Reader's Gallery 63 |
Russell Sheldon's Collection: The STP Turbine Car
This car seems to be a favorite of almost everyone! It was revolutionary in so many ways -
the turbine engine, the side-by-side design, the cornering ability. Many thought car
owner Andy Granatelli was finally going to get his maiden Indy 500 victory, after so many
close encounters.
I was only eight years old, listening to ABC radio with Chris Economackie, glued to every lap
of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. Then the car's fame was burned into history by searing fate,
three laps from the end, with the taste of the victory milk almost in driver Parnelli Jones' mouth...
I'll let Russell Sheldon explain it below. I cried! --TJAllen
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The STP Paxton Turbine by Russell Sheldon
"The STP Paxton Turbine, fondly called 'Silent Sam', is
my favourite Indy car. As everyone knows, it very
nearly won the 1967 Indianapolis 500, with Parnelli
Jones at the wheel. Jones had led 171 of the 200
laps, and with 197 laps in the bag and with only three
laps – or 7 1/2 miles – to go, he coasted to a stop in
the pits. A $6.00 ball bearing had failed in the
critical gearcase."
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"I don’t know much about the origin of this slot car. It
was built by an unknown South African slot racer
who, given the level of engineering and detail, was
probably one of the better known chassis builders."
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"The chassis is a two-piece arrangement, with a
commercially made nickel-plated 'U' bracket
(maybe made by Champion?). The bracket is mounted to a brass rod
space-frame, which also carries the pin-guide. An 18
gauge thick brass plate, contoured to the bulbous
shape of the body, mounts loosely via countersunk
brass screws below the frame, and the body attaches by
way of two more screws that thread into Perspex
mountings glued into the inside of the body, thus
giving it a 'rattler' effect."
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"I would guess that this 1/32nd scale car was
built in mid 1968, since the motor is a Champion 517,
which has ARCO magnets and a one-piece shim. It is
probably a 28 gauge wind; grossly over-powered for a
1/32nd scale Indy car, if the motor is the original
one installed by the builder, that is. The fact that
the chassis uses a pin guide leads me to suspect that
it predates the motor. Pin guides were used in South
Africa only until early 1968."
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"The 517 motor
fits the chassis perfectly, but it could
originally have had a Champion 507 motor, which had the same
dimensions. Lancer would have brought out the Paxton
Turbine body soon after the Indy 500 race of May 1967,
so the car could have been built anytime between
mid-1967 and mid-1968. I acquired it around 1980 from
one of the Pretoria Model Car Club members."
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