Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 31 May 1965

Notes on the cars:

1. Lotus 38 [1] (Jim Clark): Built 1965 (first chassis built) for Team Lotus. For Jim Clark at the 1965 Indy 500 (#82 qualified 2nd and won race). Retained by Ford. Used as a promotions car until 1977 and then to the Henry Ford Museum (Greenfield Village, Detroit, MI). Brought to England in 2009 for Goodwood and then fully restored by Classic Team Lotus in 2010.
2. Lotus 34 [3] (Parnelli Jones): New for Jim Clark at the 1964 Indianapolis 500 as his #6 car. Clark qualified on pole position but retired early with broken suspension. Next used at the August Milwaukee but Clark was not available so a deal was done with 1963 Indy 500 winner Parnelli Jones and his car owner JC Agajanian for Jones to drive it as the #98 entry. Jones qualified on pole and won the race. It was driven at Trenton in September by Clark and then at Phoenix in November by Jones. The car was then sold to Agajanian for Jones to race in 1965, and extensively rebuilt by Agajanian's veteran chief mechanic Johnny Pouelsen and "body man" Eddie Kuzma, who reported that they had replaced every inch of English metal with stronger and heavier American metal. Its weight increased by 200 lbs to 1250 lbs. Despite this rebuild, a rear wheel came off during practice, which was still blamed on the "funny car". Jones finished second in the Indy 500 in the Lotus, and won at Milwaukee a week later. After being retained unused by Agajanian during 1966, the car became part of Parnelli Jones' new team for 1967 when it was raced a few times as a backup car but was heavily damaged in the multi-car accident at Langhorne in July in which driver Arnie Knepper was badly burnt. The car was retained in boxes for many years at Vel's Parnelli Racing until it was restored by Phil Reilly & Co (Corte Madera, CA) in 1998. Then retained as part of the Vel's Parnelli collection in Torrance but also on display at other museums on occasion, such as the Petersen Automotive Museum (Los Angeles, CA) in 2006. Sold with the rest of the VPJ collection to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum in May 2012 and the Lotus was on the podium in the entrance of the museum in 2012 and 2013.
3. Hawk I (65) (Mario Andretti): The first Hawk appeared at the 1965 Indianapolis 500 as the #12 Dean Van Lines entry for Mario Andretti. Andretti used this car for seven other races in 1965, and also used it with great success in 1966, taking pole position nine times and winning seven times from ten race starts. The car was rebuilt for the 1967 season along the lines of the new 1967 Hawk but was damaged in practice at Phoenix. It was then Andretti's #64 backup car at the Indy 500, and then became the regular road racing car, being used by Andretti at Mosport Park in July, Mont-Tremblant in August, where it won both races, Hanford in October, Riverside in November, and finally Las Vegas in March 1968. It was entered at Indy again in 1968, this time as the #57, but did not appear on track. When the second 1968 Hawk was complete, the 1965 car was redundant, and its final appearance in Andretti's hands was at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb at the end of June. It was then sold to aircraft dealer Jack Adams, and it was raced as the #38 by Jim McElreath at four races from August onwards. It was entered by Adams for McElreath at the 1969 Indy 500 and although he qualified it, he retired early due to an engine fire. McElreath then left the Adams team and his replacements focused on the team's 1967 Lola, and the Hawk was not seen again until Indy the following May, when it was one of the team's three entries and had been rebuilt with wedge-shaped bodywork. Rick Muther qualified the car and went on to a most impressive eighth place. The Adams team by now was focused on a turbine car, but the Hawk was raced at Michigan and Ontario later in 1970. It returned yet again to the Indy 500 in 1971 and as the team's turbine car was again unable to get up to speed, Muther climbed into the ancient Hawk, now wearing inelegant bodywork crafted by chief mechanic Howard Millican, and qualified for its fifth Indy 500 in its seventh season of racing. Muther crashed out on this occasion. The car was still in Millican's workshop in February 1972 and it was sold for 1973 to Fred Graves (Hastings, NY) to be used as a Supermodified at Oswego and Lancaster Speedways in northern New York State in 1973, still wearing the 1971 Millican bodywork. Graves crashed while leading at Lancaster on 25 July 1973 and the car was very badly damaged in the ensuing fire. The history of the car is then unknown for 16 years until 1990, when Steve Forristall (Houston, TX) was reported to own its remains. Nearly 25 years later it was acquired by Ray Evernham in 2014 in a very dilapidated condition and with many of its original components long gone. Evernham was aware that a replica that had been built by Tom Brawner, nephew of the late Clint Brawner, which he had created using the template from the long-abandoned Brabham BT12 frame and had completed using all the redundant parts found in his uncle's workshop. Evernham bought this replica and took both the heavily modified ex-Supermodified car and the replica to the Hawk's original mechanic Jim McGee and Steve Panarites of Steve's Auto Fab (Jamestown, IN) for restoration. They carefully restored the original 1965 frame and built up the car using the original parts taken from the replica. It reappeared in early 2016 at the Amelia Island Concours where it took first in class, was driven at the Speedway by Andretti in May 2017, and was at the 2017 Pinehurst Concours and the 2018 Pebble Beach Concours. Sold by Evernham at the Mecum Auction in May 2022 to Ray Skillman (Greenwood, IN).
