This is one of those old films/videos that you watch and repeatedly say to yourself, “Oh, that’s how that went,” or “Oh, that’s how that sounded.” From the way the Parnelli Jones driven turbine car looked and sounded to the people, cars, and action that defined the Indy 500 more than 50 years ago, this unique perspective into the race is a really fun take. Made by the Wynn’s car care products brand, it keys in on the two cars that Mickey Thompson was fielding for the event that year. One need not be a historian to know that Thompson’s relationship with Indianapolis Motor Speedway was not a fruitful one. From the death of his driver Dave Macdonald to situations like this where neither of his cars actually qualified for the race, Indy was one of the few places that Thompson had little to no success at.
As neither of the cars that this film was likely to be based around made the actual race, we get a really neat and unbiased look at how the competition action went down during the ’67 version the event. For those of you who are not complete dorks and do not know the major story that happened, Parnelli Jones was kicking everyone’s ass in the turbine car until disaster struck very late in the race. To this point we had only ever read about it. Now we get to actually watch the controversial car slow to a stop in the waning moments of the race. Brutal.
In 1967 there was still plenty of creativity at the Indy 500. Perhaps even more than normal as it was early in the rear engine era and ideas were still being tested and shapes being borne out. We think you’ll dig this film with color and sound!
