Gordon Schroeder (February 24, 1915- August 31, 1995) was an American racing car constructor. Schroeder cars competed in four FIA World Championship races - the , , and

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 ...

History

Schroeder was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 1929, together with Riley Brett, Schroeder reconstructed an old V16 engine of a Frank Lockhart car for

Myron Stevens Myron Stevens (February 17, 1901 Los Angeles, California – July 2, 1988 Sun City West, Arizona) was an American racecar driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the ra ...

. Schroeder was enamoured by the engine and bought during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, with driver

Sam Hanks Samuel Dwight "Sam" Hanks (July 13, 1914 – June 27, 1994) was an American race car driver who won the 1957 Indianapolis 500. He was a barnstormer, and raced midget and Championship cars. Racing career Hanks was born in Columbus, Ohio and liv ...

qualifying it for front row in the 1946 Indy, only for the car not complete distance. Schroeder also collaborated with Stevens and Clint Brawner to build cars in the 1950s. Schroeder moved from racing to focus on a manufacturing business after the deaths of two of his friends,

Rex Mays Rex Houston Mays Jr. (March 10, 1913 – November 6, 1949) was a AAA Championship Car race driver. He was a two-time AAA champion and won 8 points-scoring races. He made his Indianapolis 500 debut in 1934 and won the pole in 1935, 1936, and ag ...

in 1949 and

Bobby Ball Robert Harper (28 January 1944 – 28 October 2020), known professionally as Bobby Ball, was a British comic, actor, singer and television host. He was best known as a member of the comic double act Cannon and Ball, with Tommy Cannon (Thomas ...

in 1954. He began work in steering hubs, starting with

gears A gear is a rotating circular machine part having cut teeth or, in the case of a cogwheel or gearwheel, inserted teeth (called ''cogs''), which mesh with another (compatible) toothed part to transmit (convert) torque and speed. The basic p ...

, in the mid 1940s; and went on to produce the first quick-release steering hub approved by

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

World Championship Indianapolis 500 results

References

* * * Formula One constructors (Indianapolis only) American racecar constructors 1915 births 1995 deaths {{f1-stub