The new look of INDY CARS

[1937hd45]

I'm sure they are safer, but "Open cockpit" sure has changed since 1925. I've got all the paper work for the MILLER that Ira Vail drove in 1924 & 1925. He sold it for $6,000, wonder what that  would buy for an INDY Car today?

Edited May 24, 2022 by 1937hd45 (see edit history)

[oldford]

This one just sold for $2 million at Mecum's...

 

[Uncle_Buck]

I’m all for safety, but the exciting era of yearly innovation, multiple chassis and engine builders, raw power sounds and yes, the danger of open cockpits is sadly behind us.

 

Edited May 24, 2022 by Uncle_Buck (see edit history)

[Gary_Ash]

Try 1932 style:  no helmets, seat belts, roll bars, side impact beams, fuel bladder, fire extinguisher, etc. - and two guys to get maimed or killed in a crash.

 

[joe_padavano]

1 hour ago, Uncle_Buck said:

I’m all for safety, but the exciting era of yearly innovation, multiple chassis and engine builders, raw power sounds and yes, the danger of open cockpits is sadly behind us.

 

Agreed. IndyCar has turned into another spec-car series. Zzzzzzzzz...

[Steve Moskowitz]

Got to disagree with you folks here.  Yes, I love the old time race cars and love an open cockpit (my race car is such) ,however, after watching people I have met killed or paralyzed I cannot support going backwards.  As a Indy fan I watched this past year how the new cockpit enclosure saved a driver's life.  The driver's initially hated the arrangement but have come to appreciate the safety involved.  I love racing but do not want to watch someome die for my enjoyment!  

[George K]

I spoke to Louie Meyer when I brokered his 1936 winning car. My memory is he said they wore bowling shirts when racing.

[TerryB]

I’ve been watching the Netflix Formula 1 Drive to Survive series and can see how their design efforts have improved safety in open wheel racing.  Indy cars follow that design, perhaps even more.  I highly recommend the Netflix series for its insights to the world behind F1 racing, just be prepared for a lot of f-bomb useage.

[George K]

First guy to drink the milk. Believe it was buttermilk. He was thirsty.

[Gary_Ash]

Back in 2018, there was an exhibit of Indy cars at the Heritage Museum in Sandwich, MA.  I drank the milk then.

 

 

 

[Bhigdog]

Got to agree with S.M. on this one. Racing is a test of engineering and skill. Needless risk of life is not, and should not, be part of it.......bob 

[Hudsy Wudsy]

Open, un-fendered tires is plenty enough risk for my heart.

[Studemax]

As always, the safety rules of racing were written in blood.

[hook]

22 hours ago, Steve Moskowitz said:

Got to disagree with you folks here.  Yes, I love the old time race cars and love an open cockpit (my race car is such) ,however, after watching people I have met killed or paralyzed I cannot support going backwards.  As a Indy fan I watched this past year how the new cockpit enclosure saved a driver's life.  The driver's initially hated the arrangement but have come to appreciate the safety involved.  I love racing but do not want to watch someome die for my enjoyment!  

I agree with you Steve. Who could ever forget the first time they stopped the race for an accident in 1964 when Sachs and MacDonald paid the ultimate price. That led to a different kind of fuel and fuel cells and touched of a lot of safety innovations. 

[Steve Moskowitz]

Hook, I remember listening to that race on a transistor radio at home.  I was a teenager and horrified at what I heard.  I spent a few years around the Indy program when Olds was supplying engines and got to know a few drivers.  I am so proud of Sam Schmidt for carrying on his life despite the horrific accident and resulting paralysis.  He is an inspiration but having his autographed picture in my basement "museum" is a constant reminder of what once was a healthy young man. Scott Brayton, Dan Weldon and others left families devastated. 

[Graham Man]

Watch this crash and see how far safety has come... spoiler's he walks away... incredible

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ7_En2xEm4

 

 

Nice looking car to me...