4. Lotus 29 [2] (Al Miller): New for Dan Gurney at the 1963 Indianapolis 500, entered as #91, but crashed during practice. Repaired by Lotus in England and sold to Lindsey Hopkins who entered it as the #51 Pure Oil Firebird car for Bobby Marshman during 1964. Crashed by Marshman at Milwaukee in June and replaced with the sister car, 29/3. After Marshman wrecked 29/3, both damaged cars were sold to Jerry Alderman who had 29/2 rebuilt by his chief mechanic Carroll Horton as a runner. It was raced at Indy in 1965 by Al Miller as the #74 car and finished fourth. Raced again during the 1965 season and returned to Indy one last time in 1966 where Miller crashed it. Alderman then withdrew from racing, and the Lotus was taken over by Horton, together with Ford's entire stock of Lotus 29 components. It was rebuilt by Horton as a show car for team sponsors the Stewart-Warner Corporation, then reportedly to "Nelson Carr" for "libre racing". To Jim Toensing (Newport Beach, CA) 1976, who sold it to a UK consortium led by Tom Candlish (Burnham, Bucks) in 1991. Fully restored in England, and first raced in historic events in 1995. Acquired by Richard Drewett some time in the next few years, and appeared several times at the Goodwood Revival. Some time between 2003 and 2006, Drewett sold his Lotus 70 to the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum (Birmingham, AL), and his Lotus 29 is thought to have gone at the same time. It was fully restored for the museum by Classic Team Lotus to Gurney's #91 colours. Driven by John Surtees in a Gurney parade at the 2012 Goodwood Revival.
5. Gerhardt 65 (Mickey Rupp): Veteran car owner Pete Salemi (Cleveland, Ohio) bought a new Gerhardt for 1965 and ran it with backing from the G. C. Murphy store chain. With Andy Dunlop as chief crew, Salemi's car ran as #81 in 1965, and again in 1966 when it was entered by Salemi's Central Excavating. The Central Excavating team had a supercharged Offy for 1967, indicating they had a new car. Pictures of the team's car during the 1967 and 1968 seasons show a 1967 Gerhardt, so the older 1965 Gerhardt may have been sold off after the 1966 season, or perhaps after the 1967 season.
6. Lotus 38 [2] (Bobby Johns): Built 1965 (third chassis built) for Team Lotus. Crashed by Roger McCluskey while testing at Trenton April 1965 and rebuilt on new tub (fourth chassis built) in time for Indy 500. For Bobby Johns at the 1965 Indy 500 (#83 qualified 22nd, finished 7th). Purchased by Ford and used as a show car standing in as 'Indy winner' show car. Sold at some point to AJ Foyt and believed to be the car that was modified by Eddie Kuzma and entered at the 1966 Indy 500 as the Lotus-Kuzma. For George Snider at the 1966 Indy 500 (#82 qualified 3rd, crashed in race). Parts of this car and of Foyt's car damaged in the same race used to built a new car for 1967. This is believed to be the #82 car destroyed in Bob Christie's accident during Indy qualifying in 1967.
7. Watson 65 (Don Branson): Built new by AJ Watson for Don Branson to race in 1965 for the Leader Card team as the #4 Wynn's entry. Fitted with a Ford V8 with Jud Phillips as chief mechanic. "Written off while tyre testing at the Speedway" (Wallen p309) in late June or early July 1965 but evidently survived as sold to Walter J. Flynn and entered for Ralph Liguori as the #35 Enterprise Machine Spl in 1966 and 1967. Unknown in 1968 but returned in 1969 owned by John Gavin (Winona, Minnesota), Patrick O'Reilly (Lake Crystal, Minnesota) and Mike DeMulling (St Paul, Minnesota) and entered as the Minnesota Serendipity. Appeared with ever decreasing regularity over the next four seasons, and last seen for sure at Milwaukee in August 1972, after which O'Reilly bought a 1971 Mongoose. The Watson was used to test an engine built by Ted Blair (North Hampton, MA) in 1973 and then sold to Blair. Passed on to his sons until sold to Don Danville (Storrs Mansfield, CT) in late 1977 and stored by him until 1990. To Walter Turell (North Easton, MA) 1990, then Harry Woodward (Camilla, GA) 1991 and Thomas W. Acker (Dunnellon, FL). Cleaned up by Acker and stored until sold to William Davis (Ortonville, MI) in 2000. Fully restored by William & Sharon Davis up to 2010 and appeared at the 2011 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance. Appeared at a parade at the Pocono 500 in July 2014.
8. Lola T80 (Al Unser): New to Sheraton-Thompson, the team owned by Shirley Murphy and William Ansted, with George Bignotti as chief crew and AJ Foyt as lead driver. Murphy and Ansted ran auto parts maker Thompson Industries, which was owned by hotel chain Sheraton. Sheraton-Thompson also had a Lotus 34 for Foyt and he preferred that car, so the Lola was raced at Indy 1965 by Al Unser as the #45 entry. It was not seen again that season. Tentatively identified as the car entered by Michner Petroleum in 1966 as their #34 entry for Larry Dickson, Used occasionally during 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Michner until the car was destroyed in the accident at Milwaukee in 1968 that claimed the life of Ronnie Duman. Norm Brown was driving the Michner Lola and was hit by Duman's car. Brown was trapped in the burning car for some time and was badly burnt. The Lola was destroyed.
