Disclaimer: This entry was initially supposed to be used as the number 40 entry on this countdown, but as I was unable to get around to posting on that day I have decided to use this opportunity to post it at #35.

Ever since it’s inception back in the late nineteenth century, motor racing has come to be defined just as much by technological skill as it has about the men behind the wheel, with many technological innovations over the years helping to play a part in shaping the way that modern racing cars look and perform to this day. Sometimes however a technological innovation can prove to be so dominant that it’s authorities are forced to ban it for the sake of cost and competition, and in today’s update we will take a look at one of the most infamous examples of this ever to grace the Brickyard.

Developed by STP president Andy Granatelli, the STP Turbine Roadster was a machine unlikely any other ever seen at the speedway; a bulky and ungainly machine that made up for it’s lack of aesthetics with outright speed and performance on track, and if not for the cruellest stroke of misfortune on it’s one and only outing may have gone a long way to changing the Brickyard beyond all recognition.

Contrary to popular belief, the history of turbine powered cars at the Indianapolis 500 dated back to early sixties, when ambitions car owner John Zink agreed to install a 375hp Boeing gas turbine inside his machine for the 1962 Indy 500. Despite managing to secure the services of Formula One star Dan Gurney to drive his machine, the so-called Trackburner failed to make an impact at the speedway, struggling to get up to the speed throughout the month of May and forcing Gurney to strike a deal with car owner Mickey Thompson to secure a ride for that year’s race. In 1966, rookie driver Jack Adams returned the concept to the Brickyard, entering an aging Demler roadster chassis for the powered by a 1250hp General Electric turbine. Despite high expectations surrounding the machine, the advanced machine also failed to make a meaningful impact, as a lack of development on the machine, along with persistent braking engines, meant that the car was unable to turn anything more then a few laps without suffering mechanical gremlins. Although most dismissed Adams’ machine as yet another failed novelty at the Brickyard, rumours began to spread that the engine was capable of generating speeds of up to 260mph, and leading Andy Grantelli to believe that a turbine engine combined with a chassis and drive-train strong enough to handle it’s power could prove to be a dominant force come next season’s Indy 500.

On paper, the turbine concept possessed a number of advantages over its piston powered rivals. The ability of the engine to generate torque at a faster pace meant that a turbine powered machine would have better acceleration then normal, whilst it’s lack of components when compared to a piston engine (including no gearbox) also made the machine incredibly light, in the process also aiding the machine’s fuel and tyre conservation, to the extent that rumours spread that such a machine could run the entire 500 mile distance without the need of a single pit-stop. After approaching both AJ Foyt and Mario Andretti to drive the unusual machine, Parnelli Jones was eventually signed to drive for the team during that year’s off-season. The 1963 500 winner tested the car in early ’67 at Phoenix, where he was reported to say that the car was so smooth and quiet that he could hear the brake calipers grabbing the rotors, whilst expressing a strong belief that the machine could be he car to beat come Memorial Day weekend.

When the month finally did arrive however it appeared that the hype surrounding the turbine appeared to be for nought, the ungainly machine was not the powerhouse force many expected, and come the end of Pole day Jones was forced to settle for sixth place after running 2 to 3mph slower then it’s rivals throughout practice. Despite this however, murmurings began to spread that the team were deliberately hiding the pace of the machine to avoid any kind of rule changes being implemented against it, and that in reality the car was capable of traveling 14mph faster then it’s nearest rivals.

When the green flag finally did fall on race day, the fears many had over the turbine’s dominance soon became clear, as Jones used his machine’s high torque to take the lead of the race by the time the field made it through turn two. From that point on the 63 winner never looked back, extending his lead to 25 seconds by the race’s quarter distance mark, and continuing to run at a blistering pace by the time the race began to enter it’s later stages. With just a few laps remaining in the race, Jones had managed to lap the entire field up to the second placed car of AJ Foyt, who had driven an intelligent race to remain the only threat to the turbine in the closing laps. When Gordon Johncock brought out the race’s final caution period with just seven laps remaining, Foyt was able to cycle around to catch Jones’ machine, and when the green flag fell with three laps remaining began to pressure the turbine machine in a bid to provoke a mechanical failure in the machine.

The gamble worked in dramatic fashion, as just a few moments later the turbine began dramatically slowing along the front-stretch, a six dollar ball bearing in the gearbox had failed, dropping the car into neutral. Despite leading 171 laps of the race, the Granatelli team were forced to push their car slowly back to the garage area as AJ Foyt inherited the lead on his way to a third triumph in the 500.

Speaking after the race, Foyt would admit feeling sorry for Parnelli coming so close to victory in the turbine, but he would also state that the car had an unfair advantage at the Speedway. He would go on to say that the turbine car had twice as much horsepower as any other car at the track and should be banned, but that he would run one himself if he were forced to. Although the machine wasn’t banned, new regulations were introduced to the series designed to stifle the advantage of the machines over their piston rivals, and although Granatelli did revive the concept in a Lotus 56 in 1968 it did so at a level much more even level then that seen in 1967.

Of all the amazing machines to have contested the 500 in the past, there is an argument to suggest that the STP turbine was one of the most brilliant that the speedway had ever seen, and the fact that it was unable to claim the victory that it deserved acts as one of the great injustices of Brickyard lore. Indy has always been about aspiring the best and greatest in the world of technology, and thanks to the turbine it was certainly able to do just that.

In today’s video broadcasting legend Paul Page takes us through a review of the STP Turbine.