[Walt G]

This all hits home even more if any of you have ever ridden in an open cockpit car that is of any vintage especially pre WWII.  I have ( 40+ years ago when single) with competent drivers at a fair amount of speed ( drivers were Austin Clark, Rene Dreyfus, Jerry Helck, cartoonist Charles Adams , Miles Coverdale) , cars were Mercer, Bugatti, Simplex, Locomobile, Aston Martin . it was "thrilling" yes, but it took several glasses of adult beverage immediately afterwards to get the color back into the white knuckles I had as a result.

[1912Staver]

Driver safety is of course very important. But over the last 40 years the cars have , in stages , evolved from quite dangerous to quite safe. Were the cars a generation { engineering, not human } or two ago significantly less safe ? I expect each newer design became a bit safer than the previous. We have now arrived at a point where the cars are pretty markedly different than even 10 years ago . What's next , air bags ?

 I personally have lost much of my interest in modern racing cars. When it takes a team of 3 or 4 tech. people just to start the engine I  think things have gone too far.

[Billy Kingsley]

Give me the safety any day. I've been a racing fan since I was two years old and I can't even count up the number of drivers, crew members, and even fans from flying parts that I've seen get killed. 

 

Nearly every one of them was preventable if people had actually cared about safety. 

 

The racing is generally pretty good these days too. No, it's not the best it's ever been, but it's still fun to watch. 

[jrbartlett]

I've been an Indycar fan since being a teenager in the early 1960's, when my father became friends with Texas driver Lloyd Ruby. We rooted for him the entire decade, and I saw his first Indy race in person in 1960, and one of his last in 1976. My view is that the cars are too powerful and too fast now. They flash by like low-flying jets. Why not keep the safety, and slow them down through restrictions on tires, wings and fuel that would make driver skill more the determining factor?   

[1912Staver]

In a way that sounds more like current F1. Indy is a pretty unique event. How much faster are they today than say 15 years ago ? Quite a bit safer today , but I suspect really not all that much faster.  Like I mentioned before , it's all the modern tech that makes modern racing uninteresting to me. Sometime in the mid 1980's it became more about budgets and electronics than a man and a machine.

[George K]

Hope it’s legible. 

[SC38dls]

Jackie Stewart probably is responsible for more safety changes in F1 racing than any other driver. He has told the story of being a young driver crashing and not being able to get out of the car because he couldn’t get the steering wheel off. Another driver stopped to help him with a wrench he had taped to his steering wheel. After that he always taped a wrench that fit the nut holding the steering wheel on to his steering wheel. He also helped develop the quick release device they used. He got the drivers to ban together to institute many new safety devices and rules used in all styles of racing today. To me it made racing better, more interesting and amazing seeing a driver walk away from a crash than being carried away. 
The skill and athletic ability of the driver is what racing is about along with the engineering of the car. If you don’t think it takes skill to drive a modern race car try to drive one off the starting line without stalling it. Not many people have that ability. 
dave s 

[TerryB]

The technology and safety advances are to be expected as everything else around us advances.  The televised drag racing is now to the point of too much tech for me.  I would be much happier if they gave more coverage to cars with fewer tech and more driver input.  The old 1/4 mile dirt track stock cars are still my favorite.  

[JACK M]

3 minutes ago, TerryB said:

The old 1/4 mile dirt track stock cars are still my favorite.

I am an official at the local dirt track here. And yes my favorite as well.

We had a car get upside down last Saturday, came down hard and flat on its roof. Ironically it was an older car and had ten year old belts in it when it went thru tech.

Our tech guy made him buy new belts. (there is a vender at the track) Driver didn't like having to spend the money, but after the wreck he was glad he did.

He climbed out of the upside down car and waved to the fans.

[Steve Moskowitz]

Well, if there was ever proof needed that the new halo over Indy cars is a good thing, well it just happened.  Herta walked away from a major crash, upside down with NO injuries today.

[Terry Bond]

Indy fan forever! I enjoyed my seats on the 4th turn for many years. Not as good as Steve's vantage point but in person, it's the most exciting event I've ever seen. 

Terry