George Amick, a rookie driver came in second in this 1958 Indy 500. The next year Bill France decided to run two 100 mile heats using USAC cars. That was the only time I got to see Indy cars run. I was ten years old. As George was coming out of the West turn a gust of air picked up his car and it rolled over. As it sat down on the tarmac poor George was decapitated. I was looking at the exact spot it happened. It was a lot for a ten year old to process. France decided that Indy cars were too fast on the 31 degree high banked turns at Daytona and that is the last Indy car race that was run. Amick hailed from Vernonia, Oregon, he was 34 years old. RIP.

Thanks for posting -- I was ten years old living in North Dakota when this ran, was the first year I tracked the Indy 500 (rooted for the lay-down engine, Belund AP Special -- that eventually won). My dad worked at a TV station and took my kid brother and me out to the transmitter that evening to see the delayed TV broadcast since we didn't have a TV at the house (radio was live in those days, but TV was delayed and condensed into 30 minutes as I recall). Made a lap chart and followed it all the way... memories !!

Amazing footage, have never seen this before. Thanks for sharing. These roadsters are beautiful machines.

RIP Pat O'Conner. He was from my hometown, my Dad was a big fan of our local hero. Even decades later Dad had a hard time talking about this. Pat was laid to rest in the Vernon, Indiana Cemetery not far from another Indy 500 legend, 3x winner Wilber Shaw. AJ Foyt was friends with Pat O'Conner and for years was very critical of the guy who started the wreck saying he was being too aggressive, too early.

@JeffreyShaw-gr1bb

25 күн бұрын

Foyt is on record as saying seeing O’Connor dead almost dissuaded him from racing anymore at Indy. Can’t imagine Indianapolis without AJ.

@andyharman3022

16 күн бұрын

I think 1958 was AJ's first Indy. Pat O'Connor's death should have led to mandating rollover bars on the cars. They were running between the raindrops for many years with rollovers. What made them think it could go on forever without somebody getting killed?

Once upon a time the Indianapolis 500 was the Great American race. Anyone who could build a car to compete was welcome. Not the case anymore. No more "home built" racers. Never again will there be cars powered by turbines or even diesel engines. My personal favorite were the cars powered by the Offenhauser 4 cylinder. A legend at the "Brickyard".

@maxmulsanne7054

Ай бұрын

The Offy will always be my favorite too. Ever since I first heard one from the movie _'Winning'_ (1969); the scene where Paul Newman and others are pulling out of the pits for a restart after the first lap crash (footage of the 1966 500).

@patrickgriffitt6551

27 күн бұрын

When innovation is overruled the series dies. NASCAR comes to mind. I was at Indy in 1965. Green car, non Offy engine, foreign driver, foreign car, mid engine, gas not fuel.. Loved it.

good job enhancing this 16mm film. In 1960 as a kid, I got to sit in Jimmy Bryan's racecar at a speedshop in Norwalk/Downey area of LA. I still recall thinking how spartan the inside of the racecar was.

@Tulsa_Films

Жыл бұрын

Thank you for your compliment and comments

I remember my folks talking about Jimmy Bryan and seeing him race at the Arizona State Fairground one mile dirt track. I was born in 1960 and saw sprint and midget cars race at Manzanita Speedway (RIP) in Phoenix that were without roll cages. I saw my first indy car race at Phoenix International Raceway 1976 for the Jimmy Bryan Memorial race, too bad they don't run the Jimmy Bryan nor Bobby Ball Memorial races now, that was great seeing indy cars race twice a season. The first race started the season and the last race ended the season. Lots of memories.

@michaellytle4968

Жыл бұрын

I grew up in Phx also my dad took me to Arizona state fair grounds and PIR then mid 70's - 80's at manzanita every fri,sat night.

Thank you for the memories. Jimmy lived with us in the '50s (in Phoenix -- on 7th Street and Colter) and was a "really good guy" who loved fast cars and great cigars.

@Tulsa_Films

11 ай бұрын

Our pleasure!