9. Halibrand Shrike 65 (Lloyd Ruby): A new 1965 Halibrand Shrike (Clymer 1965 p41) entered by David R McManus (Hanover, Michigan) for Lloyd Ruby at the 1965 Indy 500 as the DuPont Golden 7. The team was listed as American Eagle Racing Team. The car was entered as #7 and Dave Laycock was chief mechanic. McManus and DuPont were later said to have had a "disagreement", and Ruby moved to the AAR team. Jim Hurtubise took over the McManus Halibrand for the next five races, and then Dempsey Wilson drove it at Phoenix at the end of the season. Entered at the 1966 Indy 500 as the #61 McManus Bros entry, now with an Offy engine. It was practiced by Bob Tattersall and Gary Bettenhausen, but no attempt was made to qualify. Later in the season, Bettenhausen was too slow to qualify at Milwaukee in June, then crashed in practice at Atlanta and was again too slow to qualify at Milwaukee in August. The subsequent history of this car is unknown, but in July 1970 it was being used as a show car by Ashland Oil.
10. Vollstedt 65 [7] (Len Sutton): New for 1965 as Vollstedt Enterprises' #16 Bryant Heating & Cooling entry at the Indy 500 for Len Sutton. Raced by Sutton at Indy, Milwaukee and Lanhorne, and then by Billy Foster for the rest of the season. To Jim Robbins for 1966 as the #66 entry for Foster, Cale Yarborough, Bobby Unser, Mario Andretti and Chris Amon. To Hayhoe Racing Enterprises for 1967 and became their #62 Cleaver-Brooks Special, driven by Don Meacham, who did not qualify at the 500, and then by Bruce Walkup. Converted to a turbo Offy engine during this time. Retained by Hayhoe for the start of 1968, then unseen until sold to Bob Gregg in mid-1969 and fitted with a Chevy engine, appearing at west coast Indy races driven by Gregg and Dick Simon. Bought back by Vollstedt who reconditioned the car for Supermodified racing. Sold to Larry Kramer who entered it for Tom Sneva, who was hugely successful with it in the lower divisions. Photographs also show that this was Fred Corbett's "Eagle" at the 1971 USAC Road Racing event at Seattle in 1971. History then unknown until bought again by Volstedt, sold to Bruce Russell (Vancouver, WA) and then restored by Volstedt for Russell with a four-cam Ford. By 2003, the car was owned by Don Shervey (Portland, OR). Sold by Shervey to Gord Alberg (Saanich, British Columbia, Canada) in 2015.
11. BRP 65 [BRP-5-65] (Johnny Boyd): The #14 BRP was entered by George R. Bryant for Johnny Boyd to drive at the 1965 Indy 500. He qualified but retired with gearbox problems. The car next raced at the 1966 Indy 500, when Boyd again qualified but crashed out early in the race. The #14 car was entered for Bob Harkey at two races later in 1966 but failed to start either. It was then entered for Chris Amon at the 1967 Indy 500 and he topped 160 mph unofficially in practice but crashed on 10 May and the car was "damaged extensively". Howard Gilbert stripped the car and saved only the bulkheads and suspension parts. Carroll Horton acquired these parts, together with the remains of the #41 car which had been damaged later in 1967, and remained there until 1984, when they were bought by Thomas W. Acker (Largo, FL). In 2008, the remains of the #41 tub were being analysed to make a pattern to rebuild it.
12. Huffaker 64 (Walt Hansgen): Originally built in 1964 intended for AJ Foyt but only used by Foyt in testing. Taken over by Bob Veith as the #54 for the race. Identified by Clymer as the #53 car used by Walt Hansgen in the 1965 "500". Then sold to Tassi Vatis and run as the #18 Konstant Hot Spl for Arnie Knepper through the rest of 1965. Then entered for Gary Congdon in 1966, becoming the Valvoline Special from the Indy 500 onwards. Wally Dallenbach took over the drive for 1967 and drove this car in the first three races, but an accident at the Indy 500 meant he had to drive the sister car for the rest of that season. His primary car was rebuilt in time for the 1968 season, and he drove it for the majority of that season, again as the #54 Valvoline Spl. In 1969, Vatis's chief mechanic Bill Finley again described the team's Indy 500 entries as "new Finley-built Valvoline Specials". Exactly how those 1969 cars relate to the 1964-1968 cars is still to be determined.
13. Lotus 34 [2] (AJ Foyt): New for the 1964 Indianapolis 500 as the #36 backup car and used in practice by Jim Clark. Then assigned to AJ Foyt when the cars were next seen at Milwaukee in August. Foyt qualified third but retired with transmission problems. Then for Parnelli Jones to race at Trenton where the car was entered as #98, the usual number of Jones' backer J.C. "Aggie" Agajanian. Jones had won from pole in the other Lotus 34 at Milwaukee five weeks earlier, and repeated that performance at Trenton. The car was sold by Lotus to Sheraton-Thompson for Foyt to race in 1965 and was one of the fastest cars of the season, qualifying on pole position seven times and winning three races, but ultimately losing the championship to the new Brabham-based car of Mario Andretti. Used once by the Foyt team early in 1966 but then retained by Foyt until 1992 when sold at auction to Patrick S. Ryan (Montgomery, Alabama, later Fletcher, North Carolina) who displayed it in his Automobile Museum of the Southeast (Montgomery, Alabama) until 1997. The car was then retained by Ryan as part of his Prisma Collection in Asheville, North Carolina. Walter Goodwin started a full restoration of the car in 2016, and in May 2017 it was on display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum as part of a Foyt exhibition. It was sold at Bonham's Quail Lodge Auction in August 2017 for $1.15M.
