Andy Granatelli won't be down for breakfast

[Richard Cranium]

Dead at age 90.


http://www.charlotteobserver.com/20...atelli-indy-500-winning-car.html#.UsFTtXoo672

 

[Sonny Black]

s t p - r i p

 

[MoparMitch]

R.I.P. Andy

 

[65 Plymouth Satellite 426]

A Major Mover In Racing For A Whole Lot of Years! RIP Andy!

 

[Greg Ducato]

A marketing genius, may he rest in peace

 

[Budnicks]

RIP Andy, you were an automotive innovator...

 

[super-bee_ski]

Wow, He led a great life!
true pioneer back when the Indianapolis 500 was a really big deal...
(Still is but, in the 60s it was the Pinnacle of Racing)

I remember watching the 500 in 1967 and seeing the "Turbine powered" Racer....

 

[Moparsmitty]

I remember him kissing Mario Andretti after the '69 Indy 500. I also remember pouring his stuff into worn out, smoker engines to try to get a few more miles out of them. RIP Andy.

 

[super-bee_ski]

I remember him kissing Mario Andretti after the '69 Indy 500. I also remember pouring his stuff into worn out, smoker engines to try to get a few more miles out of them. RIP Andy.

Too funny!
Me too,

"...there I was, perhaps 1971 in Rhode Island, in my little 63 Nova 4-door.
Drinking beer with my "buds" and we went out that night...
My "Ol Nova" was losing compression so "we" stopped in a gas station (Hey! remember those?) and bought gas and STP Engine oil treatment.
It was about 25 degrees that night. I opened the hood on the little 63, 190? CI straight six, poured in the STP treatment and the wind was blowing so hard and cold the STP came out like Caramel, floated in the wind in a 15 foot "plastic like" state and covered my Bud who was placing the pump handle back into the pump! It would not pour into the valve cover!

He was covered in sticky "plastic like" STP oil treatment! It came out of the can, took a turn backwards and was actually suspended in the air!

 

[Meep-Meep]

Another legend breaks on through to the other side. RIP Andy.

 

[Cranky]

Wow, He led a great life!
true pioneer back when the Indianapolis 500 was a really big deal...
(Still is but, in the 60s it was the Pinnacle of Racing)

I remember watching the 500 in 1967 and seeing the "Turbine powered" Racer....

I remember that car too and was even disappointed when it fell out of the race! Damn, we're getting old...may he rest in peace.

- - - Updated - - -

Too funny!
Me too,

"...there I was, perhaps 1971 in Rhode Island, in my little 63 Nova 4-door.
Drinking beer with my "buds" and we went out that night...
My "Ol Nova" was losing compression so "we" stopped in a gas station (Hey! remember those?) and bought gas and STP Engine oil treatment.
It was about 25 degrees that night. I opened the hood on the little 63, 190? CI straight six, poured in the STP treatment and the wind was blowing so hard and cold the STP came out like Caramel, floated in the wind in a 15 foot "plastic like" state and covered my Bud who was placing the pump handle back into the pump! It would not pour into the valve cover!

He was covered in sticky "plastic like" STP oil treatment! It came out of the can, took a turn backwards and was actually suspended in the air!

Yup, you had to warm it up for it to pour. Had an old Dodge pickup with a 318 that I always kept 3 cans worth in the crankcase and the rear end of my present pickup is full of it right now

 

[super-bee_ski]

Too funny Cranky....
Yup, it poured like HONEY!

But yeah, Andy Granantelli was a marketing genius!
He had the hot-shot "Mario Andretti" on board with him.

seems to me it was Parnelli Jones who drove it...
Yup, here is more info:

More on the STP Turbine car...
QUOTE: The 1967 Indy 500 was probably the most anticipated running of the race to date. All eyes were on the dayglow red STP turbine car, driven by Parnelli Jones. The car was the brainchild of STP president Andy Granatelli, and threatened to revolutionize the sport. A combination of a gas turbine helicopter engine and the Ferguson 4-wheel drive system pioneered on the Novis that Granatelli had previously entered, the car looked rather ungainly, but was capable of running much faster race speeds that the competition.

- - - Updated - - -

Okay, here is the "Devil in the details...1967 Indianapolis 500"

QUOTE:
Dan Gurney was on hand with his Eagle, Mario Andretti had a new Brawner Hawk, and A.J. Foyt had his own Coyote; each car was powered by the same basic Ford engine that had been so dominant for several years. The Turbocar was the main center of attention, though. It wasn't as fast as the other cars, but it was consistent...while the Fords were turning laps in excess of 168 mph in practice, Jones was 2-3 mph slower. The car didn't seem to be living up to the “hype” that Andy Granatelli had so vociferously inflicted on the media...either the car was a bust, or there was some “sandbagging” going on. Since the car reportedly cost around $ 600,000.00 to build [the engine alone cost over $ 100,000...], it was easy to conclude that Parnelli wasn't showing his hand. Rumors began to float around that the car was really capable of lapping the track at 180 mph, and that it could run the full race without a pit stop. Since a turbine doesn't automatically brake when the throttle is closed, the Turbocar had a flap on the tail that was automatically raised when the brakes were applied. Other drivers complained that they couldn't see ahead of them when the car braked, so Granatelli cut a hole in it, but eventually removed it from the car. Another complaint had to do with “excessive heat” coming from the exhaust outlet. Granatelli took some of the loudest objectors to the car out behind the Turbocar as Johnny Carson (!) was driving it in an exhibition, and no one could feel any excess heat from the car at all. And as for the “sandbagging”...at speeds over 166 mph, the Turbocar would chew up its gears. Jones said, “It was as fast as we dared go.” So much for sandbagging.

 

[Cranky]

Yeah, Andy was the King of STP and I'm the STP user King A little side note, many scoff at the benefits of STP but that stuff works and works for many things and it's an ingredient in many oils. Whenever I needed some, I just went over to Lubes Blending and Packaging unit at the refinery and got it. Just a small perk of working in a refinery....

 

[Lowhound]

I always wondered what the letters STP stood for? Anyone?

 

[Cranky]

I always wondered what the letters STP stood for? Anyone?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STP_(motor_oil_company)

Scientifically Treated Petroleum

 

[Budnicks]

Yeah, Andy was the King of STP and I'm the STP user King A little side note, many scoff at the benefits of STP but that stuff works and works for many things and it's an ingredient in many oils. Whenever I needed some, I just went over to Lubes Blending and Packaging unit at the refinery and got it. Just a small perk of working in a refinery....

Yeah I remember racers "of all types & sanctioning bodies" using it back in the day{also Marvel Mystery Oils top cylinder lubricants too}, my step father Bob swore by that stuff too, he always used it as assembly lube for allot of rear axle & engine assembly, it's the type of base oil additive, that most non-detergent motor oils "almost all have today", IIRC he said it doesn't break down, glaze the cylinder walls or crankshaft or turn into sludge when heated, like many other additive do...

 

[super-bee_ski]

He had a advetising quote:

"....STP, the racers edge.."

Or something like that.
Yeah, he was BIG in those days...

 

[theman440]

RIP - soon all the legends will be gone...

 

[69PLYRRUNNER]

My all time favorite Petty Car was a result of Petty/Granatelli union and a compromise over the color of Petty's race car.




http://motorsportstalk.nbcsports.co...ty-reflects-on-the-impact-of-andy-granatelli/