Red marquis at 01:31, 23 January 2007

2007-01-23T01:31:14Z

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'''Offenhauser''' was a racing engines manufacturer that operated from 1933 to 1983.

The Offenhauser engine, familiarly known as the "Offy", was developed by [[Fred Offenhauser]] and his employer [[Harry Arminius Miller]], after having spent some time maintaining and repairing a 1913 [[Peugeot]] [[Grand Prix motor racing|Grand Prix]] car of the type which had won the [[Indianapolis 500]]. Impressed by the [[double overhead cam]], four valve per cylinder design, which was a great leap forward at the time and would not be out of place today, they designed an engine on similar principles. Originally sold as a [[marine engine]], in 1930, a four-cylinder, 151 cubic inch (2.5 L) Miller engine installed in a race car set a new international [[speed record]] of 144.895 mph. Miller developed this engine into a twin overhead cam, four cylinder, four valve per cylinder 220 cubic inch (3.6 L) racing engine. When Miller went bankrupt in 1933, Offenhauser and another Miller employee, [[Leo Goosen]], bought the shop and the rights to the engine, which they further developed into the Offenhauser engine.

One of the keys to the Offenhauser's success was, as might be expected, sheer power. Thus a 251.89 cubic inch (4128 cm³) twin-cam four-cylinder racing Offy with a 15:1 compression ratio and a 4.28 x 4.38 [[bore]] and [[stroke]], could produce 420 horsepower (313 kW) at 6,600 rpm; 1.77 horsepower per cubic inch (81 kW/L). Other variants of the engine produced up to 3 horsepower per cubic inch (137 kW/L). The [[GM Quad-4 engine|Oldsmobile quad-four engine]] bears and uncanny resemblance to the Offenhauser unit, once the plastic covers are removed and it's bolted up to a [[rear wheel drive]] transmission.

From 1934 through 1960 the Offenhauser engine dominated American [[open wheel racing]], winning the [[Indianapolis 500]] 24 times. By then, the company had already been sold, right after World War II, to Meyer-Drake, who continued to build the engines. From 1950 through 1960, Offenhauser-powered cars won the Indy 500 and achieved all three podium positions, winning the pole position in 10 of the 11 years. In 1959 [[Lime Rock Park]] held a famous [[Formula Libre]] race, where [[Rodger Ward]] shocked the expensive and exotic [[sports car]] contingent by beating them on the [[road racing|road course]] in an [[Offenhauser]] powered [[midget car]], normally considered competitive for oval tracks only.

When Ford came on to the scene in 1963, the Offy lost its dominion over Indy car racing, although it remained competitive through the mid 1970s even with the advent of turbocharging. However, the [[Cosworth| Ford Cosworth]] DFX soon proved to be unbeatable and the Offy's last victory came at Trenton in 1978, in the hands of [[Gordon Johncock]]'s [[Wildcat|Wildcat]]. The last time an Offy-powered car raced was at [[Pocono Raceway|Pocono]] in 1982 for the Domino's Pizza Pocono 500, in an [[All American Racers|Eagle]] chassis driven by [[Jim McElreath]], although two Vollstedt chassis with Offenhauser engines failed to qualify for the 1983 [[Indianapolis 500]].

===Formula One Indy 500 summary===
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%"
! Season
! Cars Entered
! Winning Driver
! Second Driver
! Third Driver
! Polesitter
! Race Report
|-
! [[1950 Formula One season|1950]]
| 31
| [[Johnnie Parsons]]
| [[Bill Holland]]
| [[Mauri Rose]]
| [[Walt Faulkner]]
| [[1950 Indianapolis 500|Report]]
|-
! [[1951 Formula One season|1951]]
| 32
| [[Lee Wallard]]
| [[Mike Nazaruk]]
| [[Manny Ayulo]]
|
| [[1951 Indianapolis 500|Report]]
|-
! [[1952 Formula One season|1952]]
| 30
| [[Troy Ruttman]]
| [[Jim Rathmann]]
| [[Sam Hanks]]
| [[Fred Agabashian]]
| [[1952 Indianapolis 500|Report]]
|-
! [[1953 Formula One season|1953]]
| 32
| [[Bill Vukovich]]
| [[Art Cross]]
| [[Sam Hanks]]
| [[Bill Vukovich]]
| [[1953 Indianapolis 500|Report]]
|-
! [[1954 Formula One season|1954]]
| 34
| [[Bill Vukovich]]
| [[Jimmy Bryan]]
| [[Jack McGrath]]
| [[Jack McGrath]]
| [[1954 Indianapolis 500|Report]]
|-
! [[1955 Formula One season|1955]]
| 35
| [[Bob Sweikert]]
| [[Tony Bettenhausen]]
| [[Jimmy Davies]]
| [[Jerry Hoyt]]
| [[1955 Indianapolis 500|Report]]
|-
! [[1956 Formula One season|1956]]
| 32
| [[Pat Flaherty]]
| [[Sam Hanks]]
| [[Don Freeland]]
| [[Pat Flaherty]]
| [[1956 Indianapolis 500|Report]]
|-
! [[1957 Formula One season|1957]]
| 31
| [[Sam Hanks]]
| [[Jim Rathmann]]
| [[Jimmy Bryan]]
| [[Pat O'Connor (auto racer)|Pat O'Connor]]
| [[1957 Indianapolis 500|Report]]
|-
! [[1958 Formula One season|1958]]
| 31
| [[Jimmy Bryan]]
| [[George Amick]]
| [[Johnny Boyd]]
| [[Dick Rathmann]]
| [[1958 Indianapolis 500|Report]]
|-
! [[1959 Formula One season|1959]]
| 33
| [[Rodger Ward]]
| [[Jim Rathmann]]
| [[Johnny Thomson]]
| [[Johnny Thomson]]
| [[1959 Indianapolis 500|Report]]
|-
! [[1960 Formula One season|1960]]
| 33
| [[Jim Rathmann]]
| [[Rodger Ward]]
| [[Paul Goldsmith]]
| [[Eddie Sachs]]
| [[1960 Indianapolis 500|Report]]
|}

In their 11 F1 years, Offenhauser partnered for at least one race with the following 33 [[List of Formula One constructors|constructors]]:
*[[Adams]]
*[[Bromme]]
*[[Christensen (constructor)|Christensen]]
*[[Deidt]]
*[[Del Roy]]
*[[Dunn Engineering|Dunn]]
*[[Elder]]
*[[Epperly]]
*[[Ewing]]
*[[Hall]]
*[[Kurtis Kraft]]
*[[Kuzma]]
*[[Langley]]
*[[Lesovsky]]
*[[Marchese]]
*[[Maserati]]
*[[Meskowski]]
*[[Moore]]
*[[Nichels]]
*[[Olson (constructor)|Olson]]
*[[Pankratz]]
*[[Pawl]]
*[[Phillips]]
*[[Rae]]
*[[Schroeder]]
*[[Sherman]]
*[[Snowberger]]
*[[Stevens]]
*[[Sutton (constructor)|Sutton]]
*[[Trevis]]
*[[Turner]]
*[[A.J. Watson|Watson]]
*[[Wetteroth]]

[[Category:Formula One engine manufacturers]]
[[Category:Indianapolis 500]]

Offenhauser - Revision history

Red marquis at 01:31, 23 January 2007