Edward Leo Kuzma (September 18, 1911 – October 12, 1996) was an American race car builder. He constructed Troy Ruttman's winning car for the

1952 Indianapolis 500 The 36th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was a motor race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday, May 30, 1952. It was the opening race of the 1952 AAA Championship Car season, 1952 AAA National Championship Trail and was also rac ...

Biography

Kuzma was born in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, where he was raised on a farm. He moved to

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver ( ) is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, located in Clark County, Washington, Clark County. Founded in 1825 and incorporated in 1857, Vancouver had a population of 190, ...

, where he established an

automobile repair shop An automobile repair shop (also known regionally as a garage or a workshop) is an establishment where automobiles are repaired by auto mechanics and technicians. The customer interface is typically a Customer service representative, service adv ...

. In the 1930s, Kuzma had seen midget race cars at the Jantzen Beach Amusement Park, and had built and raced his own car. A second car was fitted with a four-cylinder

Offenhauser The Offenhauser Racing Engine, or Offy, is a racing engine design that dominated American open wheel racing for more than 50 years and is still popular among vintage sprint and midget car racers. History The Offenhauser engine, familiarl ...

engine, making it faster than other local competitors. He served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After he was discharged from the service, sold his car and moved to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

In California he continued to build midget race cars. He was hired by J. C. Agajanian to build the Agajanian Special, which won the 1952

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

, driven by Troy Ruttman.

A. J. Foyt Anthony Joseph Foyt Jr. (born January 16, 1935) is an American former racing driver who competed in numerous disciplines of motorsport. He is best known for his open wheel racing career, and for becoming the first four-time winner of the India ...

won the Indianapolis 500 twice driving Kuzma's cars, and

Mario Andretti Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an American former racing driver and businessman, who competed in Formula One from to , and American open-wheel racing, IndyCar from 1964 USAC Championship Car season, 1964 to 1994 IndyCar se ...

won in one of his cars in 1969. Kuzma also rebuilt race cars. In 1968, he bought a

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

along with his wife Edna. Bryan Dean Van Lines Monza

Kuzma died in October 1996 of

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as renal failure or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney fa ...

Tigard, Oregon Tigard ( ) is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States. The population was 54,539 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Oregon, 12th most populous city in Oregon. Incorporated in 1961, the city i ...

, at the age of 85. In 2003, he was posthumously honored in the

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum is an automotive museum on the grounds of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, which houses the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame. It is intrinsically linked to the Ind ...

Select Indianapolis 500 results

Kuzma cars competed in the FIA World Championship (

only) from 1951 to 1960. They won the

with Troy Ruttman. ''Note: all cars were fitted with

engines.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuzma, Eddie 1911 births 1996 deaths American Championship racing cars American racecar constructors Auto racing people Deaths from kidney failure in the United States Formula One constructors (Indianapolis only) International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees People from Tigard, Oregon Sportspeople from Portland, Oregon