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 Death Car Located
The Kurtis Roadster in which Bill Vukovich died while leading the field and going for his third straight win in the 1955 Indianapolis 500-Mile-Race has been located. Henri Greuter of the Netherlands, an Indianapolis 500-Mile-Race historian and collector, located the Roadster in a museum in his home country. The car now resides at the Nationaal Automobiel Museum at Raamsdonkveer. Greuter actually discovered the car somewhat by accident. According to Greuter he was given a picture of an Indy Roadster in the museum and sent it to National Indy 500 Collectors Club news editor Greg Littleton of Indiana for identification. Littleton is co-author with Bill Enoch of the book entitled "The Roadsters of Indianapolis" which was 12 years in the making and documents each roadster's history at Indianapolis from year to year. Littleton identified it as the Racing Associates Offy driven by Roger McCluskey in the 1961 Indianapolis "500". But Littleton also became interested in another roadster which appeared in the background of the photo and asked Greuter to take pictures and do further research on that car. About a year later when asked by the Automobiel Museum to identify a formula car which they had acquired, he was also given permission to identify the roadster. Through photos and books he identified it as the roadster entered in the 1959 Indy 500 which was powered by a Masarati V8 engine and entered by Arciero Racing but which was a DNQ with Shorty Templeman behind the wheel. Greuter sent Littleton the photos and information who poured over the data and consulted with other experts and also concluded it was the Templeman entry. According to all the records available that particular car is Kurtis chassis 372, the same chassis Vukovich drove in the 1955 Indianapolis "500" and in which he died. When the photos were received by the Vukovich Crash Web Site they were thoroughly gone over again. After extensive photo analysis, comparison to pictures of the car in books and through consultation with roadster experts the conclusion was also reached that the car in the museum is indeed the Vukovich car. When Vukovich drove the car in the 1955 "500" it was virtually identical to when Pat O'Conner drove it in the 1954 Indianapolis race. After the car was rebuilt for the 1956 race it had a large side pod and different nose and grill work than the '55 configuration. By the time 1959 rolled around it had a larger side pod, different paint scheme and most notably a Masarati V8 engine. The current configuration of the car in the museum has notable similarities to the 1959 version such as the roll ball, side pods, nose and vents. However, there were other changes that have been made since -- even to the extreme of attempting to make the car street legal with the addition of taillights. But there is still enough left to absolutely determine that the car in the museum is the same chassis that Bill Vukovich rode to his death -- Kurtis chassis number 372. (Please see Death Car Analysis) This information comes as a bit of a surprise to some in that a member of the Vukovich family told this web site that they were told the car was taken out in the Pacific Ocean on a boat and given the "deep six". Additional research has been done as to what the vehicle would be worth if purchased from the museum in the Netherlands and restored to its original Hopkins Special configuration. A rough estimate at what it would cost would be $250,000 for purchase and restoration to running condition. According to various collectors this is roughly what an Indy Roadster of that era would be worth on the open market depending on its history. The main factors that drive the cost of the Roadsters up is the significance of its general history and whether or not it has won the Indianapolis "500". Presently, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway owns a majority of the cars which have won the race -- with the great exception being the 11 or so Penske cars which, according to the Indianapolis Speedway Museum, are still owned by Roger Penske. But the legend of Bill Vukovich -- the fact he was leading and going for his third "500" win a row -- could raise the value of the car. If the Vukovich legend were to ever take hold more than it has -- such as through the making of a major motion picture -- the value of the car would most likely go up. However, at the present time research seems to show the car would not be a particularly good investment.
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