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Overseas Influence
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The pinnacle of Indy’s cross-pollination with the actual World Championship came in 1952 when Alberto Ascari qualified this works Ferrari 375 19th, but dropped out after 40 laps.
Featured Editorials & ContentRacecar ArticlesRacecar Features

Overseas Influence

 John Zimmermann

The most famous race on earth may have a checkered past as part of the World Championship, but foreign flavor runs throughout the history of the Indianapolis 500

David Bruce-Brown finished 3rd in the inaugural 500 with this Fiat. Photo: IMS Photo

A century ago, the Indianapolis 500 was conceived as the greatest automobile race in the world. While it may have originated as a “500-Mile International Sweepstakes Race,” Indy has been a mainly American spectacle throughout most of its 100-year history. While it’s only been in recent decades that foreign car builders and drivers have come to dominate the race, European entries did enjoy great success at Indianapolis during the early, formative years of the 500-mile race, with factory teams from Peugeot, Delage and Mercedes winning four of the first six runnings.

Jules Goux copped the win for Peugeot in 1913—finishing more than 13 minutes ahead of 2nd place—while Rene Thomas’s Delage was first under the checker the following year. Mercedes and Ralph DePalma—who’d nearly won in 1912—prevailed in 1915 before Peugeot, with Dario Resta up, returned to Victory Lane in 1916, when the race was run to only 300 miles. Peugeot’s contribution to Indy, and racing in general, took the form of the French company’s double overhead-camshaft, four-valve cylinder head design, which was ultimately adopted as the industry standard and remains so to this day. The layout had been conceived and developed independently by a trio of driver-engineers, Paolo Zuccarelli, Jules Goux and Georges Boillot, then taken to Peugeot for implementation (see Page 22).

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John Zimmermann
Steve Natale has been playing with cars ever since he was old enough to first hold a matchbox car in his hand. A lifelong enthusiast of anything old with an engine in it or wheels on it, Steve has been active in the hobby for over 35 years. Currently he owns a successful marketing company with his wife Mary, is an automotive photographer, blogger and writer for several automotive magazines and regular contributor to various automotive websites. Steve has attended vintage car events and visited car museums and collections around the world.
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