I was recently apt to wonder who were the first people to attach rocket engines or jet engines to their cars, prompted after rereading the Arizona myth of the Jato Rocket Car!
I was tempted to believe the JATO myth not least because it would encompass the incredible character of Jack 'Whiteside'Parsons, self taught chemist, pioneer rocketeer, occultist (a follower of Aleister Crowley), cuckold (Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard ran away with his wife), and so much more, who died in an chemical explosion at his house, that may or may not have been an accident. There is a crater on the moon named after him.
Parsons was one of the principal founders of both the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the Aerojet Engineering Corporation. He invented the first rocket engine to use a castable, composite rocket propellant, and pioneered the advancement of both liquid-fuel and solid-fuel rockets.
- See:-wiki/Jack_Parsons
The JATO myth excluded, it seems that the idea of attaching a rocket to a vehicle predated the 1950's by some margin, with Max Valier and Fritz Van Opel being recognized as the rocket car pioneers.
The observer of fools in military south and north...
With twelve black powder solid-fuel rockets attached to the rear of his bicycle and a battery hanging from the top tube acting as the ignition system, Richter set off down the Avus race track in Berlin reportedly reaching a top speed of 55 miles per hour before losing control and being thrown from the bicycle. Miraculously, he was not seriously injured.
The observer of fools in military south and north...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
STP-Paxton Turbocar
STP Turbine.jpg
Category USAC Roadster
Constructor Granatelli
Designer(s) Ken Wallis
Andy Granatelli
Technical specifications
Chassis Space frame
Suspension (front) Double wishbone with coil spring
Suspension (rear) Double wishbone with coil spring
Engine United Aircraft of Canada ST6B-62 gas turbine, mid-mounted
Transmission 1-speed
Tires Firestone
Competition history
Notable entrants United States STP Division of Studebaker Corp.
Notable drivers United States Parnelli Jones
United States Joe Leonard
Debut 1967 Indianapolis 500
Last season 1968
Races Wins Poles F/Laps
2 0 0 1
The STP-Paxton Turbocar was an American racing car, designed by Ken Wallis as the STP entry in the Indianapolis 500. Parnelli Jones drove it in the 1967 event. After leading for much of the race, a transmission failure with only eight miles left ended the run. It crashed during qualification for the 1968 race; the damage was not fixed and the car ended its career.
History
Wallis, a distant relative of Barnes Wallis, had developed a workable plan for harnessing a gas turbine to a race car. He first presented the idea to Dan Gurney, who passed on the idea. Wallis then offered the plan to Carroll Shelby and Shelby said (according to later court testimony), "Hogwash." Finally, Andy Granatelli of STP expressed interest in the concept. Wallis and his crew moved in with Andy's brother Joe at STP's Paxton division in Santa Monica, and they began work on the turbocar in January 1966. It was Granatelli who introduced a side-by-side concept — that is, putting the mid-mounted (relative to the wheelbase) engine at the driver's left (a similar idea, with the driver in an offset gondola on the left, had been used by Smokey Yunick several years earlier). Granatelli also added four-wheel drive to the design.[1]
The aluminum frame of the car was badly warped during heat treating in early 1966, eliminating any possibility of the car racing in the 1966 Indianapolis 500.[2] Work started over again and the car was ready for the 1967 Indianapolis 500. Parnelli Jones drove the car during tire testing in Phoenix early that year and was impressed with the car. He agreed to drive the car in the Indianapolis 500 after being offered $100,000 cash in a briefcase and half of any prize money he won.[3]
Jones qualified the car at Indianapolis in sixth place at 166.075 mph (267.272 km/h). At the start of the race, he quickly took the lead and rarely relinquished it. However, with just 8 miles (13 km) left to go, he coasted into the pits with a transmission bearing failure.[4] The car was refurbished and entered by STP in the 1968 Indianapolis 500. Driven by Joe Leonard, the car crashed into the turn four wall during practice and never raced again.[1][5]
The car was originally donated to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History by the STP Corporation. There is an exact replica built from blueprints in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum. Curiously, rather than model this car Mattel chose to make a model of the similar "Shelby Turbine" which practiced at Indianapolis in 1968 as one of the popular Hot Wheels toy cars. The Lotus 56 used a modified version of the same engine and four-wheel drive in a more advanced wedge-shaped body with new USAC intake restrictions, but one car crashed in turn one during practice killing driver Mike Spence and the three entered into the race did not finish either; subsequently USAC banned turbines and four-wheel drive cars entirely.
Design
The STP-Paxton Turbocar was built around an aluminum box-shaped backbone. The driver was seated on the right side of the backbone, while the engine, a Pratt & Whitney Canada ST6B-62 turbine engine, was mounted on the left side of the backbone. Though never successful as an automobile powerplant, the small aircraft engine it was based on would become one of the most popular turboprop aircraft engines in history. The engine drove a Ferguson four-wheel drive system, which transmitted the power to the wheels. A torque converter eliminated the need for a clutch pedal and gearshift. The engine idled at 54% of full throttle, which meant that the driver didn't even have to press the accelerator pedal to pull away; all he had to do was ease his foot off the brake pedal. A movable panel was mounted behind the cockpit, which acted as an airbrake. The suspension's coil springs were located inside the backbone and the suspension A-frames had airfoil cross-sections. The car weighed 1,750 pounds (790 kg), compared to the Indy minimum weight of 1,350 pounds (612 kg).[4]
USAC had limited the engine intake area to 23.999 square inches (154.83 cm2) to limit the turbine's power output, but the engine still produced 550 hp. However, drivers reported that it had a three-second throttle lag. In less than a month after the 1967 Indianapolis 500, USAC cut the allowable turbine air intake area from 23.999 to 15.999 square inches (103.22 cm2) and imposed the ruling immediately, although it had been customary to give two years' notice of engine changes.[1] With the reduced inlet area, the maximum lap speed that could be achieved was 161 mph (259 km/h).[6]
Trivia
Television comedian Johnny Carson once drove the Turbine at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during a private test session.[7]
The cowling for the car was misplaced for over 20 years. It was found in 2007 in an office at the Smithsonian Institution.
