Just three days after the 87th Indianapolis 500 was held, Atlas F1's Thomas O'Keefe looks back at two important events in Indy's history, as it intertwined with Grand Prix racing. This week he harkens back to a time when Grand Prix racing affected Indy and vice-versa, and when a young Jimmy Murphy won the 1922 Indy 500 in the same Dusenberg-Miller in which he had beat Europe's best in the 1921 French Grand Prix

Today there is a considerable amount of internationalism surrounding the Indianapolis 500 with chassis from England and Italy, drivers from Brazil and powerplants coming from as far as Japan and as close as Detroit, to race for 500 miles around a former cornfield in Indiana. Going back to the very early history of the Indianapolis 500, there was always considerable amount of interest from European manufacturers and Grand Prix drivers in competing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, because the purses offered were comparatively generous and the Europeans found that year-old Grand Prix cars that were in the upper ranks in European road racing could be transported to Indianapolis and become outright winners on the 2.5 mile oval that came to be known as the Brickyard.

The very first Indy 500 in 1911 featured mostly American manufacturers (with a Fiat, a Mercedes and two Benz's thrown in for good measure), but it was not long before Speedway President Carl Fisher downsized the maximum engine size from 600 cubic inches to 450 cubic inches to induce the Europeans to make the trip.

His strategy worked. By 1913 and 1914, the grid would be crowded with European marques that had proved their mettle on the dusty roads of Europe before coming to the Brickyard - Peugeot and Delage from France, Sunbeam from England, Isotta from Italy and Mercedes from Germany.

At that time, Peugeot was among the most innovative of the Grand Prix constructors. In 1913, Peugeot entered two French blue and white modified 1912 Grand Prix cars for its star drivers Jules Goux and Paul Zuccarelli. Peugeot's 160 horsepower 4-cylinder engine had some novel features not yet seen at Indy such as twin overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder which the pre-war Peugeot had pioneered in Europe, a design that would become standard in the years to come for high performance cars. The Peugeot's also ran on wire wheels instead of the wooden-spoked wheels commonly seen on the home-grown Indianapolis cars. Goux led 138 of the 200 laps of the 1913 Indy 500 under a blistering Indiana sun that led to skyrocketing track temperatures and tires shredding throughout the field. Goux's teammate Zuccarelli would be sidelined early in the race and, sadly, would die just 20 days after this race, testing a Peugeot back in Europe for the French Grand Prix at Amiens on July 21, 1913. Zuccarelli was an engineer by training and is credited with initiating some of the innovations adopted in the Peugeot engines of that era.

As for Goux, he was a dashing, aristocratic figure at the Speedway, the 28 year-old son of the Superintendent of the Peugeot factory. It is Speedway legend that Goux and his mechanic put away a bottle or two of champagne during his pitstops, while the tires were changed and the car was topped off with fuel, introducing another technological advance from Europe for the inner man. By nursing his car through the corners and relying on the Peugeot's horsepower down the straights, Goux managed to reduce the number of pitstops for his Peugeot to a minimum and ended up winning the 1913 Indy 500 by a phenomenal 13 minutes over second place finisher Spencer Wishart in his yellow Mercer; Wishart had a relief driver, teammate Ralph de Palma whose own Mercer went out on lap 18. Why were relief drivers necessary in those days? It must be remembered that it took even the speedy Peugeot a daunting six hours and 35 minutes to complete 500 miles and indeed Goux was the first driver to ever complete the Indy 500 without a relief driver. Goux was quoted in the Indianapolis Star the next day as saying "without the good wine I could not have won." And who says champagne makes you sleepy!

Goux was also the first foreign driver to win the Indy 500 but he would not be the last. Back in France, Goux was welcomed home as a hero when he disembarked at the port of Le Havre. In 1914, the European contingency took heart from Goux's victory and came in force to the 1914 Indy 500. Indeed, there were 46 entries for the 30 starting positions. Peugeot fielded a three-car team with Jules Goux being joined by teammates Georges Boillot and Arthur Duray. Boillot, one of the most popular French drivers, qualified fastest at 99.86 mph, almost a mile per hour faster than his more experienced teammate, Goux.