14. Lola T80 (Bud Tingelstad): New to Lindsey Hopkins and raced by Bud Tingelstad at Trenton in 1965 as the #5 American Red Ball car, finishing fourth. Raced again by Tingelstad at the 1965 Indy 500 and several other 1965 races, but damaged in an accident at Milwaukee in August. It was sold to George O. Reves (Santa Ana, CA), rebuilt by his chief mechanic Norm Holtkamp and fitted with a Chevrolet V8 engine. It was entered by Reves' Western Racing Associates as the #68 entry at Indy in 1966, where it was driven by Bruce Jacobi and Ronnie Bucknum but did not qualify. It was then raced by Jacobi at Milwaukee the week after Indy but then crashed by him in practice at Langhorne the next weekend and wrecked. Reves and his business partners had told Holtkamp to sell the car after it failed to qualify at Indy, so its destruction did not go down well with them. They sued Holtkamp in October for the massive sum of $46,000. Nothing more was heard of the suit, the team or the car.
15. Gerhardt 65 (George Snider): Fred Gerhardt's #94 "house" car at the 1965 Indy 500 was driven by George Snider but re-emerged later in the season for Micky Rupp. In August 1965, it was sold (Wallen p320) to Weinberger Homes for Gordon Johncock to replace the team's wrecked roadster. The car had #78 crudely painted on it and won first time out at Milwaukee on 22 August. It is presumably then the #94 car that Johncock drives twice more that season and then in the opening two races of the 1966 season. The #94 with Offy 252 is then seen as a Fred Gerhardt entry at the 1966 Indy 500 with Mel Kenyon at the wheel, the car having presumably returned to Gerhardt in return for a new car for Johncock. Crew member Dennis Johansen confirms that it was the same #94 Gerhardt-Offy that was then raced by Kenyon and Milwaukee in June and by midget racer Tommy Copp, another Fresnan, at Atlanta three weeks later. Copp hit the wall on lap 1 and the car burst into flames. Copp was very badly burnt on his face and hands and Johansen recalls that the car was "trashed". Parts of this car may have survived and been used in the construction of later cars.
16. Gerhardt 65 (Ronnie Duman): Ernest L. Ruiz (Modesto, CA) bought a new Gerhardt for 1965 and ran it as the #65 Travelon Trailer car. It was fitted with a 252 ci Offenhauser engine and Ernie Ruiz continued to run it in this form until 1971, although it may well have acquired a turbocharger by the end of this period. Dennis Johansen recalls the car being very heavily damaged at Phoenix in March 1970 when Johnny Anderson triggered a six-car accident while trying to avoid a spinning Nick Dioguardi. However, the car seen in pictures on track at the Speedway in the 1971 Hungness Yearbook appears to be a pre-66 car, so it must have survived. Unknown after Indianapolis May 1971 until June 2015, when a car restored in the #65 Travelon Trailer livery was on display at Brands Hatch's American SpeedFest III. This car then run by Robin Ward at the Goodwood Festival of Speed a month later.
17. BRP 65 [BRP-4-65] (Masten Gregory): The #41 BRP was entered by George R. Bryant for Masten Gregory to drive at the 1965 Indy 500. He qualified but was out early, classified 23rd. The car returned to Indy for the 1966 500 when it was practiced by Bobby Johns but did not qualify. It was then raced on the USAC trail by Johnny Boyd as the #41 Prestone entry. Carl Williams took over the drive at Fuji in October and retained the seat for 1967. He qualified for Indy but and was running in third place when he crashed on the final lap, being classified tenth. He raced it through the rest of the 1967 season, with a best position of eighth at IRP, but the car was put out of action by a crash and fire at Milwaukee in August. Some components of the BRPs were used in the construction of Howard Gilbert's new Cheetah cars but everything that was left went to Carroll Horton who was also building new cars, the Marathons. The #41 tub is believed to have been sent to Fournier Enterprises (Troy, MI), and was still there many years later when it was acquired from Darrell Soppe by master Indycar restorer Walter Goodwin (Indianapolis, IN). Sold to Thomas W. Acker (Largo, FL) in 1987, joining the remains of the #14 car that Acker had already acquired.
18. Huffaker 64 (Bob Veith): Walt Hansgen's Huffaker at the 1964 Indy 500 was the prototype car that AJ Foyt had crashed at Phoenix in March (Sports Car Graphic August 1964). Returned for the 1965 Indy 500 as a "new" Huffaker and raced by Bob Veith as the #54. Presumably then the #54 Huffaker raced by Bob Unser through the rest of 1965 for Gordon Van Liew's Vita Fresh Orange Juice team. At the start of 1966, Unser wrecked this car at Phoenix in March.
