This is pretty much the only piece of evidence you'd need to prove that the late 1960s were the greatest era for Indy—and it doesn't matter that it actually sucked on the track. That's because Ol' Shel himself turned a wrench on this thing, along with his chief engineer, the legendary Phil Remington. At the wheel for testing was a young Bruce McLaren in what was almost his first and last appearance at Indy as a driver, and right next to him was a 1325-hp-rated General Electric T-58 turbine engine. It even had all-wheel drive.

David Newhardt courtesy of Mecum Auctions

Despite the potential for the Shelby to be an unstoppable killer app in Indy, it was actually an abject failure marred by a cheating scandal that caused Remington to quit as soon as he caught wind of it. Ken Wallis, the car's co-designer, had been caught red-handed enlarging the USAC-mandated turbine intake restrictor. The cars, of which two were built, never ran in Indy after Shelby pulled the plug over the intake affair. This one's currently on display at the turbine car exhibit at IMS right now.

David Newhardt courtesy of Mecum Auctions

This one's for sale at Mecum in Monterrey this August. It comes with an additional static display turbine engine and an estimated price that hasn't been released, though a representative from Mecum assured me that "it should easily approach or possibly even exceed seven figures," making it a million-dollar never-ran.

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