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1969 Rambler Indy Car

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote CamJam Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jun/11/2016 at 11:55am
They were running a 1964 chassis in 71-72? No wonder it didn't qualify!!!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote amcenthusiast Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jun/12/2016 at 9:29am
Congratulations and thank you to all contributors for info on this historical AMC race car.

Prior to this new short thread, all I knew about this car was what I learned by checking out Tom Jenning's WPS Rambler pages (thanks Tom):

http://worldpowersystems.com/AMC/Navarro-turbo-motor/

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Context of comparison;

I remember hearing much about Chrysler's turbine powered Indy car during the mid sixties...

As far as I know, apparently, during this same time period when the Navarro car was active, this was the otherwise glorious peak of Offenhauser engine development.

Weird thing was, as Offenhauser (USA) faded away (because Mr Offenhauser died in the early seventies and Drake was taking over?) GM chose Cosworth (British) to do the engine for the limited edition Chevy Vega... kinda like a widow who gets married to her husband's enemy, right after he dies?

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Now that we know this turbo AMC inline six Indy car was running in '64 (?) this adds a new paragraph onto that AMC History section which tells about AMC's noble participation and obedience during the '57 to '62 American Manufacturer Association ban on factory supported racing (aka 'The Rambler Days' at AMC), where we may tell of those famous race cars before and after the ban.

*While the AMA ban happened following '55 LeMans Disaster and '57 NASCAR Mercury Meteor crash into grandstands (what a name!), this shows a rather 'scrubbed' Internet for (more recent) lack of info on the Mercury Meteor crash? (I think Ford must have the most scary intimidating lawyers, always maintaining Ford's seemingly spotless reputation?)

Knowing about the AMA ban, one may notice (rather consistently) other pieces to puzzle like this;
copied from http://www.onedirt.com/features/offenhauser-the-greatest-racing-engine-ever-built/
 
  • From 1947 through 1964, Offenhauser engines powered the winning cars in the Indianapolis 500 (17 straight years).
  • From 1950 through 1960, Offenhauser-powered cars not only won the Indy 500 but also claimed all three podium positions, winning the pole in 10 of the 11 years.


...so it seems that since Offenhauser was not a auto maker there was no agreement with the ban to bind their efforts... but in AMC History, we see the race cars in time frames set on either side, which truly helps to explain what AMC did during '57 to '62 IMO.



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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mramc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jun/12/2016 at 5:12pm
*While the AMA ban happened following '55 LeMans Disaster and '57 NASCAR Mercury Meteor crash into grandstands (what a name!), this shows a rather 'scrubbed' Internet for (more recent) lack of info on the Mercury Meteor crash? (I think Ford must have the most scary intimidating lawyers, always maintaining Ford's seemingly spotless reputation?)

The AMA ban is much more understandable when you learn that George Romney was president of the AMA at that time. You have to wonder was the ban because AMC could not compete at that time or was it a more heart felt against spectator accidents. LRD

I've got an article from AMC Indy car effort at the time in an house publication to it's owners "Americana" but I do NOT have a complete set and right now the one with the Navarro Indy car article has wondered off some where, but it's circa 1967/68 . When it turns up I'll scan the article and post it here. LRDaum
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote amcenthusiast Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jun/12/2016 at 9:52pm
~Thanks!~ LRDaum for telling (us) Romney was president... now I'm glad I spoke up.

This news (to me at least) only double confirms my personal speculation that the ban was the reason AMC did not continue to develop the '57 Rebel...

Looking forward to more info on this! 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote LakesideRamblin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jun/13/2016 at 1:00am
Thanks for the very interesting history and facts. Great information.
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"If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month." T. Roosevelt
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote MD Racer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jun/14/2016 at 8:01am
While I was looking up info on this car I also found that up till the mid 70' some teams were running older cars in competition. Some did fairly well, in 1971 year old cars were winning on the Champ car circuit. It wasn't till the cars started doing 200 mph that you needed a new chassis to be competitive.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote MD Racer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jun/17/2016 at 11:45pm
I went to the SVRA Brickyard Invitational yesterday and went back to the Indianapolis photo archive to look for more photos of this car. I was successful in finding three more pictures of the car, two from 1970 and one from 1971. The archive had to reprint two from the photo books they have and mail them to me. I won't have them till next week and will post them at that time.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mramc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jun/20/2016 at 4:49pm
I found my Americana magazine form 1968 Vol. 3 No. 5 with the early Navarro six cylinder Indy car article. seems it was printed some time just before the 1968 Indy car race. LRDaum


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mramc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jun/20/2016 at 4:51pm
Ok I'll try posting pages two and three. LRDaum




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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote MD Racer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jun/22/2016 at 7:48am
Thanks for posting the article Larry. I found these pictures of the car at the Indy photo archive. First two are from 1970. You can see the car sporting a new nose cone and red paint. The driver's helmet has the name Dennis on it, I don't recognize him.





This next picture was taken in 1971 at the Speedway. The car is painted red and features a modified tail piece with a duck tail spoiler.



I want to go back and see if I can find some pictures of the car from 1967 and 1968.


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