A Report On The Accident That Killed Bill
Vukovich In The 1955 Indianapolis 500-Mile-Race
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A Report On The Accident That Killed Bill Vukovich In The 1955 Indianapolis 500-Mile-Race
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Vukovich California Historical Sites Part 2 Not that long ago Vukovich author Bob Gates and myself took another tour of California seeking out Vukovich related historic sites. The sites to investigate seem almost endless and we even have a third trip on the drawing board. Here is a picture essay of the last trip..
First stop was the A.J. Watson shop in Glendale, California which still stands. Shop was not far from Kurtis factory.
Site of Bell Auto Parts, Inc. in Bell, California was the location were a lot of drivers, including Indy drivers, purchased their speed and safety equipment. In L.A. you could get cars, engines, drive trains and speed equipment -- everything you needed to go racing.
No trip to L.A. would be complete without an excursion to California Speedway also known as Auto Club Speedway. Not a bad place for a race. In fact, these would be good seats. The Richard Petty Driving Experience was giving rides and tried to talk us into one. Gates was tempted but turned them down in lieu of maybe getting a ride at Indy.
The outside of the grandstand at California Speedway in Fontana, California.
Then it was on to Long Beach to see the "race track". There wasn't much to see so we took in the Queen Mary. The Russian submarine in the foreground was named "The Scorpion".
The Offenhauser/Meyer Drake engine facility in Los Angeles where most of the engines for the Indianapolis 500 were made for many years.
When we looked up the address of the old Harry Miller facility it was on an adjacent street to Offenhauser/Meyer Drake Engine plant. Apparently when the company was sold in 1933 the new owners built a facility next door to the old Miller factory but with different street address. After World War II the engines were called Meyer/Drakes when the plant was sold again.
Current state of Quinn Epperly Racing Shop, Raymond & 135th Street, Gardena.
Gates talks to Parnelli Jones amidst his vast and awesome collection of race cars at his shop in Torrance.
View of highly aerodynamic Viceroy Car.
Note two Johnny Lightning Specials. There is a story behind this but can't remember. A lot of familiar names and sponsors adorn the cars in the collection.
Good shot of the dihedral wings which did not work well in practice and were removed for the race and a normal rear wing was added..
Jones still has the Viceroy wind tunnel model complete with dihedral wings.
Jones for a time actively was involved in trying to keep Ontario Motor Speedway alive and would have done it if things have worked out differently. A rock concert with Led Zeppelin staged to make money for the track resulted in disturbances in the neighborhood. He did wind up with the model of Speedway.
Another view of the Ontario Speedway model in which Jones has in his private museum.
The Vel's Parnelli Jones funny car driven by Danny Ongais and the F-1 cars. Jones also had rail job but was sold.
Jones' Big Oly Bronco. In addition winning it was also featured in the motion picture "Gone in 60 Seconds" (original) where it gets stolen.
Another shot of the Jones Collection as it just goes on and on.
Jones stands in front of just a small fraction of his racing memorabilia. He said Vukovich didn't catch his eye so much as Troy Ruttman when he saw him race at Ascot. Jones credits much of his business acumen to the great J.C. Agajanian who helped in his early days.
Just about the most beautiful car in his collection is the replica of his 1963 Indy winning car.
Another view of the No 98 Willard Battery Special replica car sometimes known as Ol' Calhoun. Original car is in Speedway Museum.
Jones has the exact garage doors from the Speedway that they used during the Vel Miletich /Johnny Lightning days.
A midget that Vukovich drove at one time.
Jones stands almost aghast at what he has collected over the years in his unbelievable career which spanned Indy, NASCAR, F-1 and Off Road. If you're going to select driver of the century you'd have to consider Jones.
O.K., we keep harping on this but here's the reason '55 Vukovich car builder Frank Kurtis left Indy Car building -- to work on the super secret A-12 and SR-71 projects. This is an A-12 trainer -- only one of which was built. You've always wanted to know what goes on at Area 51 -- well, this thing was tested and flown out of there back in the early 60's. It now sits near the entrance to L.A. Coliseum.
A back view of the big, bad, super fast secret plane that still holds top speed records. Kurtis built the devices to start up the engines and for a long time was kept in the black as to what he was working on.
The entrance to Pomona race track at the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds, and old haunt for Vukovich in the midget days.
Good shot of turn one at Pomona. Some of the early Vukovich pictures at Pomona show the palm trees in the background.
The Grandstand at Pomona. The track is less than a mile and was ideal for auto racing. Now used primarily for horse racing.
One of Vuiy's old haunts was Saugus Speedway in the North Valley. A nice little track and looks pretty original. This was as close as we could get that day.
Another view of Saugus Speedway. Great little track, great location and probably some great racing in the late 40's.
The scoreboard at Saugus looks pretty original.
It means something but what we don't know.
Close up of the interior of the parade car used in the Fresno Vukovich Parade in 1954. Car was also ridden in by Eisenhower and Nikita Khrushchev.
Close up of front seat of Vukovich parade car.
Very tastefully displayed American Flags. Flags must be original as they are 48 star versions.
Gorgeous shot of the Vukovich Parade car. Car was reserved for transporting only VIPs and is still used occasionally today in parades. Only four of these were manufactured..
This 1925 Rolls Royce Phantom featured in the Petersen Automotive Museum would get quite a bit of attention even today in Downtown Beverly Hills on a Friday night.
The car that ended up being driven by Roger Ward in the ;55 "500" and starting the chain reaction Vukovich accident now resides in Petersen Automotive Museum.
Another view of the Kurtis dirt car that started at all. Car is beautifully restored.
Outside of Traco Engineering building today. Structure is reportedly still owned by the widow of Frank Coons who rents it out. Current use is that of a recording studio.
The Big L.A. at night as seen from Griffith Observatory. The Central Rotunda is sponsored by the W. M. Keck Foundation. There is no city in the world like Los Angeles, California. When you're there it is impossible to think that anything else could exist. When you're not there, it is impossible to think that L.A. could exist.
Many movies have been shot at the Observatory.
Yes, that is the same Keck of Vukovich fame. The family is involved in many philanthropic endeavors.
As a final site we visited the cemetery in which Dean Martin is interred. Martin was one of Vuky's favorite singers. The exquisite cemetery is somewhat of a secret even in L.A. Located on Wilshire Boulevard near the San Diego Freeway, many star actors are there including Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon and writer/director/producer Billy Wilder. |
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