Howard Marmon Opines

This is a great article because it is written by Howard Marmon, chief engineer of Nordyke & Marmon, the company that produced the Marmon Wasp, the winning car of the first Indianapolis 500. Marmon was a leading automotive engineer and widely respected throughout the industry. This article appeared in the Indianapolis Star but I am unsure of the date. Best guess? It was probably March 1910.
 
In this article, he discusses scientific tests for wind resistance as well as the American Automobile Association (AAA) rules for racing in 1910. Of particular interest are changes that attempt to address criteria for what qualifies as a stock car. This ties in nicely with what would happen with the disqualification of the Buick team from the July 1910 race meet at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Most of the American manufacturers of this era were not interested in purpose-built race cars. Instead, they wanted to demonstrate the power and reliability of the products they actually sold to consumers. Howard Marmon, however, took the opposite view and you can read about elsewhere on First Super Speedway.

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HowardMarmon.pdf4.01 MB