An Eagle Indy car raced by Roger McCluskey in the 1966 Indy 500 is one of over 170 rare and historic race cars, Indy 500 pace cars, antique, collector and muscle cars, passenger cars and motorcycles being sold by Gallivan Auctioneers on June 23rd as part of the historic Don Smith Collection.
Discovered by John Fugate sitting beside a barn in Brownsburg, Indiana, the Eagle started 21st, in the 1966 Indianapolis 500, driven by Mccluskey, with a qualifying speed of 159.271 mph and went on to finish 12th. McCluskey and the Eagle went on to win the Langhorne USAC champ car race in June 1966. Later, McCluskey crashed the car in 1970 while driving relief for Dallenbach. Equipped with a Ford V8 255 DOHC the car is one of only six built and believed to be chassis #204.
Other interesting racecars making up the Smith Collection include a replica of the 1954 Sumar Streamliner built by Kurtis Kraft for Don Smith. Chapman S. Root commissioned Frank Kurtis of California to build the original Kurtis Kraft Streamliner. The car had a 270 C.I. OFFY engine, capable of 330 HP @ 5,000 RPM. Jimmy Daywalt, Marshall Teague, Elmer George, Tony Bettenhausen, Sam Hanks and Bob Sweikert all drove the imposing machine. Jimmy Daywalt drove the Streamliner to a 9th-place finish in the 1955 Indy 500. In 1959, at the new Daytona International Speedway, Marshall Teague had the Streamliner up to 171 mph, which was the Daytona record at the time. Teague thought he could easily do 180 and surpass Tony Bettenhausen’s speed record of 177 mph. He told chief mechanic John H. Blouch he wanted to go out again, however, he lost control, sending the car into the infield where it flipped four times. Teague was thrown from the car and suffered fatal injuries.
Another historically significant Indy racecar that will be crossing the block is a 1988 Penske PC-17, which was the “mule” or test car that led to all the PC chassis that followed. Painted to match Rick Mears’ Pennzoil car, this was the most successful design Robin Hood created for Roger Penske and would go on to win in Indianapolis four times and became the most successful type of car Penske owned, winning in both U.S.A.C. and C.A.R.T. Chassis SN 001 was restored by Billy Bignotti, son of chief mechanic George Bignotti, with an Ilmor Chevrolet V8 159 CI Turbo.
To view the entire collection and for bidding details please visit The Don Smith Collection