Delage ran two of its 1913 Grand Prix cars. Ettore Bugatti entered a white Bugatti. Jean Chassagne's Sunbeam was on pole by lot and Isotta also returned. There was even a Mercedes in the 1914 Indy 500 driven by Indy legend Ralph Mulford (who some thought actually won the first Indy 500 in 1911) that had a Peugeot engine, the best of all possible worlds. This year the French again took top honors but it was Rene Thomas in last year's blue 1913-vintage Grand Prix Delage that won the race, though Goux managed to lead one lap in his Peugeot and the Delage and Peugeot teams between them garnered the top four positions. Rene Thomas in the Delage was six minutes and 39 seconds ahead of the second place Peugeot of Duray.

There were several notable Americans in the 1914 Indy 500 but even America's racing hero, cigar-chomping barnstormer Barney Oldfield, could do no better than finish in fifth place, in his white and red Stutz. Ralph de Palma intended to run a Mercedes but withdrew the morning of the race because of excessive vibrations experienced during warm-up. Ralph Mulford brought the Mercedes-Peugeot home in 11th place. Spencer Wishart, who at 19 years old had led for one lap in the 1909 Vanderbilt Cup and who at 21 years old, had led the first Indy 500 in 1911 in the gray Mercedes he was given as his twenty-first birthday present, could do no better than 17th in his Mercer in the 1914 Indy 500. Eddie Rickenbacker (who would later become an owner of the Speedway), blew a tire on lap 199 and finished in 10th place in his red, white and blue Dusenberg, his best outing at Indy in four starts and the only time the future Flying Ace and Speedway owner would actually finish 200 laps. Young Spencer Wishart would be dead before the Summer of 1914 was out, killed driving his Mercer during Santa Monica's 1914 American Grand Prix. He was 24 years old and had raced in all four Indy 500's.

World War I had begun in Europe by the time the 1915 Indy 500 was held on May 29, 1915, but the Europeans were still represented, both cars and drivers. Ralph de Palma, who had narrowly lost the 1912 Indy 500 due to a broken connecting rod in his Mercedes, was back again for the 1915 Indy 500 with a very special Mercedes. De Palma's car was one of the Mercedes works Grand Prix cars that on July 5, 1914 had thoroughly trounced the Peugeot team in the 1914 French Grand Prix at Lyon, finishing 1, 2 and 3, in the last major race in Europe before the outbreak of World War I.

De Palma's had Mercedes had been shipped out of Europe before the war began. Although the Mercedes Grand Prix car began dropping oil in the last three laps of the race, da Palma had a sufficient lead that he managed to finish first, ahead of Dario Resta's Peugeot by a margin of three and one-half minutes. Even so, Resta's Peugeot blew a tire while he was in the lead by a full lap so it was a close thing. Peugeot was still trying hard, having entered another three-car team, as had Sunbeam; Delage and Bugatti were also in the field.

The 1914 Mercedes Grand Prix car had a remarkable history of which winning the 1915 Indy 500 was only one chapter. One of the other of the three works 1914 Mercedes Grand Prix cars was first displayed in Berlin and then shipped to England after the 1914 Grand Prix where it was put on display in a Daimler showroom in London. When war came, that car effectively became a POW and legend has it that W.O. Bentley received authorization to have the engine taken out of it and examined and the engineering gleaned from that analysis was incorporated into the airplane engines built by Rolls-Royce to power British planes during World War I. Today, ironically, Rolls-Royce itself is in German hands, owned by BMW.

