The STP-Paxton Turbocar was an American
racing car, designed by Ken Wallis as the
STP
STP may refer to:
Places
* São Tomé and Príncipe (ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code, IOC country code, and FIFA country code STP)
* St Pancras railway station, London St Pancras (Domestic) railway station (National Rail code STP)
* St. Paul Downtown Air ...
entry in the
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
. Rufus Parnell, who raced under the name "
Parnelli Jones
Rufus Parnell Jones (born August 12, 1933) is an American former professional racing driver and racing team owner. He is notable for his accomplishments while competing in the Indianapolis 500 and the Baja 1000 desert race. In 1962, he became the ...
," drove it in the 1967 event. After leading for much of the race, a transmission failure with only eight miles left ended the run. It crashed during qualification for the 1968 race; the damage was not fixed and the car ended its career.
History
Wallis, a distant relative of
Barnes Wallis, had developed a workable plan for harnessing a gas turbine to a race car. He first presented the idea to
Dan Gurney
Daniel Sexton Gurney (April 13, 1931 – January 14, 2018) was an American racing driver, race car constructor, and team owner who reached racing's highest levels starting in 1958. Gurney won races in the Formula One, Indy Car, NASCAR, Can-Am, ...
, who passed on the idea. Wallis then offered the plan to
Carroll Shelby
Carroll Hall Shelby (January 11, 1923 – May 10, 2012) was an American automotive designer, racing driver, and entrepreneur. Shelby is best known for his involvement with the AC Cobra and Mustang for Ford Motor Company, which he modified duri ...
and Shelby said (according to later court testimony), "Hogwash." Finally,
Andy Granatelli
Anthony "Andy" Granatelli (March 18, 1923 – December 29, 2013) was an American businessman, most prominent as the CEO of STP as well as a major figure in automobile racing events.
Granatelli was born in Dallas, Texas. Along with his brot ...
of STP expressed interest in the concept. Wallis and his crew moved in with Andy's brother Joe at STP's Paxton division in Santa Monica, and they began work on the turbocar in January 1966. It was Granatelli who introduced a side-by-side concept — that is, putting the mid-mounted (relative to the wheelbase) engine at the driver's left (a similar idea, with the driver in an offset gondola on the left, had been used by
Smokey Yunick
Henry "Smokey" Yunick (May 25, 1923 – May 9, 2001) was an American professional stock car racing crew chief, owner, driver, engineer, engine builder, and car designer as well as being a pilot in the United States Army Air Corps in World W ...
several years earlier). Granatelli also added four-wheel drive to the design.
['I've Got the Car Right Here'](_blank)
Retrieved 27 June 2011
The aluminum frame of the car was badly warped during heat treating in early 1966, eliminating any possibility of the car racing in the 1966 Indianapolis 500. Work started over again and the car was ready for the 1967 Indianapolis 500. Rufus Parnel, also known as "
Parnelli Jones
Rufus Parnell Jones (born August 12, 1933) is an American former professional racing driver and racing team owner. He is notable for his accomplishments while competing in the Indianapolis 500 and the Baja 1000 desert race. In 1962, he became the ...
," drove the car during tire testing in Phoenix early that year and was impressed with the car. He agreed to drive the car in the Indianapolis 500 after being offered $100,000 cash in a briefcase and half of any prize money he won.
Jones qualified the car at Indianapolis in sixth place at . At the start of the race, he quickly took the lead and rarely relinquished it. However, with just left to go, he coasted into the pits with a transmission bearing failure.
['The Big Engine That Almost Did'](_blank)
Popular Mechanics August 1967. Retrieved 27 June 2011 The car was refurbished and entered by STP in the 1968 Indianapolis 500. Driven by Joe Leonard, the car crashed into the turn four wall during practice and never raced again.
The car was originally donated to the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
's
National Museum of American History by the STP Corporation. There is an exact replica built from blueprints in the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame 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 ...
. Curiously, rather than model this car
Mattel
Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...
chose to make a model of the similar "Shelby Turbine" which practiced at Indianapolis in 1968 as one of the popular
Hot Wheels toy cars. The
Lotus 56
The Lotus 56 was a gas turbine-powered four-wheel-driven racing car, designed by Maurice Philippe as Team Lotus's STP-backed entry in the 1968 Indianapolis 500. All three cars entered retired from the race, Joe Leonard's car expiring while lead ...
used a modified version of the same engine and
four-wheel drive
Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer cas ...
in a more advanced wedge-shaped body with new USAC intake restrictions, but one car crashed in turn one during practice killing driver Mike Spence and the three entered into the race did not finish either; subsequently USAC banned turbines and four-wheel drive cars entirely.
Design
The STP-Paxton Turbocar was built around an aluminum box-shaped backbone. The driver was seated on the right side of the backbone, while the engine, a
Pratt & Whitney Canada ST6B-62 turbine engine, was mounted on the left side of the backbone. Though never successful as an automobile powerplant, the small aircraft engine it was based on would become one of the most popular turboprop aircraft engines in history. The engine drove a Ferguson four-wheel drive system, which transmitted the power to the wheels. A torque converter eliminated the need for a clutch pedal and gearshift. The engine idled at 54% of full throttle, which meant that the driver didn't even have to press the accelerator pedal to pull away; all he had to do was ease his foot off the brake pedal. A movable panel was mounted behind the cockpit, which acted as an airbrake. The suspension's coil springs were located inside the backbone and the suspension A-frames had airfoil cross-sections. The car weighed , compared to the Indy minimum weight of .
USAC had limited the engine intake area to to limit the turbine's power output, but the engine still produced 550 hp. However, drivers reported that it had a three-second throttle lag. In less than a month after the 1967 Indianapolis 500, USAC cut the allowable turbine air intake area from 23.999 to and imposed the ruling immediately, although it had been customary to give two years' notice of engine changes.
With the reduced inlet area, the maximum lap speed that could be achieved was .
Trivia
Television comedian
Johnny Carson once drove the Turbine at the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is an automobile racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Verizon 200, and and formerly the home of the United State ...
during a private test session.
The cowling for the car was misplaced for over 20 years. It was found in 2007 in an office at the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
.
Wallis went on to design a similar car for Carrol Shelby who entered 2 cars for the 1968 Indy 500 for
Denny Hulme
Denis Clive Hulme (18 June 1936 – 4 October 1992), commonly known as Denny Hulme, was a New Zealand racing driver who won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship for the Brabham team. Between his debut at Monaco in 1965 and his f ...
and
Bruce McLaren
Bruce Leslie McLaren (30 August 1937 – 2 June 1970) was a New Zealand racing car designer, driver, engineer, and inventor.
His name lives on in the McLaren team which has been one of the most successful in Formula One championship history, ...
but these were withdrawn "for safety" following Mike Spence's fatal crash while practicing in a Lotus 56 Turbocar. (The real reason was they actually did not comply with the 1968 Indy regulations).
The car on exhibit in the Speedway Museum is actually an exact replica of the actual car on display car owner STP Corporation donated to the Smithsonian Institution, built from the blueprints.
References
See also
*
Gas turbine
A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas generator or core) and are, in the directio ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:STP-Paxton Turbocar
Indianapolis 500
American Championship racing cars
Cars powered by gas turbines