82 replies to this topic

[McRonalds]

I can't deny it - Indys (especially the 40-60ties) are my favorite cars. Here are two mysteries I came across when I recently studied old Indy entry-lists:

1. In 1946 pre-war hero Achille Varzi made an entry at Indy. The only thing I know about it: he was not able to qualify a (supercharged?) Maserati (#53). Any further info (or even a pic?) about engine, chassis, sponsor?

2. An even more interesting is a car I found in the entry list of '57, when Danny Kladis entered a Mercedes-Jaguar(!!!!!!), sponsored by Safety Auto Glass (#84). Same result: NQ! Same question: any further info (or even a pic?) about it?



I hope anyone can help me.

Thanx...

[Vitesse2]

1946: I think there is a Scuderia Milano connection here. Car 52 was entered by them for Villoresi - perhaps they intended two entries? However, they only had one 8CL, an identical car to the one supplied to Raul Riganti in 1940. This was a 3.0 litre s/c model, chassis number 3035, which had only recently been completed by the works (Riganti's was #3034).

Do you have any evidence that Varzi was actually there and attempted to qualify?

[McRonalds]

I could not remember where I have read this - but I think Varzi was at Indy but made no attempt to qualify. I even remember that his old rival Tazio Nuvolari was at the speedway (same year?).

Here's another source which tell that Varzi drove for Covorado Filippini. Look at the year 1946...

www.geocities.com/johnsonindy500/indy500/dnq/1940s.html

[Vitesse2]

Rick Popely gives Filippini as entrant for Villoresi too: it's not a name I've come across, perhaps he was just the guy who signed the forms for Milano? Popely also gives him as entrant for Nalon in Maserati #54, which appears to have been a 4CL, painted the same as Villoresi's.

[McRonalds]

Originally posted by Vitesse2

Nuvolari was indeed at Indy in 1946, and almost lost his life in a terrifying crash which may have involved a bird strike - he was probably only saved by the organisers' insistence that he wore a hard helmet rather than his preferred linen one. [/B]

I heard exactly that same story (bird - crash- helmet) about another great pre-war champ, Rudi Caracciola, who was also at the speedway in '46 and tried to qualify a car entered by Joel Thorne, after he failed to enter a Mercedes (probably a W165 that 'wintered' war in Suisse, where Caracciola lived for years) at Indy - bureaucratism

[Vitesse2]

It was of course Rudi, not Tazio .... I'll edit and we can delete that!!

[McRonalds]

I acutally think there was an entry of that Mercedes, but Rudi's wife Alice - but of course that car never arrived...

[Vitesse2]

Indeed there was, but US Customs wouldn't let it in.

[McRonalds]

Motorsport.com wrote about Varzi's entry too:

www.motorsport.com/stats/champ/qrace.asp?C=CH4601

...but still no further info... :

[McRonalds]

I wonder if this Danny Kladis-car has something to do with the Don Lee Mercedes that raced at Indy in '47/'48 before Joel Thorne installed a Sparks-engine in it (I never seen a picture of that car, too). But that was in '49 - 8 years earlier...

[Vitesse2]

Photos in the Popely book show that Villoresi's and Nalon's cars were in identical livery - numbers painted in the same style etc.

However, who was Filippini and what was his connection to Scuderia Milano and/or Maserati? The only reference to him a Google search brings up is the page you linked to, while the car was returned to Europe. It was entered in the Circuit des Trois Villes and won in the hands of Louveau and Sommer and in the Penya Rhin GP where Villoresi drove it. Farina then ran it in South America in 1948.

[Gerr]

Clymer's 1946 500 yearbook has a little about Varzi,
"The great Tazio Nuvolari was scheduled to drive a Maserati,but withdrew due to the death of his son. Achille Varzi,another prominent Italian driver,came over instead.together with Luigi Villoresi,who turned out to be the only Italian in the race".
There is photo of Villoresi and Varzi in street clothes sitting on the pit wall.
The entry list has Car 53,Maserati 4CL,entered for Varzi.

Fox's Pictorial History,has the same info,plus the entrant,"Covorado Filippini"and a small photo of the car with a driver wearing a heavy coat(could be Varzi).

