3 replies to this topic

[cabianca]

Robert McManus entered a Maserati 8CM at Indianapolis in 1953. The car was a DNQ. I have a note that it had an 8CLT engine. The question is which one. McManus also owned the Shaw 8CTF 3032. I wonder if he also owned engine the spare engine Cotton Henning bought after a freeze plug blew when the Shaw 500-winning Maserati was shipped to the US. However, engine 3032 was repaired and to my knowledge Henning never used engine 3033 and it passed to IRC when they bought the contents of Henning’s shop.

I think Fred Puhn may have been the source of the information that the 8CM had the 8CLT engine in 1953. Can anyone confirm or deny that the car did have an 8CTF engine, and if it did, which one. The 1953 8CM BTW was 3035. the Villoresi and Agabashian Indy car. It is now in the basement of the Indy HoF museum, partially restored. I remember visiting the museum staff many years ago. They thought the car in the basement was the Riganti car (3034). I found that a little strange because at the time, the Riganti car had gotten a great deal of attention when it was brought to America by Ben Mosier and had taken part in American vintage racing.

Despite my recent piece on 8CTFs in Vintage Motorsport (US), there are still many anomolies remaining about these Indy Maseratis.

For instance, the Maserati shipping documents for the Shaw 8CTF (3032) say the car is to be shipped without water in the radiator. As we know, the story is that a faulty freeze plug caused damage to the engine and another engine was ordered (3033). However, Cotton Henning's shop supposedly repaired engine 3032 and I believe there is reference in one of the Indianapolis yearbooks to the fact that engine 3033 was never used when in possession of Boyle/Henning. I believe is was part of the equipment that the syndicate called Indianapolis Race Cars (IRC) purchased when they got the contents of Henning's shop after his death.

It also seems that the 8CTF 3032 and 8CM 3035 were under the same ownership at least twice and I wonder if engine 3033 accompanied them. Is there documentation that 3035 had an 8CLT engine, and if so, which one.

Many thanks for any help on this.

[JoBo]

Robert McManus entered a Maserati 8CM at Indianapolis in 1953. The car was a DNQ. I have a note that it had an 8CLT engine. The question is which one. McManus also owned the Shaw 8CTF 3032. I wonder if he also owned engine the spare engine Cotton Henning bought after a freeze plug blew when the Shaw 500-winning Maserati was shipped to the US. However, engine 3032 was repaired and to my knowledge Henning never used engine 3033 and it passed to IRC when they bought the contents of Henning’s shop.

I think Fred Puhn may have been the source of the information that the 8CM had the 8CLT engine in 1953. Can anyone confirm or deny that the car did have an 8CTF engine, and if it did, which one. The 1953 8CM BTW was 3035. the Villoresi and Agabashian Indy car. It is now in the basement of the Indy HoF museum, partially restored. I remember visiting the museum staff many years ago. They thought the car in the basement was the Riganti car (3034). I found that a little strange because at the time, the Riganti car had gotten a great deal of attention when it was brought to America by Ben Mosier and had taken part in American vintage racing.

Despite my recent piece on 8CTFs in Vintage Motorsport (US), there are still many anomolies remaining about these Indy Maseratis.

For instance, the Maserati shipping documents for the Shaw 8CTF (3032) say the car is to be shipped without water in the radiator. As we know, the story is that a faulty freeze plug caused damage to the engine and another engine was ordered (3033). However, Cotton Henning's shop supposedly repaired engine 3032 and I believe there is reference in one of the Indianapolis yearbooks to the fact that engine 3033 was never used when in possession of Boyle/Henning. I believe is was part of the equipment that the syndicate called Indianapolis Race Cars (IRC) purchased when they got the contents of Henning's shop after his death.

It also seems that the 8CTF 3032 and 8CM 3035 were under the same ownership at least twice and I wonder if engine 3033 accompanied them. Is there documentation that 3035 had an 8CLT engine, and if so, which one.

Many thanks for any help on this.

#3035 is not in the Indianapolis museum anymore. It was sold last year!

JoBo

Edited by JoBo, 08 February 2013 - 23:22.

[Michael Ferner]

Michael, the Maserati 8CTF is usually listed with engine dimensions of 69 * 100 mm, while the 8CL (I believe that's the correct type designation for '3035') has 78 * 78 mm. The Robert McManus Maserati #43 in 1953 was listed in the entry with a bore of 2.720 in and a stroke of 4.000 in, which would indicate an 8CTF engine. Pictures of the car show it to be '3035', without much doubt. This car had been run with a Maser engine in 1949, when it retired at Indy due to overheating. Perhaps the engine was damaged there and then, as the car does not appear to have raced with its original engine again - it had a supercharged Offy in it 1950, and was already listed with an 8CTF engine in '51, when it apparently did not arrive at the track.

During those years (1949 - '51) both '3035' and '3032' were owned by IRC, which appears to have been a group of Indianapolis businessmen which was formed for the purpose of running the ex-Boyle racing cars after the death of Cotton Henning in late 1948. From what I have seen, I believe that Bill Ansted and Roger Wolcott were the primary movers behind IRC, however, McManus may also have been a member, though I have seen references to Atlanta (GA) and Saint Paul (MN) as his hometown - I really don't know where he was from. Anyway, I think the assumption that he took over both the engine of '3032' and the chassis of '3035' from IRC has a lot of merit, especially since the engine may already have been in the car since 1951!

As for the '3032'/'3033' conundrum, I really have no idea about the actual happenings at sea or elsewhere in 1938, but when I was in Indianapolis in the summer of 2011 I was given the rare opportunity to visit Bill Spoerle's restoration shop, and there on a bench sat a Maserati 8CTF engine, carrying a plate bearing the number '3033', and showing damage to the block that is congruent with the stories about the frost damage. I took a number of pictures that day, which I will not post here because of the circumstances that led to them, but I will send a few to you to see for yourself. I have no doubt that the engine, along with the plate and the damage is authentic. It certainly looked like it had been sitting there (or someplace else) for the last seventy years!

[Johnny Mac]

My father, Johnny McDowell, qualified and drove the Shaw Maserati at Indy in 1951 after replacing the Maserati engine with a Offy for the 500. Roger Wolcott was the part of the ownership. The fuel tank splt open after 15 laps. Herb Porter was chief mechanic and it was herb's first effort at Indy. My dad drove the Champ Car circuit in a upright Kurtis with a supercharged Offy which was exceptionally fast, recording several no. 1 qualication positions, but was unreliable.
My reason for making this claim is that I have a audio mag tape recording of my father from the winter of 1950, describing this event and the effort required of Herb Porter. I do not know what transpired after the 1951 Indy 500 and when the Maserati engine was reunited with the chassis and restored to the present museum condition. Hint, hint, I would love to take the wheel of this car on vintage day as my dad was the last to drive this fabulous car. I always go to the museum before the race to say hello to this beauty!