1911 Indianapolis 500 Film

This is probably the best film/video of the first Indianapolis 500 in existence. If there is a better one, I want to see it now. Among the cars you will get a great view of are: #3 Inter-State (Harry Endicott); #45 Benz (Bob Burman); #28 Fiat (David Bruce-Brown); #18 Fiat (Eddie Hearne); #37 Mercer (Charles Bigelow); #32 Marmon (Ray Harroun); #8 Case (Joe Jagersberger); #7 Westcott (Harry Knight); #35 Apperson (Herb Lytle) and #30 Firestone-Columbus (Lee Frayer). Note that the footage of Harroun is a pit stop which is very interesting. In fact, most of the best shots are of pit stops. Endicott, though, is caught struggling after spinning into the infield with blown tire - a common issue for drivers in those days.

I also want to note the track workers at the edge of the corners throwing sand onto the track to absorb the massive amounts of oil as these cars leaked like sieves. The mix of sand, cement dust from the brick mortar and the oil burning cars combined to produce the smokey miasma you can see in these early films.