Cars galore at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

While attending the SATW Conference in Indy with Sandy, I got to play in my free time.  While she was in business meetings, I was given a ride around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway track in a Chevrolet Camaro SS.  At well over a hundred miles an hour, it’s a great way to see the Brickyard!

From the track I walked to the Hall of Fame Museum.  For a “car guy”  like me it was like walking into a sacred place.  With my Tilly hat removed, and my head bowed, I entered.  In the foyer sat a 1960s Lotus, the same one I watched on TV back in the day, and the same one for which I still have the Matchbox toy.  Yes, being a car guy can sometimes have very deep roots.

In the main room sits almost every Indy winning car from the beginning.  Off to the side, by themselves, sit the winning cars from 1912 and 2012.  What a difference a hundred years makes! Walking around these vehicles, studying the differences, was like being a kid in the candy store.  I stared at the big drum brakes and spark advances on the steering wheels – both things I had to explain to a couple of younger car guys in the room.

The winning cars over the decades include names like Miller, Case, National and Delage, many of which are manufacturers whose names are no longer recognizable today.  The walls are covered with vintage photos and news paper clippings.  Trophies and memorabilia are everywhere.

A display of “others” included a world record-holding jet car, the original SS Corvette, and one-off Mercedes and Ferrari race cars. I even spotted a few early Harley and Indian motorcycles from back when they looked a lot like a bicycle with a small motor attached.

One of my fellow SATW travelers told me earlier that he had only needed about twenty or thirty minutes to see it all.  I guess that’s the difference of being a hard-core car guy.  I spent that long looking at just a couple cars alone.

Welcome to Car Lovers Anonymous.
Hello my name is John, and I have a problem……..I love cars.