Wallis went on to design a similar car for Carrol Shelby who entered 2 cars for the 1968 Indy 500 for Denny Hulme and Bruce McLaren but these were withdrawn "for safety" following Mike Spence's fatal crash while practicing in a Lotus 56 Turbocar. (The real reason was they actually did not comply with the 1968 Indy regulations).[8]
The car on exhibit in the Speedway Museum is actually an exact replica of the actual car on display car owner STP Corporation donated to the Smithsonian Institution, built from the blueprints.[citation needed]
after being offered $100,000 cash in a briefcase and half of any prize money he won.
That's the way to do innovative business!
They probably decided to draw a veil over the usual accompanying offer of "dancing girls". Who, doubtless, were not not wearing a veil. Or indeed anything else.
A fascinating story PHP. I remember poring over photographs of the car in MotorSport Magazine as a kid back in 1967.
In reading your post I noticed that one Ken Wallis was involved in the design and did a double take thinking it might have been this Ken Wallis i.e. Wing Commander Kenneth Horatio Wallis DSO MBE CEng FRAeS RAF the British aviator, engineer, and inventor, but in fact it was Dr. Kenneth B. Wallis, aeronautical engineer who worked for Douglas Aircraft.
Vince and Joseph Granatelli, brothers of STP CEO Andy Granatelli, built the STP Turbocar in complete secrecy but complied with all racing regulations in effect at Indianapolis at the time. The Granatellis wished to build “the first truly space-age racing vehicle … totally designed on aircraft principles,” according to a press release. The motive power would bear some similarities to a jet aircraft engine; both employed a turbine, but the race car engine would not be a true jet engine because it depended on a driveshaft, not thrust, to move the car forward. Nevertheless, the Granatellis chose Dr. Kenneth B. Wallis, an aeronautical engineer who directed experimental systems at Douglas Aircraft, to help design the car because of his extensive experience with aircraft design and his contacts in the field. After spending three years developing the Turbocar’s design, Wallis and the Granatellis built a practical, working vehicle.
Wallis and the Granatellis designed the car around a Pratt & Whitney ST6 turbine engine. This type of engine had a reputation as one of the world’s most successful industrial turbines. It could run on jet fuel, kerosene, or alcohol-based fuel. The car’s unique spinal chassis frame, constructed of an experimental aluminum alloy, consisted of a box-shaped structure with substructures for axle and suspension support, engine support, and driver containment. Thousands of rivets held dozens of frame pieces in stress. The design produced a great deal of torsional rigidity.
It is good to see that Parnelli Jones is still alive and going strong. I remember reading about this (see below) in Motorsport magazine as well. It seems that that Indie folks, wedded to their roadsters, did not want to yield to new technology, particularly when driven by foreigners, worst of all the British, and newcomers to the Brickyard!
As it was the conservative Indie folks eventually banned turbine cars as well!
In the 1963 Indianapolis 500, he started on the pole. This was the year the controversial Lotus-Ford rear-engined cars made their first appearance, and had ruffled the Indianapolis establishment. Before the race, the chief steward, Harlan Fengler, told the teams that he would black-flag any cars that leaked oil on the track, warning, "Don't believe me, just try me."
With Scotsman Jim Clark in a Lotus-Ford closing on Jones in the waning laps, Jones' car developed a horizontal crack in the external oil reservoir. At that moment, driver Eddie Sachs crashed on the oil-slickened racing surface and brought out a yellow caution flag, slowing the field. Agajanian, Jones' car owner, argued with chief steward Harlan Fengler not to issue a black flag, insisting the oil level had dropped below the level of the crack, and that the leak had stopped. As Agajanian pleaded with Fengler, Lotus head man Colin Chapman rushed up to join the conversation and demanded that Fengler follow the rules about disqualifying cars with oil leaks. With the end of the race just minutes away, Fengler took no action, and Jones went on to win. The Lotus-Ford team, while unhappy with the obvious favoritism displayed by race officials toward Jones and Agajanian, also acknowledged Jones' clear superiority in the event. In addition, Ford officials recognized that a victory through disqualification of Clark's biggest competitor would not be well received by the public, so they declined to protest.
- From Wikipedia
The observer of fools in military south and north...
On the US dragster scene, the heyday of the rocket powered cars came to an end in the 70's due to the difficulty for the administrators of drag meets to get liability insurance when running the rocket cars, so the doyen of the US rocket car scene, 'Slamming' Sammy Miller decamped with his car car 'Vanishing Point' to the less litigious (at the time) UK, where he smashed records and windows.
Sammy Miller in 1984 at Santa Pod Raceway recorded the quickest quarter mile elapsed time ever of 3.58 seconds at 386.26 mph using a hydrogen peroxide powered engine car called Vanishing Point. The record was witnessed by 10,000 spectators and officials in attendance. This is in excess of the performance of more familiar piston-engined dragsters.
A different type of rocket propulsion uses hybrid rockets with nitrous oxide as the oxidant such as the British rocket dragster, 'Laffin-Gas'.
In America, rocket dragsters fell into disuse after their hydrogen peroxide propellant became too expensive and they are banned in most events for safety reasons, mostly due to their very high performance. However, they continue to run at several European venues.
Sammy Miller, an oil man, died, as he had lived, with a bang, being killed in an explosion on a Texas oilfield!