But notwithstanding the Mercedes victory in the 1914 Indy 500, the Americans were beginning to show some strength; there were three Dusenberg's in the 1915 race that should receive honorable mention and one of them finished fifth. A Stutz driven by Howdy Wilcox had qualified on pole and led five laps and the "United States Motors Co.," a team managed by the inaugural 1911 Indy 500 winner Ray Harroun, had entered three Maxwells.

The 1916 race was called the "International Sweepstakes Race" and was run for only 300 miles, the only time we have not had an Indy "500". The fans were hoping for a re-match of the de Palma/Resta race of 1915, but it was not to be as de Palma tried but failed to extract "appearance money" for racing from the promoters for racing in the Indy 500, something Carl Fisher refused to succumb to even for a defending winner like de Palma. In the end, de Palma withdrew his demand but he was too late: Fisher stuck to his guns and de Palma did not race.

De Palma's truculence was not the only problem faced by the Speedway in 1916. With World War I now underway in earnest, gone were the days when there were many more entrants than starting positions. Indeed, the Speedway itself had clones of the Peugeot's built called the "Premier" and the "Indianapolis Speedway Team Co." was actually listed as the entrant for five of the cars making up the 21-car field (three Premiers and two Peugeots), the smallest field in Speedway history. Indeed, Peugeots and Premiers constituted one-third of the field; there were also five Dusenbergs. Two Sunbeams and two Delages that were now in America "for the duration" rounded out the European contingent.

With those odds it is not surprising that a Peugeot won the race (one entered by the "Peugeot Auto Racing Co.") in the hands of Dario Resta, with a Dusenberg in second place. Resta's Peugeot, called EX-5, was a storied one: it had suffered a surprising loss in the 1914 French Grand Prix to the Mercedes of Christian Lautenschlager, the lead driver for the Mercedes factory team, but had won the 1915 American Grand Prix in San Francisco and had also won the 1915 Vanderbilt Cup before winning the 1916 Indy 500, which was to be the last race held until World War I was over.

After a two-year hiatus during 1917 and 1918 due to World War I, the Indy 500 resumed running what was called the "Liberty Sweep Stakes" in 1919. The French cars were still on top, and most of the pre-war drivers were also back but George Boillot was not among them, having been killed in a dogfight with seven German planes fighting for France over Verdun on April 21, 1916. Rene Thomas, who had won for Deluge in 1914, was back with a Ballot and qualified on pole at over 100 mph, a first. Former winner Jules Goux was back in a hybrid, a Peugeot with a Premier engine entered by the Speedway; his teammate was American Howdy Wilcox, for whom the Speedway entered a Peugeot-Peugeot.

American engines like Dusenbergs and Frontenacs powered much of the field. De Palma was also going all-American this year and qualified his V12 Packard on the outside of the front row in fourth position. In this era of global cross-fertilization between European and American motor racing, it is interesting to note that it was the V12 Packard's appearance at Indianapolis that influenced Enzo Ferrari half a world away when, in later years, he came to design his own car and engine; the V12 engine configuration would become a Ferrari trademark that continues even today in its production cars.

The 1919 race turned into an all-American affair for the first time since 1912, with de Palma leading for 93 laps before his cream-colored Packard's wheel bearings forced him to slow and Louis Chevrolet led nine laps in his maroon Frontenac. But it was a Hoosier, Howdy Wilcox (albeit driving a Peugeot) that led 98 laps and won the race, much to the delight of the patriotic post-war crowd. There were other firsts at this 1919 Indy 500. Goodyear tires were on Wilcox's Peugeot and this race was Goodyear's first Indy 500 victory. And appropriately, since Wilcox was from Indianapolis, when he crossed the finish line, the band struck up a impromptu but familiar tune and the thousands of spectators in the stands joined in and sang the song that would in later years become one of the most venerable traditions at Indianapolis, "Back Home In Indiana."