Clymer's 1957 yearbook has a pic of the ex-Don Lee Mercedes with the Jag engine,now the "Safety Auto Glass Spl." entered by Eddie Shreve.

[Vitesse2]

Aha! Filippini was an Italian journalist, according to a post from Alessandro Silva (do a BB search and you'll find it in the "Why only Germany" thread!). I'll drop Alessandro an e-mail and ask him for his input!

[FEV]

I think Filippini wrote in "Auto Italiana". IIRC Alessandro mentioned him in his great "The race where Nuvolari waved at the crowd" feature.
About Danny Kladis (Granatelli's first Indy driver) and his mysterious Merecedes-Jaguar, I'va always wondered too, and never found anything on it...

[David McKinney]

Grand Prix Racing by Monkhouse has a photo of Varzi sitting in the Maser at Indy. The caption says "Achille Varzi in a 1946 Maserati which he did not succeed in qualifying". It's only a cockpit shot, but from what I can see I would think the car's more likely 8CL size than 4CL.
There's also a photo of Caracciola in the Thorne-Sparks Special wearing the tank-driver's helmet said to have saved his life

[Hitch]

I found 2 pictures: one of the car in question (#53), which stands behind Gigi Villoresi's #52 and a second, where Achille Varzi stands behind that car #52, with Gigi Villoresi behind the wheel. As far as I know both cars were entered by the Scuderia Milan. It's sad that there are no types in nearly every Indy-statistics but I believe one car is an 8CL, the other one is an 8CTF - but I'm not sure.

[alessandro silva]

The second picture from the top in the post above is a famous one at least in Italy.
From the left:
Filippini, Varzi, Lurani, X, Villoresi in the car.
It originated from Lurani (for Auto Italiana)and was given to John Eason Gibson for his 1946 yearbook.
Filippini had been able to secure for the Italians an entry at Indy already in 1946. This shows how the lobby he had operated with Lurani for Italian quick readmission to international racing had worked well.
The cars (the 8CL 3035 that was finished in 1941 and never raced before, and a 4CL) were entrusted with Scuderia Milano by the works. It was basically a works entry with Filippini and Milano as go-betweens.
Varzi was reserve for Villoresi for the race (that much is sure). I think that the 4CL was hired (that I have to check).
Lurani came as interpreter!
How Filippini did actually organize the trip and found the money for it is a mystery not clarify by the bashful Italian press of the time.

Richard
I'll send you a few lines about Filippini tomorrow. He was a very respected journalist of course, with Auto Italiana in the immediate postwar years but he died soon afterwards.

[Vitesse2]

Thanks for your quick response Alessandro - I look forward to that!

[alessandro silva]

Some more bits from my notes: one Ruggeri was also at Indy. Since Arialdo was racing in Europe at the same time, it must have been the "other" Ruggeri, Emilio -not a driver. Conjecturally he is the fourth to the right in the picture. Ruggeri came back with a load of Firestone "track" tyres that were used by the team later on at the fast Albi circuit.
Knowing how stingy were the Ruggeris - always fighting with French organizers for the amount of the starting money - Nalon must have paid quite dearly for the drive.

[Gerr]

The Clymer year book has three entries for Filippini,
#52 the 8CL
#53 a 4CL
#54 a 4CL

On the subject of Indy/Maserati,does anyone know what type of racing Maserati chassis,Dean Jeffries "Mantaray" used? It is the car at the top of this page,http://www.river-roa...dcustoms/4.html. I have read several articles about the car that say that Jeffries had two pre-war Maserati GP chassis,that his father-inlaw had raced at Indy. The frame is tubular with an independent torsion bar front suspension and a live axle rear with quarter elliptic leaf springs. It looks a 4CLT/48 chassis. Did Maserati use this type of chassis before the war?

[Gerr]

Sorry,that link doesn't appear to work,try this one.
http://www.geocities...45/mantaray.htm
Better photos,anyway....

[McRonalds]

Originally posted by Gerr
The Clymer year book has three entries for Filippini,
#52 the 8CL
#53 a 4CL
#54 a 4CL

Simply can't believe it was a 4CL - of course he had no chance to qualify - or had that car a different engine?!