19. Lotus 38 [3] (Dan Gurney): Built 1965 (second chassis built) for AAR. For Dan Gurney at the 1965 Indy 500 (#17 qualified 3rd, retired after 42 laps); for Roger McCluskey at Milwaukee, Langhorne and Trenton; for Gurney at two Milwaukee races; and for McCluskey at Trenton. Raced for AAR in 1966 by Joe Leonard at Phoenix, then an unused spare at the 500, and then driven by Lloyd Ruby, crewed by Dave Laycock, later in the season. Ruby and Laycock then joined Gene White's new team for 1967, and the Lotus was sold to Gordon van Liew and entered by Vita Fresh Orange Juice for Larry Dickson that year. Some modifications were performed by Eddie Kuzma. Also driven in three late-season races by George Snider, Arnie Knepper and Ronnie Bucknum. According to Doug Nye, this car was later sold to Ansted/Foyt then to Dick Smothers and on loan to the Briggs Cunningham Automotive Museum (then at 250 East Baker, Costa Mesa, CA). The museum closed at the end of 1986 and the whole collection was sold to Miles Collier, owner of the Collier Automotive Museum (Naples, FL) but the Lotus 38, as it was not owned by the collection, instead passed to Harrah's Auto Collection. This collection was founded by Bill Harrah, founder of Harrah's Casinos, but after Harrah died in 1978 the collection was acquired by the Holiday Corporation and some cars were sold off. The remaining 200 cars from the collection were donated to the National Automobile Museum (Reno, NV) which opened in 1989 and the Lotus, although reportedly still a separate property, moved with them. The car was still resident in the museum in April 2008 and the National Automobile Museum website in 2009 continued to list a "1965 Lotus-Ford 38 Indianapolis Race Car (Smothers Brothers)" in its collection.
20. Huffaker 64 (Jerry Grant): The second Kjell Qvale Huffaker at the 1964 Indy 500 for Pedro Rodriguez as the #48 MG Liquid Suspension Spl. Rodriguez crashed the car on 9 May, damaging it severely and putting himself in hospital. The car was repaired and returned to competition as Qvale's #48 Bardahl entry for Jerry Grant #48 Bardahl car at the 1965 Indy 500. He qualified in mid-grid but was an early retirement. This car was then one of two sold to Tassi Vatis but was not raced again in 1965, Vatis driver Arnie Knepper using the sister car that season. It was next seen at the 1966 Indy 500 where it was entered as Vatis team's backup #54 Valvoline entry, which journeyman Eddie Johnson qualified on the back row and took to seventh place as others retired. With lead driver Gary Congdon having wrecked his car at the Speedway, he drove this ex-Grant/Johnson car at Milwaukee, Langhorne and Atlanta while his regular car was repaired. It was then driven by Wally Dallenbach as a second Vatis at Fuji and Phoenix at the end of the 1966 season. Congdon moved to Mickey Thompson's team for 1967, so Dallenbach took over the Valvoline-sponsored Vatis Huffakers. He again drove the team's preferred primary car, and this ex-Grant/Johnson car was entered for veteran Chuck Stevenson to drive at the 1967 Indy 500, but he made no attempt to qualify. As Dallenbach damaged the primary Huffaker during the Indy 500, he drove the ex-Grant/Johnson car for the rest of the 1967 season. For the 1968 season, both cars were signficantly rebuilt and Dallenbach returned again to the team's preferred primary car, leaving this ex-Grant/Johnson car to be entered for Stevenson again at the 1968 Indy 500. After an accident quite early in the month, the veteran decided to retire from racing, and Sammy Sessions was recruited as his replacement. He qualified on the back row but kept going to finish ninth. This car was not seen again until the last few races of the season when Dallenbach raced it at Michigan and Hanford, and then Rick Muther drove it in the final race, at Riverside in December. In 1969, Vatis's chief mechanic Bill Finley again described the team's Indy 500 entries as "new Finley-built Valvoline Specials". Exactly how those 1969 cars relate to the 1964-1968 cars is still to be determined.
21. Halibrand Shrike 64 (Chuck Rodee): The 'house' Halibrand Shrike, raced once by Foyt at the end of 1964 and then sold to Wally Weir for the 1965 Indy 500. Last seen at the 1966 Indy 500.
22. Halibrand Shrike 65 (Joe Leonard): A new 1965 Halibrand Shrike with Ford V8 engine bought by Dan Gurney's All American Racers for 1965 and raced by Joe Leonard as the #29 AAR entry. Leonard retired early from the Indy 500, but finished second at Milwaukee a week later, and won at Milwaukee again in August. He also finished second at Trenton and took several other good placings, finishing sixth in the USAC National championship. AAR built their own Eagle Indy cars for 1966 and the AAR Shrikes were not seen again after the end of 1965.
23. Halibrand Shrike 65 (Roger McCluskey): A new 1965 Halibrand Shrike with Ford V8 engine bought by Dan Gurney's All American Racers for 1965 and raced by Roger McCluskey as the #25 AAR entry. Wally Meskowski was chief mechanic. It was the first of AAR's cars to be ready and was raced by McCluskey at Phoenix in late March. McCluskey retired early from the Indy 500 and then used the team's Lotus 38 at the next three races. He returned to the Halibrand for four races in July and August. The car was not seen again after this.
