Gentleman, we're in holy time. Carburetion Day, Gasoline Alley, the release of balloons and Jim Nabors singing about the banks of the Wabash.....
Yes, it's the Month of May, Indy time, the Greatest Spectacle in Motor Racing.
To pay tribute to the Indianapolis 500 (which, regardless of politics, remains to me to be the single most significant thing you can do in a race car) I decided to build a replica of the mount of one of its greatest victors - the late Mark Donohue.
Instead of building his 1972 winning car, a McLaren, I decided to build his beautiful 1973 Gurney Eagle, which combined the might of the Turbo Offenhauser with the 70's top open wheel chassis. I also wanted to build a 1973 car because 1973 has a lot of significance to me as a Sandusky Speedway fan.
The 1973 Indy 500 winner, Gordon Johncock, was a supermodified champion at Sandusky Speedway, and his brother - Nolan - died in a crash at Sandusky. As such, Gordon is one of Sandusky's great heros (midwestern short tracks have a long history of favoring their Indy drivers as their greats, and being an Indy winner just adds to that).
On top of that, 1973 was the year we lost Swede Savage at the 500, Gordie's STP teammate and Trans-Am star.
I'm starting with the long out-of-production Bobby Unser Olsonite Eagle kit by AMT and will be adding a decal sheet by Indycals to recreate Donohue's car. Otherwise, pretty much box stock. Hopefully, before 33 cars take the green on Memorial Day weekend, I'll have turned this......
into this....
First off will be building the ultimate four cylinder - the Turbo Offenhauser!