I was born in 1958 in May, pretty special to see this, they were so fearless 😮

@chipsawdust5816

Жыл бұрын

I was two months later, missed it dang it :P

@charlespomroy231

11 ай бұрын

And a little nuts

@ror312gallery19

Ай бұрын

me too and one day after the race, and so was my 1 year older big brother,,cheers scattercreek,,,cheers from italy,,!

I've never understood why they didn't have a roll bar high enough to protect their heads. Thanks for posting this classic video.

@alvanwalls8371

2 жыл бұрын

Alot of these drivers lost there lives on the tracks of the day..

@davidstout8604

Жыл бұрын

Roll bars became mandatory after this wreck

@davidaugustofc2574

Жыл бұрын

Rollbars added weight and drag, so no one would do that unless mandatory

@georgesheffield1580

Жыл бұрын

Look at the helmets and drivers suits

@georgesheffield1580

Жыл бұрын

Also no seatbelt

I remember going to the local theater to see the Indy 500 on closed circuit back in the 60's with my Dad. And the 1st lap was usually a mess with injury and fatlities.

at the same time, 1958, a small rear engine car appears in Europe. this Formula one car's name was COOPER

GREAT footage from the big balls era

Great improvement over the other videos of this race.

Priceless … thank you

Amazing the progress in safety and efficiency. An F1 pit stop including all new tires now takes a fraction over 2 SECONDS.

@jimpawloski3069

Жыл бұрын

Formula One doesn’t add gas during pit stops and they have a lot more people over the wall.

@jamesburns2232

11 ай бұрын

With tires that could last over 500 miles and no fuel stops, there would be no need for pit stops except for the drivers to relieve themselves. 🤠

@symonolesijuk7748

10 ай бұрын

No fuel allowed in the pits in F1... Tyres only... That's why the pit stop is 2-3 secs

Gotta love those Roadsters ..RIP Tony Bentehousen.Gary and Tony Jr. Got the Indy wins for Dad

@timford3599

Жыл бұрын

Don't forget brother Merle! He also paid a big price for his Indy car racing addiction. It was indeed a family thing.

@johnhenryclark911

3 ай бұрын

I Did Not Know That Gary Bentehousen And Tony Bentehousen Won 🏁🏎️🏆🥛🏁🏎️🏆🥛 The Indianapolis 500! Although Gary Bentehousen Should Have Won 🏁🏎️🏆🥛 The 1972 Indianapolis 500 , Instead Of The Late Great Mark Donahue , For Roger Penske!🏁🏎️🏆🥛 I Am Posting 📬 This At 8:52 p.m. , Tuesday Night 🌛🌉🌃🌌 , April 16, 2024.

This is one of the better race highlight films-no heavy product promotion or guy singing dialog. It's odd how the film makes no mention of Pat O'Connor's tragic death yet they show a spectator holding a newspaper with the headline of his passing.

I believe I sat in that car, at the Devington Shopping center In Indianapolis- the Dean Van Lines special that Rodger Ward won the race in 1959. I was 6 or 7 and we lived a block away about 1961 or so. The '58 500 was the first race I saw and we were in the infield near that big wreck.

Jimmy Bryan was my hero when I was a kid.

@davidstout8604

Жыл бұрын

Great hero to have! Jim Bryan was a class act.

Great improvement over the other videos of this race.. Verdadeiros pilotos, de coragem e determinação.

Thank you for showing me the very precious color film record! (And it even has audio!) By the way, mid-ship cars weren't participating yet at this time. These guys are full of courage to run around with such thin tires with a big displacement engine on a very long bonnet!

@Tulsa_Films

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the info!

@ 1:25 A Real Marlboro Man👍

*Stunning!* to see the comparative danger -- No fencing, bare concrete walls, no pit lane exit, no full-face helmets or fire suits, and still bopping along at 150mph. Ground forces? What's that??