24. Halibrand Shrike 65 (Johnny Rutherford): New to Herb Porter and Ebb Rose's Racing Associates, and driven by Johnny Rutherford at the 1965 Indy 500, entered as #24. Rutherford qualifed well, but was one of the first retirements from the race. Later in the season, the car was sold to John Mecom's new Mecom Racing Team with chief mechanic George Bignotti and driver Rodger Ward. He drove it in three races at the end of the season, at Milwaukee, Trenton and Phoenix. Subsequent history unknown.
25. Gerhardt 64 (Bill Cheesbourg): The 1964 Gerhardt was entered at the 1964 Indy 500 for Jerry Grant with Bardahl backing but did not qualify. In disgust, Gerhardt put the car up for sale, and sold it immediately to Nick Fulbright (Niles, Michigan). Entered by Fulbright and Harry Lane entered it for Bob Christie at Milwaukee, but he could not qualify, and then he crashed it heavily in practice at Milwaukee in August. Once it was rebuilt, Chuck Rodee drove it at Phoenix in November. Fulbright entered it at Indy in 1965 as the #47 WIFE Radio Good Guy Spl and Bill Cheesbourg qualified it in 33rd position, much to the team's delight. Cheesbourg continued with it at a few more races in 1965, but after qualifying last at IRP in July, it was reported that the car was sold. Subsequent history unknown.
26. Halibrand Shrike 64 (Greg Weld): The 'house' Halibrand Shrike, raced once by Foyt at the end of 1964 and then sold to Wally Weir for the 1965 Indy 500. Last seen at the 1966 Indy 500.
27. Eisert 65 (Skip Hudson): New for Skip Hudson to drive at the 1965 Indy 500 as J Frank Harrison's #96 Harrison Special. The new car got on track on 13 May, at which point the older 1964 car was renumbered from 96 to 93. Hudson was a successful sports car racer, but was unable to pass his rookie test when an engine blew, so Al Unser took over the drive but he made no attempt to qualify the car. Unser then drove the car through the 1965 USAC season, but only once finished inside the top 10. The 1965 car was retained for the opening races of the 1966 season, driven by Unser at Phoenix and by Billy Foster at Trenton. It then became the team's #93 entry, and was only seen again at Fuji, where Jerry Grant finished tenth. Greg Weld failed to qualify the car for the 1967 Indy 500, after which it was sold to Don Wilcox, who raced it at Pikes Peak and made an unsuccessfiul attempt to qualify at Indianapolis Raceway Park in July. The old car was ideal for the SCCA's new Formula A, so was sold to Stew McMillen (Libertyville, IL) who raced it in SCCA Nationals, winning twice, and in Pro races. At the end of 1968 he took it out to New Zealand, racing it at Baypark Raceway in December, before it was leased to Dennis Marwood for the 1969/70 season. It returned to the US later in 1970 and was acquired by Bill Tempero (Fort Collins, CO), who fitted it with wedge-style bodywork and raced it in Pro races and SCCA Nationals in 1971, then in Midwest Division Formula A in 1972. It was later converted for street use by brothers Wayne and Steve Huntley in Nebraska and was also used as a show car by Fred Bosselman in the late 1970s or early 1980s, probably at his Bosselman Truck Plaza in Grand Island, Nebraska. In the early 1990s it was acquired by Bill Wiswedel (Holland, MI) who has restored it to 1965 colours but still with the later, squarer bodywork.
28. Watson 65 (Rodger Ward): Built new by AJ Watson for Rodger Ward to race in 1965 for the Leader Card team as the #2 Moog St. Louis entry. Fitted with a Ford V8. Taken over by Johnny Rutherford when Ward left to join the new Mecom-Bignotti team in July 1965. Taken to the 1966 Indianapolis 500 for Chuck Rodee as the #92 entry but wrecked in practice and Rodee was killed. It has been reported that Bob Wilke had Watson remove the engine and running gear and then scrap the chassis.
29. Watson 64 (Jud Larson): Built new by AJ Watson for Rodger Ward to race in 1964 for the Leader Card team as the #2 Kaiser Aluminum entry. Fitted with a Ford V8. Finished second at Indy that year and had two other second places later in the season. Taken by Leader Card to Indy again in 1965 as the #15 backup and used in practice by Jud Larson but wrecked and did not start. Brought back out later in the 1965 season for Bob Mathouser, and again for the same driver once at the start of 1966. Sold to Norm Hall over the 1966/67 close season who linked up with Barney Navarro to use the 199 ci 6-cylinder AMC Rambler turbo engine that Navarro had been developing. Appeared from 1967 to 1972 but, as a general rule, failed to qualify or failed to start. It appeared at Rafaela 1971 - only its fourth actual race start - driven by Dave Strickland and in practice at Indy that year by Les Scott. Jigger Sirois made another unsuccessful attempt to qualify the #50 Navarro-Rambler at the 1972 Indy 500. It was later acquired from Navarro by Rodger Ward and restored to its 1964 specification in the late 1980s. Subsequent history unknown until part of a display of Indycars at Monterey in August 2007 when it was owned by Tom Malloy and said to be "s/n 001" and then at Fontana in March 2008 alongside the Branson sister car.
