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View Full Version : Unraced Indycars - with some nice pictures


Giuseppe F1
19th January 2008, 14:17
Am sure a few of you may recall me pestering this forum a while ago for as much info/photos of the stillborn Ferrari Indycar project of the 80's and the subsequent Alfa Romeo Indy engine of the early 90's - the feedback which was received which was highly appreciated.

Well, to give something back as im not really a regular on the Indy forum as much as I am on the F1 one here, found an article in this weeks 'AUTOSPORT' magazine (UK edition) entitled 'Indycars that never raced' and it was a really good read and unearthed some racers that I was not familiar with previously so I hope all you Indy historians get a kick out of it...


....The 'Eagle Aircraft Flyer' car (no relation to the Gurney Eagles) looks such an awkward beast and it seems alot of the failed Indy efforts came from F1 teams of the day who would just take their last years chassis and try and tweak it and the engine for AOWR regs...

Love the photo of the Ferrari 637 Indycar on the Indy yard of bricks, had never seen this parrticular photo before - the credit for it says IMS so this must be the chassis which is kept in the IMS Museum. I know the other chassis is kept on display in the Galleria Ferrari museum in Maranello athough that one has a slightly different livery with a crossed Italy/US flag graphic on the nose of that chassis.

Strange how in the stillborn Lola Indycar piece that it informs that no drawings or photos of the Lola Indycar have ever been released - I can recall the Falcon car being launched on a fanfair of US pride in being a fully US built car etc etc and then not one of the teams wanting to test it at all!

Well, enjoy the article guys:

Source/Credit: AUTOSPORT MAGAZINE (UK Edition - 17/01/08)


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2192/2203870700_3b02ba2126_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2343/2203871266_b0d0c14b80_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2289/2203079989_9408749231_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2408/2203872256_a74e0e73cb_b.jpg


Giuseppe F1
Yesman
19th January 2008, 22:11
Good article! I love reading stuff like this.
Hotlavaaaa
19th January 2008, 23:18
Awesome. Thanks for sharing this with us.
infoxicated
23rd January 2008, 12:45
Brilliant stuff - thanks so much for sharing those scans.

Makes me wonder how different things would be if Ferrari had actually run in CART.
cobre
4th February 2008, 17:48
My Thanks as well, for sharing this obscure but fantastic historical information!.
Giuseppe F1
24th January 2009, 04:15
Still cant get over how brutal that Eagle car looks! What were they thinking? :)
call_me_andrew
24th January 2009, 07:26
If you look close at the front of the Ferrari, it holds a slight resemblance to another unpopular IndyCar.
ShiftingGears
24th January 2009, 12:49
The Falcon-Chevrolet has the ugliest nose on a racecar I've ever seen.
MDS
24th January 2009, 14:45
Ah, how I miss the days of technical innovation and an open rulebook.
Chamoo
24th January 2009, 15:47
Ah, how I miss the days of technical innovation and an open rulebook.

Here Here
Giuseppe F1
24th January 2009, 16:52
The Falcon-Chevrolet has the ugliest nose on a racecar I've ever seen.

Surely not as ugly as the '09 breed of F1 noses, namely the Renault

http://images.gpupdate.net/large/117174.jpg

http://images.gpupdate.net/large/117168.jpg
Giuseppe F1
24th January 2009, 16:55
The Falcon-Chevrolet has the ugliest nose on a racecar I've ever seen.


The roll hoop/airbox on the Falcon always looked like it was F1 inspired...

...why did the Falcon fail?

IIRC, the car was all ready to go and running yet simply the car wasnt picked up by any teams to run it...is that right?


That Ferrari......how different would the face of CART/Indycar have been if Ferrari had competed....if only for a few seasons...?
Giuseppe F1
24th January 2009, 16:56
If you look close at the front of the Ferrari, it holds a slight resemblance to another unpopular IndyCar.

Which one would that be?? Intruiged to know...
call_me_andrew
24th January 2009, 21:51
Which one would that be?? Intruiged to know...

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0dsPeRr47S4Vm/610x.jpg
anthonyvop
24th January 2009, 22:43
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0dsPeRr47S4Vm/610x.jpg
Not even close!!!
Andrewmcm
25th January 2009, 00:43
That Ferrari looks mint.
ykiki
25th January 2009, 01:34
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0dsPeRr47S4Vm/610x.jpg

I don't see that at all. Ok, I guess they're both red...

Actually, I see more similarities in the point of the nose between the Ferrari and a Penske PC-10.
call_me_andrew
25th January 2009, 05:44
I wasn't talking about the point of the nose. I meant the bump in front of the driver.
philipbain
25th January 2009, 13:33
That Ferrari looks mint.

The front end of that Ferrari Indycar looks a lot like the front end of the 1985 Williams FW10: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Mansell_-_Williams_1985.jpg rather than echoing any of thier own F1 designs, may have been due to Indycar nosebox regs of the time being different to F1.