This is one of the neatest engine videos we have seen in a long, long time. Why? It is all about bringing a Buick Stage II IndyCar engine back to life on the dyno…in Australia. The engine was run in AJ Foyt’s car at the Indy 500 back in the 1980s and while we have no idea how it got back to Oz, the story is great and the combo of history and tech in this video makes it really, really great.
The Buick Stage II V6 was really the company’s last serious, all-out effort to play a large role in American racing. An outgrowth of one of the most successful engine platforms in American automotive history, it encapsulates the pinnacle of race engineering from 35 years ago. What we really dig is the fact that we get history, great mechanical insight into the engine, and we get the awesome dyno pulls where the boost level is stepped up and the horsepower comes up along with it.
It is funny how some really innovative, smart, and interesting engines do get lost to the sands of time. We’re guessing because this mill was basically ONLY found in the world of IndyCar racing (we know there was some drag racing done with these as well but their real claim to fame was on the ovals) it doesn’t have a lot of wide appeal to the general hot rodding populace.
Enjoy this look into a uniquely awesome and slightly off-beat racing engine that powered some of the greatest names in motorsports back during the Regan administration!
great video with interesting history. imagine if they spent the chevy money on buicks, there would be no chevies.