The Graham Hill-driven Lotus 56-3. Photos courtesy Barrett-Jackson.
In 1967, a turbine engine Indy Car driven by Parnelli Jones and entered by Granatelli Racing would have won the Indy 500 had it not been for the failure of an inexpensive transmission bearing. Despite rule changes that limited the competitiveness of turbine engines for 1968, the team returned to Indy with a squad of four turbine-powered cars, this time using a Lotus-built chassis. Next month, the Lotus 56 driven by Graham Hill during the 1968 Indy 500 will cross the stage in Scottsdale, giving fans a rare opportunity to own a piece of racing history.
After the 1967 dominance of the STP-Paxton Turbocar, which was leading by nearly a full lap when the bearing failed, USAC re-wrote the rulebook for turbine powered cars. To limit power, permissible inlet area size was reduced from 23.999 inches to 15.999 inches, which forced a shift in thinking about how to make turbine cars competitive. Instead of focusing on power alone, the Lotus 56 turbine car developed for the 1968 Indy 500 emphasized a mix of handling, reduced weight and superior aerodynamics, adopting a wedge shape before the use of wings for added downforce became commonplace.
As with the 1967 STP-Paxton Turbocar, the Lotus 56 was powered by a Pratt & Whitney ST6N-74 gas turbine engine, modified to comply with the new rule changes. Despite the reduced inlet area, output was still estimated to be in the area of 500 horsepower, and four-wheel drive ensured that the car would have little trouble getting this to the ground. Compared to piston engines, the gas turbine engines used nearly 80-percent fewer parts, and their abundant torque meant that a conventional transmission was not needed for the Lotus 56. Fewer parts meant less weight and added reliability, a design philosophy shared by both Colin Chapman and Andy Granatelli.
Lotus’ Jim Clark was to be the ace driver for the Granatelli team at Indianapolis in May of 1968, but Clark was tragically killed in a racing accident in Germany the month prior. Clark’s suddenly vacant seat was filled by Mike Spence, a driver with experience in both Formula One and sports car racing, and joining Spence at Indy in the other Lotus 56 cars entered by Granatelli Racing would be Joe Leonard, Art Pollard and Graham Hill.
On May 7, Spence ran a lap of 169.555 MPH behind the wheel of the number 60 Lotus 56, setting the fastest speed of the month. Chapman asked Spence to shake down the number 30 Lotus 56, as driver Greg Weld hadn’t had much luck turning competitive speeds. By the end of the first lap, Spence was already running at 163 MPH, but the veteran driver made a rare error turning into the first corner of his second lap. Spence’s Lotus struck the concrete wall with a force severe enough to snap the right front suspension, sending the wheel assembly back into the cockpit and striking the driver in the head. Spence was extricated and rushed to a local hospital, but the driver succumbed to his injuries that evening.
Despite the loss of two drivers in a month, the team pressed on, entering three Lotus 56 turbine cars into the 1968 Indy 500. Joe Leonard qualified the number 60 car on pole, while teammate Graham Hill qualified second in the number 70 car and Art Pollard, driving the number 20, started from the 11th position. Hill was the first to retire when a crash in turn two ended his day after 110 laps; Pollard lasted until lap 188 when a fuel pump shaft failed; and Leonard, who’d led the race with less than 20 laps to go, also retired with a fuel pump shaft failure on lap 191.
Further restrictions on turbine cars followed the 1968 race, and chassis 56-3, the one driven by Hill in the 1968 Indy 500, was never raced again. Once owned by Richard Petty, 56-3 was promoted by Mecum Auctions for its 2012 Monterey sale, but the car never crossed the block. Instead, it was acquired by Texas collector Milton Verret, who enlisted the help of Andy Granatelli’s son, Vince, and Colin Chapman’s son, Clive, in its return to as-raced-in-1968 condition. Ellen Bireley, the director of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum, also provided guidance on the car’s restoration.
Perhaps the best indicator of the car’s significance to racing history was the fact that it was chosen as a finalist for the 2014 International Historic Motoring Association Car of the Year Award, ultimately losing out to the Shelby Cobra Daytona coupe owned by the Simeone Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Unlike most lots to cross the Barrett-Jackson stage, Lotus 56-3 will carry a reserve price, but Barrett-Jackson does not provide pre-auction estimates. Last August, a never-raced Shelby turbine Indy Car crossed the stage at a Mecum auction in Monterey, California, reaching a price of $450,000 but failing to meet its reserve. The Graham-Hill driven Lotus 56 will surely do better than this; the real question is, how much better?
Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale sale will take place from January 10-18, 2015. For additional details, visit Barrett-Jackson.com.
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