[McRonalds]

Originally posted by McRonalds

Here's another source which tell that Varzi drove for Covorado Filippini. Look at the year 1946...

www.geocities.com/johnsonindy500/indy500/dnq/1940s.html

...there's another 'funny' entry I just disvovered: Look at car #37, driven by Buddy Rusch: Car name: 'Enlist in U.S. Army'

[Vitesse2]

Wishful thinking McRonalds. There were only three 8CTFs and they were all at Indy that year, driven by Horn, Andres and Snowberger. And the other 8CL was in Argentina.

Nalon qualified a 4CL ....

[scheivlak]

Originally posted by McRonalds


...there's another 'funny' entry I just disvovered: Look at car #37, driven by Buddy Rusch: Car name: 'Enlist in U.S. Army'

And how about the 1948 entries #45 Cowboy O'Rourke /Walt Ader and #68, one Ronnie Householder, both driving a "Speedway Cocktail"

[karlcars]

The Mercedes-Jaguar referred to was the Don Lee W154 that had been given a Sparks engine by Joel Thorne. After the Sparks was yanked the car was obtained by an Indy policeman, who installed the Jag engine and, needless to say, did not qualify. In that condition the car was bought by my friend Dick Merritt. It has since been reunited with its engine, which was in the hands of Willett Brown.

[McRonalds]

A brilliant achievement

It's really tremendous how fast such 'little' inquiries like such strange Indy-entries are solved here.

Thanks to www and the TNF-members...

[McRonalds]

Originally posted by karlcars
The Mercedes-Jaguar referred to was the Don Lee W154 that had been given a Sparks engine by Joel Thorne. After the Sparks was yanked the car was obtained by an Indy policeman, who installed the Jag engine and, needless to say, did not qualify. In that condition the car was bought by my friend Dick Merritt. It has since been reunited with its engine, which was in the hands of Willett Brown.

I heard Don Lee comitted suicide in '48. Is that Info correct?!

His last entry was a KK2000 that was later used as Mike Brannen Special in the Clark Gable movie 'To Please A Lady'. Recently found a picture in the internet of the restored car. Really wonderful...

[SteveB2]

Did anyone else notice that Harry Schell also attempted to qualify a Maserati in that race? I assume that was the same Harry that later drove F1.

[dbw]

gerr; i talked to mr. jefferies at the grand national roadster show in oakland,calif. several years ago....he had the mantaray there and became rather agitated when questioned about the chassis...seems there was a complete car at one time and the engine/ transmission ended up with an ex-wife....by the time he realized the value of the original chassis the wife and engine had disappeared. [as i recall it was a 4 cyl..]

[indycarjunkie]

Looks like you got some good answers to your original question. Here's another site to check out Indy 500 race stats and info way back to 1911. There were 5 Maserati's in the race in 1946 and 2 Alfa Romeo's. The Italian cars were popular back then!

www.brickyard.com

Click on Indy 500 then "stats". That will tell you about anything you wanted to know about the Indy 500 but was afraid to ask.

[alessandro silva]

Yes the Maserati were five in the race. 3 8CTF, 1 8CL, 1 4CL. Only one 4CL came from Italy, it is then conceivable that two numbers, 53,54, were used for the same car, since I have no knowledge about the existence of a 4CL in the US of America in 1946. Varzi was the original entry, then the car was hired to Nalon. Varzi was uneasy at the track because he tended to use the brakes before the turns. (Villoresi too, by the way, but he had a faster car)
To get things straight it is CORRADO Filippini not Covorado.

[McRonalds]

Originally posted by SteveB2
Did anyone else notice that Harry Schell also attempted to qualify a Maserati in that race? I assume that was the same Harry that later drove F1.

Yes, it was Harry Schell who tried to qualifly one of these Maseratis - no idea which one - but I suppose it was one of the Milan-Maseratis. Harry Schell was at the speedway in '40 too (I had a picture of him in my archive - but I can not find it at the moment) but made no try to qualify.

A lot of interesting entries in '46

[Gerr]

Thanks dbw,found this,http://www.geocities...iewwithdean.htm
that may be of interest....read right down to the bottom....seems that he found another "pre-war"
Maserati for parts.
Regarding Varzi: Brock Yates' "the Indianapolis 500" has "Varzi's car,a 4CL Maserati could not be prepared in time". I assume this means prepared in time for a qualifying run.

[McRonalds]

...what a strange end for that car.