@paulwiegand4267

9 ай бұрын

Ja, und keine Überollbügel, Sicherheitszellen oder Gurte ...und all das nach dem Crash in LeMans

ending up upside down sure looks dangerous

You look at these cars and shiver at No roll bar

Thank you

Very cool to see my uncle Paul in car #15 near the beginning of the video as well as coming into the pits to get his car repaired.

I love those type of racing cars. Thanks for sharing 👍

@Tulsa_Films

11 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed

AJ Foyt's rookie year.

Merci aux reporters d'avoir mémorisé cette mémorable et légendaire course ... 👍 👍 😍

I stopped by the raceway on the way through and was very impressed with the museum there and the history it was cool

That's a grueling race. 500 miles is a long way. Cheers from eastern TN

@Tulsa_Films

Жыл бұрын

Cheers

Thanks Tulsa Films! Very cool to be able to watch this.

The glory days of the big Indy Roadsters and the last days of the Offenhauser and Novi engines at the Brickyard. Ten years later and only a lonely few tried to qualify front-engine cars, without success. But these roadsters were hot rods; channel frame, front engine, rear differential, drum brakes, much the same configuration as a passenger car. Basically the same as the first Indy 500 car designs.

@BSNFabricating

Жыл бұрын

The configuration of the cars might've been similar to the early days, but there had been SOME refinements over the years. After World War II, car builders like Frank Kurtis started taking inspiration from aircraft and applying it to their race cars. Things like chromemoly tubing, aluminum, and so on. While these cars might be primitie by today's standards, they were probably more state of the art in 1958 than today's (12-year-old) Indy car chassis are in 2023. Of course when Jack Brabham, Colin Chapman and them came along with the smaller rear-engine cars a few years later, it changed the whole ballgame.

A couple of months before my birthday. Congratulations Jimmy Bryant.

My dad was a machinist at Meyer-Drake engineering and helped build that car that won the 1958 Indianapolis 500. I was only 3 years old at the time. The first Indy 500 i saw was the 1964 race.....yikes!.

The so called helmets they wore. Grew up in Indy, lived by Laguna Seca, it is just crazy and wonderful at the same time to see the evolution of driver safety over the years. Cars, tracks, gear, spectators, it had to get better and it did.

@scottward7813

Жыл бұрын

The plastic helmets are basically worthless, you can see that some of the drivers have switched over to something more than eighth of a inch thick. Unreal

@701CPD

Жыл бұрын

My Dad raced midgets and Crosleys in 1949 and 1950 in the old AAA. I used to play with his old Cromwell helmet - basically hard pasteboard and cardboard!

Verdadeiros pilotos, de coragem e determinação

I never knew him but Pat O'Conner was actually my cousin by marriage. After his death i lived near his sister and niece in the little town of Butlerville Indiana. His mother and my uncle by marriage lived in North Vernon. I was at his mother's house many times. He had a son three years younger than me. Today there is a monument to him in North Veron.

That first lap crash can still make you mad 65 years later. From what I've read the other drivers felt the same way about Elisian and got their revenge in a particularly gruesome manner (if the rumor is true).

My first 500

I think this may have been the year AJ called his car "A tub of shit" on his post crash interview.

Had roll bars been used/required in the 1950’s, Bill Vukovich may have been the first and only to win three consecutive Indy’s. He won in 53 and 54 and was leading in 55 when he flipped on the backstretch and killed when he landed upside down. He was certainly the most dominating racer at Indy in the 1950’s.

Ah! the good old days, when all a pit crew needed was a sledgehammer, a pair of scissors and some drinks on a stick

Phantastik film Material of this kind of racing without any security

Wow, at 12:35 a guy is reading a newspaper that says Pat O'Conner has died in a crash as the same race is still underway! How is that possible?

@arise2945

Жыл бұрын

Many big-city newspapers used to print multiple editions through the day, and would print 'extra' editions if breaking news was important enough. In 1958 Indianapolis the 500 was most certainly a big deal. There is a photo of A.J. Foyt in the winner's circle with the 500 extra edition announcing his win in 1964 and the deaths of Eddie Sachs and Dave MacDonald. Foyt looks like he would rather be anyplace else in the world.