For the 1920 Indy 500, the Speedway had created a level playing field for both European and American manufacturers by imposing a new engine displacement limit of 183 cubic inches, the same as the 3-litre standard prevailing in Europe. Somewhat disappointingly, only 32 entries were received for the race and only 21 cars actually qualified, with the Speedway exercising its promoters's option by adding two more entries, Frenchman Jean Porporato's Gregoire and Speedway veteran Ralph Mulford, who was the only driver to have competed in every one of the eight Indy 500's held to date. True to form, Mulford would make the best of his opportunity, bringing his brown Mulford-Dusenberg home in 10th place.

The 1920 race started poorly for de Palma in his Ballot which was on pole, with a tire going flat on the pace lap, but de Palma gradually recovered and had built up a two-lap cushion with 13 laps left to go when the well-known late-race de Palma problems began to develop. Pete De Paolo, who was de Palma's nephew and riding mechanic, worked feverishly to snuff out an engine fire by scrambling over the engine hood while de Palma kept driving, before the Ballot finally stalled on the backstretch. Concluding that the Ballot was out of gas, De Paolo was dispatched to the pits for gas. Once restarted, the Ballot limped home firing on four of its eight cylinders, finishing up in fifth place. Peter de Paolo would have better days at the Speedway as a driver and would go on to win the 1925 Indy 500 in a bright yellow supercharged Dusenberg called The Banana Split. Joe Boyer's red factory Frontenac also got into trouble when his relief driver hit the wall on lap 192, finishing 12th as a result, after leading the most laps.

The 1920 Indy 500 was turning out to be one of those races that seemingly no one wanted to win. Gaston Chevrolet, in his green and white Monroe-Frontenac took the lead but on lap 197 he ran out of gas and luckily was able to get to the pits for a splash-and-go and kept his lead, ultimately winning the race by six minutes over 1914 Indy 500 winner Rene Thomas on a works Ballot. Chevrolet was the first winner to go the distance on one set of tires, which were "Oldfield" tires built for Barney Oldfield by Firestone. This 1920 Indy 500 victory would be Gaston Chevrolet's only win and, tragically, as often happened in those dangerous days, Gaston Chevrolet would die six months later in a race in Beverly Hills, California. Gaston's victory was a family effort with the Frontenac being raced by Gaston but prepared by his brothers, Louis and Arthur and by the team's chief engineer, Cornelius Van Ranst. Indeed, at one point or other during 1911 - 1920, Arthur, Louis and Gaston Chevrolet all drove in an Indy 500.

While Gaston Chevrolet was having his moment in the sun, finishing down in fourth place in the 1920 Indy 500 there was a star in the making, rookie Jimmy Murphy who managed to bring his yellow Dusenberg home in a credible fourth place, after qualifying only 15th. This placed him just behind his mentor, Tommy Milton, who finished third, also in a Dusenberg. In King of the Boards, a new book by Gary Doyle on Jimmy Murphy's career, the author quotes car owner Fred Dusenberg's evaluation of Murphy's character and unique talents:

"Murphy was one of the most wonderful race drivers that ever had hold of the wheel. He was a very excellent mechanic, he knew his motors and usually drove them to the limit. He took most excellent care of himself and was always in good condition. If he ever raced on Sunday, Jimmy would always go to Mass first. No one ever heard Jimmy say an unkind word about other mechanics or drivers; he was always ready and willing to help the other fellow and gave them more than an even break...."

Truly, the 1922 Indy 500 was the end of the Franco-American era, brought to a halt by Californian Jimmy Murphy, driving in his white car, with blue numbers and red wire wheels (which you see if on display you go to the Indy 500 or the US Grand Prix at the Speedway's Hall of Fame Museum), who bested the French and Americans alike, both in Europe and in Indianapolis, in a car that will go through the ages as the only American car to have done it all - winning a European Grand Prix at Le Mans and winning the Indianapolis 500. Given the divergence of open-wheel formulas that has developed in recent times between America and Europe, it is doubtful that the feat accomplished by Jimmy Murphy in this Franco-American Special will ever again be repeated.