[cabianca]

Harry Schell's mother, Lucy O'Rielly Schell, entered two 8CTFs (3030 & 3031) at Indy in 1940 for Rene Dreyfus and Rene Le Begue. That's why Harry Schell was at Indy in 1940, not to drive. Only one car was able to qualify and finished 10th. The cars were left behind in the U.S. after the race. Team manager and mechanic Luigi Chinetti also stayed behind. He was carrying an Italian passport despite having lived in France for several years and was an enemy alien in the U.S. War had been declared while the boat (Comte di Savoia) carring the cars and the party was on its way from Genoa to New York. Chinetti sold the two Schell cars to American entrants and the two cars continued to show up at Indy into the 1950s. They joined the third 8CTF (3032), which was already in America in the possession of Wilbur Shaw's entrant. Shaw won the 1939 and 1940 500s with his car. Riganti drove the first 8CL (3034) in the 1940 race, crashing early. The car was repaired in Italy and then returned to Argentina, where it slumbered for many years before being brought to America in the 1970s and then going on to Japan. After the war, Maserati made two other cars intended for the 1950 Indy race. These were the 8CLTs w/3L 8C engines (3036 & 3037). They never made the trip to the U.S. and since they were built to the pre-war formula, they were virtually unusable in Europe, so they were sold to New Zealand where they could run in Formula Libre events. Also active at Indy in the immediate pre and post-World War II era were the four Maserati V8Ri models, at least some of which got Offy engines as time went on.

Speaking of Carracciola's crash at Indy in 46. I believe it may have been Neubauer who wrote that it was caused by a misguided "patriot" firing a gun at the German. Can anyone provide the source of this speculation. There was talk of this being hushed up, but to my knowledge no one has ever tried to straighten this out by combing the Indianapolis city police files or those of the Indiana State Police or the FBI, which would surely have been in on such a case. Carracciola made his recovery at the owner of the Speedway's house. That was Tony Hulman, grandfather of the IRL's Tony George.

[fines]

Really nice pic of the Don Lee KK2K! And, btw, Tommy Lee died in January 1950, jumping off a high building. His Daimler-Benz had the chassis number W154-9.

[Gerr]

Cabianca,I'm confused why Chinetti was stranded in the USA in 1940. America was not at war until December'41.

[McRonalds]

Cabianca ...in Neubauers biography 'Manner, Frauen und Motoren' I read nothing about a patriot firing a gun at Caracciola - so I still believe in the story with the bird. It would be much TOOOO STRANGE anyway... but there are a lot of exaggerations in Neubauers book, so maybe it would be no wonder anyway...

Fines ...that sad story about Lee I recently read in a book about Frank Kurtis. Suicide is sad enough - but jumping from a skyscraper is mad...

...and here, to rounf of the sory, is the aforementioned picture of Harry Schell from '40. I don't know when, where or even why I scanned it but the driver on the right looks like Rene Dreyfus.

[McRonalds]

Here's a pic of on of those Lucy O'Reilly Schell Maseratis nowadays... what's really a wonderful car... (and not even red:-)



Cabianca, I'm really VERY interested in the Maserati V8Ri models you mentioned that started at Indy. I read a small note about them in the Richard Crump/Rob de la Rive Box Book 'Maserati - Sports, racing and GT cars from 1926' book that one of them raced extensively and sucessfully by both George Weaver and Phil Cade in post war American events.

[Hitch]

Originally posted by cabianca
Speaking of Carracciola's crash at Indy in 46. I believe it may have been Neubauer who wrote that it was caused by a misguided "patriot" firing a gun at the German. Can anyone provide the source of this speculation. There was talk of this being hushed up, but to my knowledge no one has ever tried to straighten this out by combing the Indianapolis city police files or those of the Indiana State Police or the FBI, which would surely have been in on such a case. Carracciola made his recovery at the owner of the Speedway's house. That was Tony Hulman, grandfather of the IRL's Tony George.

Now, hasn't George Robson won that year in such a car that Rudi Caracciola was driving during practice (Adams-Sparks s/c)? Do you think he had a chance to win that race - without his heavy crash?

