25 replies to this topic

[jesse1]

Hello guys,

 Im new to this forum and found this to be a wonderful place to find info on motorsport history long forgotten! I own a small business outside of Seattle and focus mainly on vintage European cars and the odd American stuff, but my knowledge on vintage indy cars is limited to the basics. So ive come to you guys to help me piece together this story with any info or pics you might have,

 I Own Al Unsers first indy car(or pieces of it anyway), it is the number 63 Arciero brothers/Maserati powered car. I have it in my shop as i thought it was super cool to look at and like everyone i like old memorabilia! I never really put too much thought into it, but a customer came in who loves indy car and offered me a ton of money for this thing, and started telling me how this could be one of the oldest mid engine indy cars around and etc etc. And it deserves to be restored and pieced back together. So he has peaked my curiosity and im wondering if this thing really does hold a value due to its history or if this guy is just mistaken. I have not been able to find many pics of the car and info seems very limited. The car as it sits is just a complete frame,body,steering,radiator, and some suspension. I have a pallet of small parts but not sure what is for this car. The guy i bought it from might have more parts sitting in a trailer that i never looked in, so im going to check that out and see whats there.  Any help would be much appreciated, ie, photos,stories, etc.

Thanks guys!!

[Doug Nye]

Welcome Jesse...  This baby?

 

https://revslib.stan...log/bq301vk0760

 

DCN

[jesse1]

Yup, thats the one. That is the only pic ive found

[ray b]

when was the first of the eagles built? the nose has a eagle beak look but before dan did his ?

[StanBarrett2]

You beat me to it Ray.............I think we should be told

[Collombin]

First Eagle monocoque completed on Feb 11th 1966 according to Karl Ludvigsen's "Gurney's Eagles".

[jesse1]

im not 100%, but i believe this car ran at Milwaukee in 64.  

[group7]

some info here from "Old Racing Cars" site. # 33 top of page in link.

 

http://www.oldracing...eID=Y65C#note33

[Tom Glowacki]

This is the link to Peter Weisman's company's website:

 

http://www.weismann.net/

 

 

I believe he designed it and the Revs site calls it a "Weisman-Maserati".  There is a nice side view of the car on page 78 of Dave Friedman's "Indianapolis Racing Memories".  His photo collection was donated to The Henry Ford, so check their website:

 

www.thehenryford.org/exhibits/pic/2010/10_apr.asp

[Jack-the-Lad]

What is the basis for the Maserati engine? Presumably it wasn't purpose-built for the 500.

Thanks.

Jack.

[Jerry Entin]

Jesse,

You do have a very interesting and unique car. It was built by Pete Weismann for the Arciero brothers, and its body was designed by Larry Shinoda of Sting Ray fame. At Indianapolis in 1965 it appeared in candy apple red with white and gold scallops, under race number 63.

Its engine was one of the two 4.2-liter Maserati V8 units originally bought by Tony Parravano, who had high hopes of tackling the Indy 500 as well. Due to his problems with the IRS it never came to that and Frank Arciero acquired both of the engines. Chuck Daigh once told me how fond Arciero was of the 4,2-liter V8.

Al Unser passed his rookie test with the car in 1965, but the engine could not generate enough speed to qualify. When nitro was used to boost its power, it blew up on the straight in a spectacular display of fireworks.

In my book on the Maserati 450S two photos are included of this rear-engined Weismann/Maserati, taken during practice. They show how the team tried out different exhaust systems in their efforts to qualify. I will scan them later tomorrow, so you will have some idea what the car looked like in its only Indy appearance.

The Indy engine was rebuilt by Arciero and sold to Pete Ciavati in California. From there it ended up with Colorado car collector Bob Sutherland, after which the trail goes cold. As for the chassis itself, I have no details of its ownership chain after Indy 1965.


All research: Willem Oosthoek

Edited by Jerry Entin, 16 January 2017 - 05:11.

[Jack-the-Lad]

Thanks, Jerry. Very informative.

[Jerry Entin]

Al Unser in the Weismann/Maserati as it first appeared at Indy in 1965, with a conventional exhaust system.

Photo: Bob Tronolone [Willem Oosthoek Collection]

Edited by Jerry Entin, 16 January 2017 - 23:44.

[jesse1]

Thanks so much for all the info. I scanned through Dave Friedman's collection of photos from the 65 indy and there was a bunch of good ones, wish i could find some with the bodywork off of the car.

[jcbc3]

Hey Jesse1,

 

Could you maybe post some pictures of the car in its present state? 

[jesse1]

[jesse1]

And I do have a bunch more stuff, just not 100% what goes where

[Lee Nicolle]

From what Jerry has said this appears to be the color scheme as raced. Very unusual after 50 years.

It looks so basic and quite heavy as well.

Go try and find the rest of the bits, even with a dummy engine & gearbox it would be a lovely museum piece

[Lee Nicolle]

Is the Art Malone referred in the non qualifiers the same Art Malone that was a Drag Racer sometimes associated with Don Garlits?

[Ray Bell]

Or do you mean Art Arfons?

Lovely find, a standard 450 Maserati engine would be fine...

[Tim Murray]

It's the same Art Malone:

http://autoweek.com/...-malone-dies-76

[E1pix]

I highly recommend these guys as a resource for your project:
http://www.kmvintage.net/index.html

[jesse1]

Thanks for the info, I will give them a call for sure!

[E1pix]

You're most welcome, they are highly-polished gems in bringing back the Old Days.

Historic circles are lucky to have them.

[jesse1]

hey guys, i also just found out that i have Bobby Grims #39 front and rear body work and engine cover all in beautiful shape still in original paint!! car was run in the 67 indy 500. Pretty neat! Also when i get a chance i will post some pics of the other car i bought as well. Its some sort of road car but i have no idea what it is. Ill get some pics up soon. Thanks guys

[Henri Greuter]

hey guys, i also just found out that i have Bobby Grims #39 front and rear body work and engine cover all in beautiful shape still in original paint!! car was run in the 67 indy 500. Pretty neat! Also when i get a chance i will post some pics of the other car i bought as well. Its some sort of road car but i have no idea what it is. Ill get some pics up soon. Thanks guys

 

Jesse1,

 

a long shot this but try to get in touch with FirstTurnProductions

 

http://firstturn.net/

 

They also have a foto archive but on of the owners (his name is Brad) is probably one of the biggest Al Unser fans on the planet. Perhaps he can offer some help somewhere but I'm sure that he will be interested to know about your car.

 

 

Henri