@8avexp

Жыл бұрын

@@arise2945 There was a tragic fatal accident at the start of the '64 race.

@JonesyTerp1

Жыл бұрын

@@arise2945 Analog version of looking at twitter on your cell phone.

@JeffreyShaw-gr1bb

25 күн бұрын

Absolutely correct. I grew up in Indy in the late 50’s through 1967. My dad subscribed to 3 papers; Indianapolis News ( morning and evening) and I believe the other was the Indianapolis Times.

Doesn't even mention Pat O'Conner died in that accident.

It was another time with no security, amazing cars terrible pilot heroes, time of legend... Now, it's always dangerous but with more money, precision, technic... Message from old 76' guy of france.

Jimmy Bryan - legend

Mechanic smoking a cigar on the grid. Amazing.

All the red flags this year and this wreck was only a caution

01:23 madlad having a quick smoke before the race 😂

@jimgard310

Жыл бұрын

I had to go back to make sure I saw that right the first time.

Thank you TF for sharing, also GREAT comments, I was a 50 plus year fan, Dad took us kids to Pocono in June 29 1972, WOW, delved into the history, became a CART , etc Timing n Scoring , worked 1000s of hot track sessions, became a photographer, writer, interviewed everyone, learned to be an artist , painted tons of racing cars new and old, But i will not watch any corporate sports ever again. I only watch historics. love to all real race fans , Robert in Italy. PS have art on my channel if you are curious....😁

Last time the same car won 2 years in a row?? 1957, 1958, and both winners retired in victory lane. sadly JB returned to die on 1st lap at Langhorne,New Jersey soon after,, Sam Hanks, 1957 500 winner, drove the pace car at many races at Pocono 500 and was a real nice guy. No longer follow THE PARADE CAR 500 as its all manufactured, heck all the cars are designed and built here in effing Italy, WTF,, oh well thank heaven for a good memory and all the Historics and Retro Racing going on and spreading like wildfire. Great Drags from an Italian guy down under in New Zealand all winter here in Italy, as it was summer down there, he has a simple utoobe channel, and he just shoots great vids of events all over his area. anyhoo, cheers to ALL real race fans out there. Love from Italy a Brooklyn, NYC boy in the foothills of The Alps,,!!

This designed car that won would go on to win again. They laid the engine down horizontal. BAD ASS DESIGN

Fascinating snapshot of motorsports back then. The lack of safety for drivers, mechanics, photographers/ camera men and even the spectators as compared to modern era ,(2024) is amazing. But think of it this way, to those fans those cars looked as futuristic as the Indy cars of 2024 look to us.🤔

These guys were absolutely nuts! And to think it took until 1973 for them to change the pit entrance swede savage paid for that with his life!

Pat O'Connor died in that accident.

@kurtpena5462

Жыл бұрын

I notice that they made no mention of injuries at all. His car flew 50 feet in the air and landed upside down, bursting into flames.

I like the improvement of the video. The audio for the narrator is lacking, but I like what you’ve done. Great improvement over the other videos of the race.

@Tulsa_Films

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks, will try to further enhance the audio track

I’ll bet some drivers got elbow burns with those tires !

Good dawg, it was so dangerous back then. No fire suits, full-face helmets, a single seat-belt, no side-protection, no roll-bar...INSANITY!!

This was before the British got interested in Indy, when antediluvian roadsters were the thing. Within a few years, rear engined cars took over, followed by AWD turbine Lotuses. The goodole boys didn't know what had hit them and they were scrambling to change the rules fast enough to regain control.

No head protection! Amazing years....regards from Brazil.

@Tulsa_Films

Жыл бұрын

Regards from Oklahoma USA

Open cockpits and tires that suck what a horrible accident on turn 3

Anyone notice @ 1:25 the driver taking a last drag on a cigarette?