[cabianca]

Gentlemen, your outpouring overwhelms me. Here are some comments.
Gerr - While Chinetti and the French Indy party were on the boat, war was declared between France and Italy. I suppose since France was an ally of the U.S., and Italy was at war with France, that made Chinetti an enemy alien because he had an Italian passport.

Thank you for correcting the Neubauer story. It would seem if there were anything in print about Carracciola being shot, someone here would have read about it.

Tommy Lee was weird, maybe mentally ill. His family once had him committed, according to court papers, "because he bought three cars in a week". However, he got out of the laughing academy and continued his life. He had bad gum disease and had an appointment with his dentist. When his chauffer dropped him off, instead of going to his dentist's office, he took the elevator right to the top floor and found a way to get on the roof, probably pretty simple in those days. The building was what we call a "mid-rise", probably no more than 8-10 stories, if that many. He stayed up there, smoking cigarettes, until he jumped. In the classic American conspiracy tradition, some have said there were two different kinds of cigarettes found on the roof. Because he was a VIP, the papers pretty much buried the story. There has been a story about Tommy Lee in Automobile Quarterly. I don't think it discusses this issue.

Maseratis at Indy right after WWII. Here's the 1946 summary. I'll add later years at another time.

29 8CTF 3032 T. Horne 3rd
18 8CTF 3030 B. Andres 4th
52 8CL 3035 Villoresi 7th
25 V8Ri ? Snowberger 12th
54 4CL ? Nalon 22nd
34 V8Ri 4502 Hinnerschitz DNQ
36 ? ? L. Gerand DNQ
46 ? ? Schell DNQ
53 ? ? Varzi Probably entered for the Nalon car but didn't drive it for some reason

The questions that remain are:
What was the serial number of Nalon's 4CL
Did Gerand and Schell try the same car and what was the serial # and tipo?

[scheivlak]

Originally posted by cabianca
Gentlemen, your outpouring overwhelms me. Here are some comments.
Gerr - While Chinetti and the French Indy party were on the boat, war was declared between France and Italy. I suppose since France was an ally of the U.S., and Italy was at war with France, that made Chinetti an enemy alien because he had an Italian passport.

In 1940 the U.S. was still neutral, so France and the US weren't allies. Might be that Chinetti didn't like the prospect of returning to a France that was effectively under control of the Axis powers for some reason. It could also be that a return home was simply impossible because of the war on the Atlantic Ocean....
Is there a decent biographical sketch of this enigmatic Italian?

Thank you for correcting the Neubauer story. It would seem if there were anything in print about Carracciola being shot, someone here would have read about it.

Of course the event is dealt with quite extensively in Caracciola's autobiography. He mentions that he doesn't remember anything about the accident himself, but that he was hit "by something" on his temple. People saw Caracciola's hands lifting from the steering wheel and how he suddenly collapsed in the car that was still at full speed. Out of control the car hit a wooden barrier at the end of a straight. The driver was launched out of the car and hit the track head down.
No mention is made of a bird or anything else (no plane, no...) Caracciola himself writes that he can't explain what happened. But when I read this for the first time I immediately thought: "Hey, did somebody shoot him!?" Why? Because Rudi deliberately gives no explanation, but describes in other pages rather extensively how on one hand people in Indy were helping him in many ways, while other Americans weren't so glad about him being there. He mentions that an FBI officer had orders to arrest him for illegal immigration even though his papers were in order.

[indycarjunkie]

Originally posted by scheivlak


Caracciola himself writes that he can't explain what happened. But when I read this for the first time I immediately thought: "Hey, did somebody shoot him!?" Why? Because Rudi deliberately gives no explanation, but describes in other pages rather extensively how on one hand people in Indy were helping him in many ways, while other Americans weren't so glad about him being there. He mentions that an FBI officer had orders to arrest him for illegal immigration even though his papers were in order.

That might explain why he was so gratefull for the hospitality that the Hulman family gave him. I've always wondered about that. He willed his entire trophy collection to them and is on display at the IMS Hall of Fame Museum.

Thanks sheivlak!

[Gerr]

Cabianca,war was declared by Italy on France on June 10th 1940(I looked this stuff up),not that this would matter to Chinetti as France and the USA were not allied(as scheivlak wrote),but according to the"Encyclopedia of Auto Racing Greats",Chinetti fled to France in 1939 to escape Mussolini's police. The following year he had to flee to Spain,then to Portugal and eventually to the USA". So maybe it did matter if he couldn't go back to Europe and risk jail. Was he in a refugee camp,internment,working for Alfred Momo,the War effort or what,during the war? Can someone fill in this blank?

