The 1968 Shelby Turbine Indy car.
Courtesy of Hemmings.com -- Photos courtesy Mecum Auctions

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Innovation is often the key to winning races, but creative interpretation of the rulebook can also play a role. When turbine Indy car designer Ken Wallis approached Carroll Shelby about putting together an effort for the 1968 Indianapolis 500, both parties believed the venture was capable of producing a winning car. The project would end in controversy on the eve of the qualifying, and the two Shelby Turbine Indy Cars constructed would never run in competition. This August, one of two of those 1968 Shelby Turbine Indy Cars will cross the block in Monterey.

Turbine-powered Indy Cars burst onto the scene in 1967 when Parnelli Jones dominated the Indianapolis 500 in his STP-Paxton Turbocar, entered by Granatelli Racing. In the closing laps, Jones had built up nearly a full lap lead on the second place car of A.J. Foyt when a transmission bearing (reportedly a $6 part) failed on the STP-sponsored entry, costing Jones a certain victory. The dominance of the turbine cars became an immediate concern for USAC, which wasted little time in regulating turbine cars for the 1968 running of the event. Within a month of the 1967 race, USAC had reduced the permitted inlet area of turbine cars from 23.999 inches to 15.999 inches, dramatically reducing the power produced.

Despite this, the Granatelli team soldiered on with its turbine car development, selecting a wedge-shaped Lotus 56 chassis for 1968. Perhaps because of Granatelli’s ongoing efforts, or perhaps because of the turbine’s impressive 1967 debut, Ken Wallis was able to convince Carroll Shelby that a competitive turbine-powered car could be developed for the 1968 race, despite the rule changes. To fund the project, Shelby solicited sponsorship from clothier Botany 500, along with tire manufacturer Goodyear.

The original plan called for a three-car effort, but funding concerns reduced the team to two cars as pre-race testing approached. As with the car driven by Parnelli Jones in 1967, both Shelby Turbines featured all-wheel drive for improved traction, and the car’s design continued to place the driver alongside the turbine engine for optimized weight distribution. Goodyear enlisted the help of drivers Bruce McLaren (then a rookie at Indianapolis) and Denny Hulme, and both drivers immediately formed an opinion of the Shelby Turbine’s on-track behavior.

In clean air, the Shelbys delivered marginally acceptable handing, but in a cross-wind or in traffic, the cars were reportedly terrifying to drive. The problem stemmed from the spacing of the tapered wheel bearings on the front hubs, which created a bit of a wobble in the steering at speed. In clean air, it was a tolerable condition, but in traffic, both drivers felt the car delivered unpredictable handling.

Though power output from the strangled turbine should have been an issue, it wasn’t, and both McLaren and Hulme commented on the car’s violent acceleration out of corners. Suspecting something about the car’s design wasn’t quite up to USAC regulations, a careful inspection by Phil Remington, Shelby’s chief engineer, revealed that Wallis’s design opened up the total inlet area beyond the permitted 15.999 square inches when the car was at speed, in clear violation of the rules.

The story goes that Remington resigned on the spot, not wanting to be a part of a blatantly illegal effort. On the Friday before qualification (and thus, the final USAC tech inspection), Shelby withdrew both cars, framing the move with the tragic death of Mike Spence, killed while testing a Lotus 56 turbine car. In Shelby’s words, “After complete and intensive testing, I feel that at the present time it is impossible to make a turbine-powered car competitive with a reasonable degree of safety.”

Some speculate that Goodyear had a significant hand in the decision, as sponsoring an illegal car could have resulted in hefty fines and even a future ban from the Speedway, something that Goodyear’s public relations manager, Dick Ralston, was not willing to risk. For sponsor Botany 500, the withdrawal essentially eliminated any benefit the company would have received from its funding, and the manufacturer never again invested in motorsports sponsorship.

The Shelby Turbine driven by Bruce McLaren in testing at Indianapolis was later used by Paul Newman to promote the film Winning, and both Shelby turbines served as inspiration for a line of Hot Wheels cars produced from 1969-1971. Owned by a private Midwest collector, the Shelby Turbine to be offered in August has recently been featured in an exhibit at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, honoring the cars of the short-lived turbine era. The other Shelby Turbine car is reportedly in another private collection in the Midwest.