@paulreilly3904

Жыл бұрын

Yep I did. Just watching this before work in the UK. Never mind the high octane fuel and no fireproof clothes etc. Different days. Best wishes

Men so tough they used their heads as roll bars!

subbing,cheers mates,!

These guys had very little protection and we think racing is dangerous today and it is but nothing like back then

The good old days when they had cigarette lighters in the cars. And ashtrays

My late father attended the ‘58 race and he said he was sitting in a section called the Terrace Annex. It seems the sections have been reconfigured since then and “Terrace Annex” no longer exists? Does anyone know where it might have been located?

Run what ya got. these race fans watched the most competitive races ever.

16:02 that is actress Shirley McLane

Jean Marcenac, Novi

The driver at one minute twenty se3conds is smoking.

Blows my mind how they were clueless enough to run onto the track after a pileup or with flags while the cars were still running. Good lord.

Looks fun!

How fast would they get in the straights?

@davidstout8604

Жыл бұрын

In 1958, they’d make it to 150mph +/-

@schumisebas

Жыл бұрын

@@davidstout8604 The average was 144mph so I would say more like 170 in the straights and 120 in corners

@arise2945

Жыл бұрын

At 12:10 they say 180 in the straights and 135 in the turns.

I remember the days of 3 tire changes

that driver at 1:24 is smoking a cigarette, in the car, while waiting to start at 1:41 . Truly insane.

Look how simple the world was

3:28 Did the driver from the car that flipped over, died?

@JeffreyShaw-gr1bb

25 күн бұрын

Yes, Pat O’Connor.

Was that Shirley MacLaine giving him kisses in the Winners Circle?

So bizarre that guys would race without rollcages, wtf?

Who's the guy with the umbrella hat

😳 uff, Särge mit Rädern, die den Vollzug anstreben

A lot of bad wrecks and fires in the next years after this! I think it was Eddie sacks that burnt up in the car in a couple years. It was a bad era for racing.

@JeffreyShaw-gr1bb

25 күн бұрын

That was 1964 when Sachs and MacDonald were killed in turn 4 of lap 2. I was 8 years old and attending a church picnic not far from the track. I overheard some of the men saying they could see the black smoke from the awful inferno. Eddie was a fan favorite.

Is James garner in it

A big one at Indy 500…

At 12:35 the camera briefly pans past a newspaper with the headline, "PAT O'CONNER KILLED" while the race is still running. I'm not implying this is Twilight Zone or a Glitch In The Matrix, but it certainly is strange.

Was that Shirley McClain kissing Bryan again and again?

@Tulsa_Films

Жыл бұрын

Looks like it

@theophilhist6455

Жыл бұрын

@@Tulsa_Films I just googled it....Yup....Shirley MacLaine was an emerging star when she came to Indianapolis Motor Speedway to present the Borg-Warner Trophy to the Indy 500 winner in 1958. In the tradition of the time, MacLaine kissed the winner, Jimmy Bryan, in Victory Lane.May 24, 2016

9:12 I'll have one Big Mac and large fries.

These cars were SOOOO unsafe

WHEN YOU LOOK AT THESE CARS THE DRIVERS WERE REALLY AT RISK FROM ANY ACCIDENT, NO SAFETY TO THEM AT ALL,

#indy #f #formula #indianapolis #indycar #racing #indianapolismotorspeedway #motorsport #gt #nascar #lemans #jdm #racecar #motorsports #karting #instagramers #bronze #ims #thisismay #dc #cbdvape #cbdoil #cbdruleseverythingaroundme #carbday #igdaily #sebastianvettel #cbd #speed #mclaren #bhfyp

Is he smoking !!! 1:25 Also, the man who is cleaning the windshield is smoking a cigar while another is pumping fuel 😂

古いレーシングカーだけどカッコいい。 安全面では十分な設計ではなかった時代だけに、レーサー達は命懸けだっただろう。

In an era when race car drivers didn’t have “fan bois.” They were heros.

No roll bars, only helmets sticking out.

No protection at all. One death already at 3:36 .