There are beautiful race cars from every era, but there’s just something about the roadsters racing in the Indy 500 in the late ’50s and early ’60s that’s pretty special.
That was right before aerodynamics became all-important and wings started sprouting on all the cars. The engines were still in front, the tires were still skinny and the drivers were still a lot more like cowboys than the smooth talking corporate billboards we have today.
That’s why we were so taken when Holley produced this video featuring the recently restored roadster owned by Bill Akins.
Akins is a noted restorer of classic Indy cars, and his latest project may be his best yet. The car has been restored to the condition of it’s final race, the 1959 Indy 500 when it was driven by Johnny Boyd to a sixth-place finish.
The car is powered by an Offenhauser four cylinder burning methanol and producing approximately 400 horsepower. And Akins notes that the fuel tank is “only” sixty gallons–good for about 150 miles on the race trac–because that’s also about how long the tires would last before requiring a pit stop.
There are lots more fascinating bits of information in here about a great part of our history. Check it out for yourself.
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