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09/05/2019 10:31 am
Lets start with a trivia question, where is the Indianaplois 500 Raceway? I'll answer that at the end of the post.
After 12 years of chasing victory at the Indianapolis 500 Sam Hanks finally realized his dream in a screaming roadster sporting a near horizontal engine designed by George Salih. Fitted with an Offenhauser engine that was tilted 72 degrees to the right, giving the racer a very low profile of just 21 inches off the ground, Advantages of this design were a lower center of gravity, a reduced frontal area and improved counter balance in the turns.
Although an innovative concept, with no backing the endeavor stalled until Sandy Belond, legendary for his line of performance exhaust systems signed on to finance the operation. All that was needed now was the perfect driver. Along came Sam Hanks 42, the legendary driver who had come close to winning the 500 several times joined to take a shot at history. In May of 1957 the team achieved their goal. With this win, Hanks received a record $103,844 purse, the first to win over $100,000 for a single-race payday. Hanks retired after this season but again in 1958 the Belond Special won again with Jimmy Bryan at the wheel. This race was most remembered for a first-lap massive pileup that resulted in the death of fan favorite Pat O'Connor. Although the model sports a different number than the #27 in 1957 and #1 in 1958 it is an excellent rendition of the car and it's innovative design, hope you enjoy!
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Special thanks to Dennis for keeping my head straight!
And the answer to the trivia question is: The Indianapolis 500 Raceway is located in Speedway Indiana.
09/05/2019 10:57 am
Very nice car. Although I don't collect Indy cars, I do admire them,especially the 1950 and pre 1950 ones.I have contemplated getting into them after noticing the excellent variety that is now being offered by Replicarz and Carousel.Thanks for posting.
09/05/2019 12:03 pm
The Belond Special .... Oh ... It so sweet ... Thanks for the pix
09/05/2019 12:10 pm
Thanks Dennis, I read your other post and thought there are many times I look at a post that I like yet don't respond. Get ready there's a storm of Indy car post coming your way, thanks buddy.
09/05/2019 12:12 pm
I love what Replicarz are doing, great models just wish they were little cheaper!
09/05/2019 1:24 pm
The #9 is correct for Sam Hanks' win in 1957...
I'm not sure where you got the idea his number was 27... This Belond laydown roadster, built by George Salih, never wore the #27 even in the years after '58, when the car ran under different owners, drivers, colors and sponsor names. It's a great model and I wish I'd bought it when it came out. It's now hard to find one at a reasonable price. Thanks for posting.
09/05/2019 3:43 pm
What I love about the internet in this day and age, my Dad had the #9 car listed as the 500 winner but when I googled it the #27 car came up as the '57 winner and the #1 as the '58 winner and I could not even find the #9 car. Just googled it again and it only shows the #9 car, no mention of the #27 car at all. I imagine all the info I have researched from google will have many more mistakes unfortunately and all these races are well before my time. Thanks for the correction and please let me know what info is bad in my coming post!!!
09/05/2019 4:03 pm
Really nice pics of this vintage racer.
09/05/2019 4:15 pm
Josh, you might have accidently Google 1947 instead of 1957...
Mauri Rose won the 1947 Indianapolis 500 driving the Blue Crown Spark Plug Special... #27. Easy mistake to make. BTW, Replicarz also made the #27 Blue Crown in 1/18.photo no longer available
09/05/2019 6:29 pm
It was the Belond car, same color scheme and all and now I can not find a picture of that car specifically looking for it....GOOGLE just sucks any more IMHO!
10/05/2019 2:26 am
Hope you're right about the 'storm' ...of Indy posts. To me, it's a very special time of year as well and have really enjoyed your posts...and Ill try and get some of my own going...
10/05/2019 2:36 am
Bring it on ... I know a few here that'll enjoy as well - Don't tease us ... LOL
10/05/2019 2:37 am
+ 1
10/05/2019 5:13 am
Thats my next subject actually!
12/05/2019 6:35 am
Ha! I wouldn't have been able to accurately answer that question! Good one!