American racing has been filled with a number of colorful characters, but perhaps the longest-lasting in American open-wheel racing is “Super Tex” himself, A.J. Foyt. While Foyt got his start racing sprint cars in the 1950s and 1960s, he made a name for himself as a four-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, a race he participated in every year from 1958 to 1993. He is, to date, the only man ever to win the Indy 500, Daytona 500 (1972), 24 Hours of Daytona (1983 and 1985), and 24 Hours of Le Mans (1967 in a Ford GT40). And in the 1980s, Oldsmobile tapped Foyt to lead and drive for their program to set the world records in the flying mile and closed-circuit course.
Foyt’s shop in Houston undertook the project, a streamliner called the Aerotech that would be powered by a turbocharged, pre-production version of General Motors’ Quad 4 engine. Under the sculpted bodywork was what amounted to a March Indycar chassis so it was a natural fit for Foyt—then still a tough sumbitch racer in his mid-50s—to drive the car. That toughness comes out, notably in this video, when Foyt pulls the Aerotech to a halt during testing with smoke pouring out. After the crew remove the engine covers, engineers peck at the smoking engine insulation with flamethrowers with little effect until Foyt simply yanks it off with his bare hands and chucks it 20 yards.
Motorsports laureate Sam Posey narrates this great video on the record-breaking run (Spoiler: Super Tex sets the records) with his characteristic insight. It’s a great look at the rare occasion where a high-volume manufacturer stepped up to chase land-speed records.
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