30. Halibrand Shrike 64 (Jim Hurtubise): A third Halibrand Shrike built later in 1964 and raced once by Bob Veith. Used by Hurtubise in 1965 but wrecked in a crash in practice at the 1965 Indy 500.
31. Philipp 64 (Ebb Rose): This car was originally built by Bob "Rocky" Phillip in Culver City, CA as the Rose Trucking Co.'s #10 rear-engined Offy entry for the 1964 Indy 500 to be driven by Ebb Rose. It was used in practice by Johnny Rutherford, running as a Racing Associates entry, but no attempt was made to qualify it. It was raced by Rutherford at Sacramento in October with a Chevrolet engine and then again at Phoenix (as the #24) at the start of 1965 with an Offy again. Rose drove it in practice for the 1965 Indy 500 where it was the #79 but crashed during practice. What happened next is unknown, but an article in the Decatur Daily Review in April 1970 revealed that the car had been bought by Richard 'Unk' Blacker (Champaign, IL) and repaired. Blacker then fitted a Chevrolet engine and entered it for supermodified driver Larry 'Boom Boom' Cannon (Danville, IL) in 1970 Indy racing as the #47 Autotron Photoelectric 'Blacker-Chevrolet'. After two failures to start a race early in the 1970 season, Cannon then crashed the car during practice for the Indy 500. He qualified for a couple of short track events later in 1970, and then joined the trip out to Argentina for the Rafaela race in early 1971. After two more failures to qualify later in 1971, the car was not seen again. Blacker, a former owner of Unk's Tavern in Champaign, died in 2002, aged 82. Cannon died in 1995. Nothing more is known of the history of their car.
32. Brooks/Ward 65/66 (Bob Harkey): Built in 1965 for Dan Levine's Federal Engineering by chief crew Paul Brooks and "metal man" Ronnie Ward. The resulting car appeared very similar to the 1964 Vollstedt and Watson designs. Bob Harkey had handling problems at the 1965 Indy 500 and couldn't qualify but it did race at Phoenix at the end of the season in Jud Larson's hands. It reappeared in 1966 as a second car to Federal Engneering's new Gerhardt but Sam Sessions couldn't qualify it for the 1966 Indy 500. It reappeared later in the year driven by Al Smith at three races, including a seventh place at Trenton in September. Nothing more is known of this car.
33. Halibrand Shrike 65 (Paul Goldsmith): A new 1965 Halibrand Shrike bought by Jack Adams, Jack Wallis and Robert Carr and entered for Paul Goldsmith to drive in the 1965 Indy 500 as the #36 Jack Adams Aircraft entry. Chief mechanic was Danny Oakes. The car did not arrive until 16 May, and the team appear to have underestimated the difficulty of sorting the car and getting it up to speed. No attempt was made to qualify. The car was next seen at Trenton where Johnny Rutherford and Chuck Rodee both drove it. Rutherford failed to start after an oil tank cracked. The car then moved to AAR and was driven by Lloyd Ruby for the rest of the 1965 season. This is presumably the #30 AAR-entered Halibrand-Ford raced by Ruby in the Phoenix Jimmy Bryan Memorial on 20 March 1966. Subsequent history unknown.
34. Weisman (Al Unser): At Indy in 1965, Al Unser passed his rookie test in the Arciero Brothers' Maserati-powered car. This is identified by Harms as a Weismann-built chassis and Weismann's website has pictures of this car (or a very similar one) wearing #94 and said to be at Indy in 1963. However, the website is a year out on other details so this may refer to 1964.
35. Gerhardt 65 (Mike McGreevy): Ernest L. Ruiz (Modesto, CA) bought a new Gerhardt for 1965 and ran it as the #65 Travelon Trailer car. It was fitted with a 252 ci Offenhauser engine and Ernie Ruiz continued to run it in this form until 1971, although it may well have acquired a turbocharger by the end of this period. Dennis Johansen recalls the car being very heavily damaged at Phoenix in March 1970 when Johnny Anderson triggered a six-car accident while trying to avoid a spinning Nick Dioguardi. However, the car seen in pictures on track at the Speedway in the 1971 Hungness Yearbook appears to be a pre-66 car, so it must have survived. Unknown after Indianapolis May 1971 until June 2015, when a car restored in the #65 Travelon Trailer livery was on display at Brands Hatch's American SpeedFest III. This car then run by Robin Ward at the Goodwood Festival of Speed a month later.
36. Watson 64 (Art Malone): Built new by AJ Watson for Don Branson to race in 1964 for the Leader Card team as the #5 Wynn's Friction Proofing entry. Fitted with an Offenhauser engine. Rebuilt over the winter and sold to Gil Morcroft for Bob Wente to drive as the #67 GC Murphy car but crashed by Art Malone at Langhorne in August 1965 and not seen again. At some point reacquired by AJ Watson and restored to 1964 specification. Some time around 2000 the restored car was hanging from the roof of Watson's garage. Then unknown again until part of a display of Indycars at Fontana in March 2008 alongside the Ward sister car.
