Olmstead's V12

[slinger]

I've posted this on another thread but I guess it's gotten buried.

The V12 engine entered by Bob Olmstead was a Voelker V12.Olmstead was a restorer of Lincolns and that may be where the confusion lies.The Zephyr engine was an L head V12 and even in 1937 was a well known piece of junk.It was notorious for oiling problems and no one who has ever been near one would believe that it could ever be used as the basis for a racing engine.

The Voelker engine on the other hand was a pretty exotic piece of machinery.When new,it displaced 273 cu. in. and in that form,it ran in the 1938 Indy 500,driven by Henry Banks.It retired after 109 laps with rod bearing failure.It was entered in the 500 every year from 1938 until 1949 but never again qualified.It resurfaced in 1977 when Bob Olmstead brought it to the Speedway.Actually he brought two cars,both of which were Antares chassis and one of which contained the Voelker and the other an Offy.Neither left the garage and the 12 cyl car wasn't really put together.Oddly enough,if the Olmstead owned engine was actually a Zephyr,I can't think of a more appropriate chassis for it than the Antares.One piece of junk deserves another.

Olmstead returned the following year with the V12 installed in an old Eagle.It had a wild paint job and was called "TheScreaming Eagle".He kept bringing the car back and in 1981 he even started the engine.After that the car disappeared.

Photographs of the engine clearly show a 4 cam V12.I suppose it might be possible to convert a Zephyr to such a configuration but given the weakness of it's bottom end,I can't believe anybody would have spent the kind of money needed for that kind of project,even in 1937.At any rate,the block certainly doesn't look like a Zephyr.

When Olmstead had it,the displacement was reduced to 159 cu.in. and a turbocharger was installed.Bore and stroke were 3.063 in. and 1.8 in. respectively.That's about the same stroke used in CART engines today and would indicate the potential for serious revs because you wouldn't otherwise go with a stroke that short.Of course,I don't think Olmstead ever had any real intentions of running the thing but he must have had a great deal of fun fooling around with it and I'm certain that it attracted a lot of attention.The photographs show it to be a beautiful piece of machinery.

What I am unable to find is any information as to who Voelker was and how this engine came to be in the first place.However,if you go back through the history of the 500,you'll find numerous examples of cars and engines who's origins are shrouded in mystery.I suppose like so many others,that will be the ultimate legacy of the Voelker.

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I love the smell of methanol in the afternoon.It smells like......victory!

[mac miller]

slinger, Bob always had a Zephyr V12 neon sign in his garage but the engine was a Voelker.

[slinger]

As I said,I couldn't imagine anybody trying to make a race engine out of the Zephyr.I didn't know about the sign and that might explain how some people got confused.I certainly never believed it was a Zephyr.The differences are obvious at a glance.

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I love the smell of methanol in the afternoon.It smells like......victory!

[Ray Bell]

Seeing as the other thread got buried, I will add again that Doug Whiteford built the Kaye Special with a Lincoln V12, it was never a success and I don't think it ever had a body, but when his partner, Jim Gullan drove it it wasn't the engine he complained about.

He wondered how Doug could drive the thing the way it handled...

Maybe it didn't run very much, perhaps just a few hillclimbs and sprints.

[slinger]

The Zephyr wasn't the only V12 built by Lincoln.The car mentioned by Ray Bell may have used one of the other Lincoln V12s.Some of these were really fine engines.The Zephyr engine was the only one which seems to have aquired such an evil reputation.The Zephyr car was actually very advanced for it's time and was the lowest priced Lincoln.It was used as the basis for the original Continental.The V12 was used,apparently,to give the car the added prestige accorded to cars thus equipped.I guess trying to do it on the cheap didn't work and they would have been much better off with a simpler V8.

Back in the 50s when people with classic were much more likely to actually drive them than they are now,Continental owners would often dump the V12 and put in a V8.Mercurys were especially popular.Nowadays,everybody wants a car to be as original as possible and classics are much more likely to be trailer queens than Sunday drivers.More of the V12s are back on the market.I guess the new breed of owners found out that these engines would probably hold together long enough to drive up to the winner's stand at a Concours.From there back to the trailer might be a liitle iffy but why not be daring?

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I love the smell of methanol in the afternoon.It smells like......victory!

[Scarab16]

Thanks again, slinger. I did keep checking the previous thread.

[Ray Bell]

I shouldn't have short cut that description, Doug Whiteford indeed used the Lincoln Zephyr engine.

Lincolns were fairly rare in Australia, I only ever saw about two Zephyrs on the road, and one engine in a scrap pile. No others of that age at all, that I can recall.

[lajolla92037]

Hey slinger....concerning your post on Chet Gardner....

After Chet died, his brother Dean Gardner raced midgets at Gilmore in 1938 and 1939, and gained notoriety for his classey tow cars.....one of which was a 1937 Linclon Zepher!!!

After the war, he continued to race midgets and was killed at South Mountain Speedway, near Pheonix, in late 1946....the Zepher?....he had traded it in for a '41 Woody!!!!!

[indyrjc]

Bob Olmstead actually did get his Screaming Eagle on the track one time at Indianapolis but it was not during May. Somehow during one of the tire tests he talked someone at the Speedway into letting his car on the track. I don't remember who the driver was but Bob got some veteran to try and drive the car. The was fired up and left the pits. Unfortunately the engine quit coming out of the 2nd turn and Bob's car came back in on the end of a tow rope before it could complete a lap under its own power. Bob himself told me this story and as far as I know that was the only time the Screaming Eagle ever got on the track. What I remember most about the car was seeing it towed around the Garage Area with the rear end seemingly always high in the air. The half shafts always seemed to be pointing downward at about 30 degrees. I could be wrong but I think that Bob was a teacher (maybe in Illinois?) and taught automotive classes. When you talked with Bob Olmstead you could tell right away that he was something of a character. At the same time Bob really enjoyed what he was doing. Roger Penske may have won 10 500 Mile Races but I sincerely doubt if he has ever had as much fun or experienced as much joy at Indianapolis as Bob Olmstead did every day by just being there and working on his car.