Mario Andretti ICON exhibit

at the 2019 PRI show

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum had an exhibit at the 2019 PRI (Performance Racing Industry show that honored Mario Andretti in the anniversary year of his historic victory in the 1969 Indianapolis 500-mile race with four significant cars from Mario’s career.

These four cars were featured in previous additions of this blog, please check out the archived articles referenced if you are interested in more details about these race cars.  To enlarge the photos, double click on the photo.

Hawk II

The 1967 Hawk Mark II built by Clint Brawner in Phoenix Arizona for car owner Al Dean of Dean Van Lines. was a further development of the original tube frame semi-monocoque chassis with the DOHC Ford engine as a stressed member in the rear of the car. As is evident in the photograph, aerodynamics began to creep in the picture with the addition of winglets and air ducts on either side on the nose.

At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Andretti and Hawk Mark II posted the fastest lap in practice and then on ‘Pole Day’ reset the single lap track record at 169.776 miles per hour (MPH) and captured his second straight pole position start with a four-lap average of 168.982 MPH.f

Andretti led the 33 cars into the first turn on race day, but Parnelli Jones in the STP Pratt & Whitney turbine swept past Andretti in turn two.  On the second day of the running of the ‘500’ after a stoppage due to rain, Andretti lost a wheel on his 58^th lap after a lengthy pit stop. For more detail on this car, check the archive (listed on the right side of the page) for our original article written on January 20 2016.

VPJ-1

Philippe's 1972 design of the VPJ-1 for the VPJ Racing Team featured symmetrical air foils that sprouted at a 45-degree angle off the monocoque beside the driver - identified as “dihedral wings” which also contained the radiators. The most shocking feature of Phillippe’s patented design was the lack of a rear wing mounted behind the turbocharged Offenhauser engine, as Philippe believed that the dihedral wings provided enough downforce as they reduced drag.

The new VPJ-1 design also featured new Phillipe-designed suspension technology known as “dual camber compensators” which was designed to keep the triangular shaped chassis monocoque level in all racing conditions and the VPJ-1 rode on patented lightweight four-spoke cast racing wheels wrapped in Firestone tires.

In early testing the VPJ-1 proved to be a horrible combination – it was both scary and slow. The team went to work to revise the design and develop the VPJ-1, which included the loss of the dihedral wings during the month of May and the addition of a rear wing. Despite the early problems, the revised VPJ-1 race cars finished well- Al Unser finished second, Joe Leonard third, and Mario Andretti eighth in the 1972 Indianapolis ‘500.’ 

VPJ-2

Maurice Phillipe penned the 1973 Vel’s Parnelli Jones Racing Team entry, the VPJ-2 which used torsion bars on all four corners and a very shallow monocoque tub, but the most notable feature of the original design was the rear wing which was part of the bodywork over the turbocharged Offenhauser engine. 

This car design was widely regarded as a failure - Andretti qualified this car sixth for the 1973 Indianapolis ‘500’ and finished 30^th as the VPJ-2 Offenhauser engine burned a piston on lap 4.

VPJ-4

Late in the 1974 Formula One Grand Prix season the Vel’s Parnelli Jones Racing Team debuted the VPJ-4 Formula 1 car designed by Maurice Philippe which was powered by a 182-cubic inch Cosworth DFV (Double Four Valve) engine.

Andretti qualified sixteenth in VPJ-4 at the Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport, the penultimate round of the 1974 Formula One season in the 26-car starting grid. Andretti and the VPJ-1 finished seventh, one lap behind the winner Emerson Fittipaldi’s Lotus.

Two weeks later at the 1974 United States Grand Prix, Andretti qualified the VPJ-4 third on the starting grid but was disqualified when the Cosworth engine stalled on the starting grid and the VPJ crew pushed the car after the rest of the field was away.

For more details on the VPJ cars, check out our archive (listed on the right side of the page)for the original article posted on August 19 2019.

All photos by the author