For Sale: 1948 Automobile Shippers Special Indy Roadster
Images: Bonhams
“In 1950 at the Indianapolis 500, Louis Rassey put a one-legged East Coast midget car racer, Bill Schindler, in his rail-frame 270 Offenhauser-powered upright racing car. It was a marriage made in heaven.” – Bonhams
Well if you put it that way, we’re interested! This car is the 1948 Automobile Shippers Special Indy Roadster. It’s very orange, very awesome, and heading to auction very soon at Bonhams’ Scottsdale Auction on the 15th of January.
The aforementioned one-legged East Coast midget car racer is Bill Schindler, one of the most successful midget car racers of all time – the ‘Freeport Flash’. He could, and did, win in and on anything. Winning isn’t everything however, and without a goal to strive for it can lose its meaning, so Bill sought greater challenges.
He moved to AAA Sprint Cars in 1950, and even filmed some of the racing sequences in To Please a Lady. Joie Chitwood the convinced car owner Ervin Wolfe to let Schindler drive one race in his stead. He claimed second, proving his pace in the sprint car.
And that’s how he found himself at the next race on the circuit – the Indianapolis 500 – looking for a ride. That ride would be this car – Lou Rassey’s 1948 Automobile Shippers Special Indy Roadster.
The car had been built, funnily enough, for the 1948 race and was initially powered by a monstrous V16 engine which Lou had built. In 1948 the car was driven by Louis Durant, but the team developed engine trouble during practice. They swapped out the V16 for a Meyer & Drake Offenhauser four, but then their qualifying attempt was rained out.
In 1949 the car returned to Indy, this time with George Lynch set to drive. This time they qualified eighth, but crashed out on the second lap.
And so we make it to 1950, with Bill Schindler now set to drive. He qualified fifth on the first day of qualifying, lapping the Brickyard at 132.690 miles an hour. By the time qualifying was complete however, they would be deep in the pack at 22nd.
A spin early in the race left them way at the back, but they were able to fight back through the field and were ready to crack the top ten when a universal joint failed. A few laps later and rain set in, seeing the race flagged in a procession after 138 laps.
The team went on to claim 12th at Springfield and 7th at Darlington, but suffered with unreliability.
In 1951 Schindler began an epic battle with Tommy Hinnershitz, winning 10 races. He was sadly killed in 1952 in a sprint car racing accident in Pennsylvania.
The car was sold in 1951 to Charlie Helin and it would appear twice more at Indy, in 1952 and 1953 but at this point it was five years out of its prime and it failed to qualify.
Brooks Stevens then showcased the car at a museum he’d built in Milwaukee along with other cars of its era.
In 1982 it was bought by David Uihlein who restored it to its 1950 Indy 500 configuration with a Jud Phillips-built Offenhauser 270 four, dual Riley Carbs and the gorgeous orange Auto Shippers’ livery you see before you.
Since then it has been carefully-maintained and was purchased by its current owner in 1998. It has been shown in the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
This awesome machine is a living example of the skill, bravery, ingenuity and passion which has powered motorsport throughout its history. It tells a story in the way that few machines can, and that makes it truly special.
It will head to auction at Bonhams’ Scottsdale Auction on the 15th of January, and is expected to fetch US$300,000 – 350,000. For more information head to Bonhams’ website here.
Images via Bonhams