[cabianca]

Chinetti was in France long before 1939. Probably as early as 1930. Remember, he won Le Mans for the first time in 1932. You are correct in that the June 10 1940 declaration of war is too late for it to have affected the trans-Atlantic voyage mentioned. Shipping records should show when the Comte di Savoia left Genoa, but it would have to be in May in order to make it to Indy on time. Chinetti stayed on in the US after Indy 1940 and was able to assist the two Talbot-Lagos that entered Indy in 1941. Under the theories mentioned, Chinetti wouldn't have become an enemy alien until after Pearl Harbor (7 Dec 41). He worked for Momo during the war. Momo was employed by J. Inskip, the U.S. Rolls Royce importer. Momo was in charge of a large machine shop. I have often wondered if this machine shop was a legacy of when Rolls were manufactured in Springfield Massachusetts in the US, because Inskip was in charge of that operation. In any case, Chinetti reputedly worked first on American submarine driveshafts in the machine shop. When it was found out he was an enemy alien, he was relegated to cars. Chinetti became a US citizen in 1946 and returned to France that same year. For a time, he had a showroom in Paris after the war and also sold cars out of his residence in NY, before he had premises there.

Regarding Chinetti's anti-facism, supposedly his reason for moving to France in the first place, it is mentioned often in the post-war French motoring press. It has been discussed in the Nostalgia Forum previously that Gobbato, the President of Alfa, ordered Chinetti back to Italy before the war. What I have never been able to determine is whether this order was being given to Chinetti by Gobbato as an officer of Chinetti's employer Alfa, or was given by Gobbato as an officer of the Fascist party. After the war, Gobatto was cleared by the resistance tribunals, but was assassinated anyway, outside his office.

[David McKinney]

Originally posted by cabianca
The questions that remain are:
What was the serial number of Nalon's 4CL
Did Gerand and Schell try the same car and what was the serial # and tipo?

Schell’s car was his 6CM #1531 with 4-cyl engine
Nalon’s was a 4CL, apparently new, number unknown
Gérard’s unknown. He had a 6CM in 1939 but at the time of Indy 1946 this car was being raced by Mazaud in France. Perhaps as you suggest he shared Schell's

[alessandro silva]

Originally posted by David McKinney


Schell’s car was his 6CM #1531 with 4-cyl engine
Nalon’s was a 4CL, apparently new, number unknown
Gérard’s unknown. He had a 6CM in 1939 but at the time of Indy 1946 this car was being raced by Mazaud in France. Perhaps as you suggest he shared Schell's

Gérard's car at Indy was a 6C-34, 3.8L, two "compressors"
He blew up the engine in practice.
That much is sure. Very likely Schell and Gérard were to share it. Gérard entered at Indy by Schell's instigation.

David:
- Schell's 1531, 6CM/4CL, was at Marseille on 13.05 then at St. Cloud on 09.06. Could it have been at Indy too?
- Wasn't Schell's 1531 the old Gérard car?
- Wasn't Mazaud's car a 4CL? What you say about it is very interesting for me. Are you sure?
- I am under the impression that Schell raced two different 6CM in 46. Do you know something about that?
Can you enlighten me?

Also
- Only one true 4CL was at Indy 46. It was taken by Milano possibly for Varzi but was raced by Nalon.
- Another "strange" European entry was Briton Robert Arbuthnot who had a Lagonda, ex-Lord Valeran, rebodied for that purpose. Arbuthnot died in a road accident in August 46.

[McRonalds]

Originally posted by alessandro silva
- Only one true 4CL was at Indy 46. It was taken by Milano possibly for Varzi but was raced by Nalon.

The only picture so far I've seen of Nalon's Maserati-car... of course a 4CL... and no sponsors on it - unusual for US-cars - so most likely it was the Milano-car...

[Vitesse2]

Alessandro: that name should be Waleran, with a W. The Lagonda was one of the two cars which finished 3rd and 4th at Le Mans in 1939 presumably the 4th as that was the Waleran/Selsdon car.