Indy 500 - The Kurtis 500M

In 1955 Indy 500 body maker Frank Kurtis designed and built his own version of a sporty roadster. The Kurtis 500M was a soft-top convertible that, according to Popular Mechanics, would top out at 125 mph and purr like a kitten in traffic. Kurtis planned on producing the 500M in Glendale, California and offering it to the public at a price of $6000,but his dream never really flowered.

Kurtis produced 22 street legal cars between 1948 and 1949 and the design gradually transformed into the Madman Muntz-Jet, which sold from 1950-1954. Kurtis made another foray into the street-legal market in 1954, with 500KK, 500S, and 500M series, all based on a version of the successful Indy 500 Roadster chassis, still only 18 roadsters were ever produced.

Proof, I guess, that success on the track doesn't always translate into success on the street. Still, the 500M is something to look at.

Indy 500 - A Saucer for the Track

Frank Kurtis proposed this super-streamlined "racing saucer" for Chapman Root in 1955 and it appeared in the May 1955 issue of Popular Mechanics Magazine. Kurtis would go on to complete the car design, known as the Sumar Streamliner. The Streamliner generated 400hp.

In 1955 the Streamliner would be driven by Sam Hanks, Tony Bettenhausen and Jimmy Daywalt. Daywalt qualified at 139.416 mph. In 1956, Bob Sweikert, Cliff Griffith and Elmer George drove the car. That same year, Marshal Teague attempted to qualify the Streamliner for the Indy 500, but ran out of time. In 1959, Teague drove the car at Daytona International Speedway and reached a speed of 171.80 mph.