[Krooser]

Saw that a few days ago... priceless info.

I always wondered about the origin of the Novi name... now I know.

I remember listening to Sid Collins on the Indy 500 Radio network 60+ years ago as he called the live race... you could hear that Novi pass the starting line on every lap.

There is a photo making the rounds of the horse barn that housed Jim Hurtebise's race shop where he and his brother had to shovel out the horse apples before they worked on their new Indy roadster!

As someone who has built dirt cars outside during a Wisconsin winter I can relate.

 

[Budnicks]

Here's one 64 Indy Malone Novi v8 Studebaker/Granatelli/STP

I could have sworn they 'won races'
strange to hear they did NOT

another Indy 64 Al Unser, Studebaker/Granatelli/STP (not sure if it was a NOVI, think it was)

here's a Granatelli's concept 'rear engine' Indy Novi v8 from 62

very cool stuff

 

[Budnicks]

the early rear engines were cool
I preferred the front engine cars for looks
until way later in Indy history

69 Indy Mario Andretti, Granatelli STP Hawk #2 winner

 

[Budnicks]

Granatelli/Clark Lotus 68
#60 & #70

#40 & #50 too

 

[GTXDAN]

It's amazing that that engine had 2-3 times the horsepower of the cars that it was competing against, yet it never won a race. I got to hear an Offenhauser engine run at Indy, but never a NOVI. The Offy had a distinctive sound too, and was really easy to tell which cars had it.

 

[Budnicks]

the infamous 67 Turbine Granatelli/STP's rides

4wd turbine car

Granatelli/STP Parnelli Jones driver 1967 'on the right', reg ICE engine

cover of Hot Rod

 

[Budnicks]

I physically saw a Novi v8 (not sure what vintage)
in 'Ed Pinks' shop, in SoCal
way back in the maybe later 80's, on a display stand...
I asked what the heck it was ?...
He didn't say who's it was, & it was some hush hush deal,
seemed like it was pretty dang big/physically big, for a small cid/displacement it was
for an Indy car engine, packaging that thing must have been a nightmare
especially with 4wd, in lil' to no real-estate/room of an Indy car