37. Watson 64 (Bob Wente): Built new by AJ Watson for Don Branson to race in 1964 for the Leader Card team as the #5 Wynn's Friction Proofing entry. Fitted with an Offenhauser engine. Rebuilt over the winter and sold to Gil Morcroft for Bob Wente to drive as the #67 GC Murphy car but crashed by Art Malone at Langhorne in August 1965 and not seen again. At some point reacquired by AJ Watson and restored to 1964 specification. Some time around 2000 the restored car was hanging from the roof of Watson's garage. Then unknown again until part of a display of Indycars at Fontana in March 2008 alongside the Ward sister car.
38. Eisert 65 (Al Unser): New for Skip Hudson to drive at the 1965 Indy 500 as J Frank Harrison's #96 Harrison Special. The new car got on track on 13 May, at which point the older 1964 car was renumbered from 96 to 93. Hudson was a successful sports car racer, but was unable to pass his rookie test when an engine blew, so Al Unser took over the drive but he made no attempt to qualify the car. Unser then drove the car through the 1965 USAC season, but only once finished inside the top 10. The 1965 car was retained for the opening races of the 1966 season, driven by Unser at Phoenix and by Billy Foster at Trenton. It then became the team's #93 entry, and was only seen again at Fuji, where Jerry Grant finished tenth. Greg Weld failed to qualify the car for the 1967 Indy 500, after which it was sold to Don Wilcox, who raced it at Pikes Peak and made an unsuccessfiul attempt to qualify at Indianapolis Raceway Park in July. The old car was ideal for the SCCA's new Formula A, so was sold to Stew McMillen (Libertyville, IL) who raced it in SCCA Nationals, winning twice, and in Pro races. At the end of 1968 he took it out to New Zealand, racing it at Baypark Raceway in December, before it was leased to Dennis Marwood for the 1969/70 season. It returned to the US later in 1970 and was acquired by Bill Tempero (Fort Collins, CO), who fitted it with wedge-style bodywork and raced it in Pro races and SCCA Nationals in 1971, then in Midwest Division Formula A in 1972. It was later converted for street use by brothers Wayne and Steve Huntley in Nebraska and was also used as a show car by Fred Bosselman in the late 1970s or early 1980s, probably at his Bosselman Truck Plaza in Grand Island, Nebraska. In the early 1990s it was acquired by Bill Wiswedel (Holland, MI) who has restored it to 1965 colours but still with the later, squarer bodywork.
39. Halibrand Shrike 65 (Bud Tingelstad): A new 1965 Halibrand Shrike bought by Lindsey Hopkins for Bud Tingelstad, as a backup to his Lola T80. The car was entered as #35, but both cars carried #5. Jack Beckley was his chief mechanic. He only used the Halibrand during practice at the Indy 500. Not seen again.
40. Lola T80 (Parnelli Jones): J.C. "Aggie" Agajanian bought a new Lola T80 for Parnelli Jones to try to qualify for the 1965 Indy 500 but Jones preferred his Lotus 34. The Lola was then acquired by the newly-formed all-star Mecom Racing Team of 26-year-old oil heir owner John Mecom, ex-Sheraton-Thompson chief mechanic George Bignotti and ex-Leader Card driver Rodger Ward. Ward raced the Lola from August onwards, replacing a Halibrand he had used at a few events, but his results in both cars were very poor. Lola's new T90s arrived early in 1966 and were instantly very competitive so the T80 was not seen in 1966 but is likely to have remained in the Mecom stable as a backup. It is believed to have remained with Mecom until 2014, when it was acquired by John Darlington (Carmel, Indiana). Darlington took the car to Walter Goodwin for restoration, but work was still under way when Darlington sold the car in 2016 to David and Sally Bany, owners of the World of Speed Museum (Wilsonville, OR). The car was still completely dismantled when David Bany died in 2018, and the museum closed in May 2020.
41. Thompson 62 (TBA): Entered for Keith Rachwitz at the 1962 Indy 500 as the #33 Kimberly Buick car. Rachwitz did not qualify but did race the car at Milwaukee a week or so later. It returned to Indy in 1963 as the #64 Kimberly entry but again Rachwitz did not qualify. Kimberly then sold his two-car team to Indianapolis Ford dealer Jerry Alderman, and the Thompson was raced by Rachwitz at Phoenix in November 1964. According to the late Bill Enoch, who researched Indycar lineages, it was the #75 backup car for Al Miller's Lotus 29 at Indy in 1965. Enoch told Gerald Johnson that it was in the garage but probably never fired up. Subsequent history unknown.

Sources

Note that the identification of individual cars in these results is based on the material presented elsewhere in this site and may in some cases contradict the organisers' published results.

The foundation for this research is the work done by the late Phil Harms collating the results of all AAA, USAC and CART races, including the period covered here. His data was refined by Michael Ferner who added more information before making it available to OldRacingCars.com. Since the start of the USAC project on OldRacingCars.com in 2004, a wealth of further information has been gleaned from the Carl Hungness and Donald Davidson Yearbooks, Formula and On Track magazines, USAC News, National Speed Sport News and other published sources. Gerry Measures has also provided much information from his files as have others on TNF and Trackforum. Since 2009, the work of Simmo Iskül and others identifying cars from period photographs has has moved this research forward significantly.

All comments, clarifications, corrections and additions are most welcome. Please email Allen (allen@oldracingcars.com) if you can help in any way with our research.