Throughout the Indycar heyday of the late eighties and early nineties the battle for engine superiority at the Brickyard often came down to a shootout between Chevrolet and the Ford Cosworth, with the two companies picking up 17 out of 18 victories between 1978 and 1995. During that period of dominance however there would always be a third engine that remained an ever-present threat, one whose high torque and cheap running cost made it a go-to unit for the aspiring Indy privateer, that unit being, of course, the stock block Buick V6.

The history of Buick at the Brickyard dates back to the near the turn of the century, when two machines for Charles Basle and Arthur Chevrolet were entered into the Indianapolis 500 event in 1911. Despite the cars receiving factory support from the Michigan based outfit, both machines suffered mechanical issues before a quarter of the race had been completed, with Basle finishing the highest of the two drivers as the 34th classified finisher. As of 2016, Buick remains one of only three companies that contested that first 500 that still exists to this day, the other two being Maserati and Mercedes Benz. Following that race, Buick would make sporadic appearances at the speedway, both as a pace car supplier and in the form of Dan Gurney’s V8 powered Mickey Thompson Special in 1962 , but on the whole it’s motor-sport heritage who remain largely limited, the company instead establishing itself as the premium brand of General Motors during the 1960s. In 1962 the company introduced a pushrod V6 engine under the Buick name, with the Unit quickly establishing itself with engineers and consumers alike due to its versatility and high torque levels compared to comparative models, and it would be this engine, along with well timed rule changes, that would pave the way the way for the Buick name to return to Indianapolis.

Although Indycar regulations at the time allowed for Stock Derived V6 engines to compete at the speedway, the lack of power from the machines compared to their V8 counterparts meant that for the majority of the decade the V6 remained largely untouched, with the 1978 500 field consisting entirely of V8 engines provided by Ford and Offenhauser. In 1979 the United States Auto Club introduced new rule changes to make the stock block more competitive, with the maximum permitted capacity of normally aspirated stock blocks increased from 5.2 to 5.8 litres. This, in addition to even more restricted boost levels for the turbocharged purebred racing engines, brought their power outputs back to levels that were attainable for stock blocks. As a result, stock blocks became a cheaper and viable alternative in the 500, and this added with the success of the Buick V6 in road going form, lead to the plans being made to adapt the engine for racing purposes.

After making it’s debut in the hands of Pat Bedard in 1984, 1985 saw the Buick V6 firmly come into the limelight, when the two Stock Block Machines of Pancho Carter and Scott Brayton qualified in first and second places in the 500 field, demonstrating a power from the machine that caught many of the series more established firmly by surprise. Race day for the duo however would come to a premature end, with both cars suffering mechanical issues relating to their engines within the first 20 laps of the race. Although the Buick was capable of producing speeds as fast as those of their V8 counterparts, the increased pressures on the car’s stock elements also made the machine incredibly unreliable, forcing teams to either run the V6 at half power or run the risk of mechanical failure during the race.

It wouldn’t be until 1988 that a Buick-powered car would finally make a big impression during the 500. Scotsman Jim Crawford had qualified for that season’s race in 18th, but made steady progress throughout the event to eventually move into third place, in the process emerging as the sole threat to the Penske duo of Rick Mears and Danny Sullivan at the front of the field. Although Crawford was forced to make a pit stop late in the race to change a flat-spotted tyre, his sixth place in the race was the best finish for a Buick in the 500 since 1933, leading to the Buick becoming the weapon of choice for the sport’s under powered outfits.

In 1991 Buick took their V6 program to the next level, starting a genuine factory-supported program for the engines to be used by Kenny Bernstein’s King Racing as well as an upstart outfit funded by Home Improvement business tycoon John Menard. Although the debut outing for the project ended in disappointment, it helped to pave the way for the V6’s best showing in 1992, when Roberto Guerrero qualifying his machine on pole position before Al Unser Sr drove a savvy and intelligent race to claim a deserved third place, the only time that the Buick would go on to finish the full 200 laps of the 500. Despite the positive result however, Buick began to grow tired with the failures of their machines, and in September made the decision to end their factory support for the V6 starting from the 1993 season. Although John Menard would continue to develop the engine under his own name, the V6 project came to an official end in 1997, when the IRL’s switch to a normally aspirated formula rendered the turbo charged V6 obsolete.

In a series increasingly defined by homogenization, the Buick V6 remains one of last true attempts at making under-funded teams competitive at the Indianapolis 500, and although success for the unit would be in retrospect severely limited the great stories of Carter, Guerrero, Crawford, Brayton and Unser should see it looked back as a great and unique part of Indy’s golden age.

In today’s video Jack Arute talks us through the three engines that contested the 1992 Indy 500, including of course the Buick V6.