Ferrari 375 Indianapolis

Wrong assessments were not common at Ferrari, but entering the 500 Miles of Indianapolis was one of them.

Wrong assessments did not happen often at Ferrari, but the entry for the 500 Miles of Indianapolis was one of them. When the Indy 500 is also included in the Formula 1 World Championship by the international motorsport federation FIA in 1950, Ferrari modifies four 4.5 liter Grand Prix racers. The American Ferrari importer Luigi Chinetti sells three of them to customers and a fourth is entered by the Ferrari factory itself, with their top driver Alberto Ascari at the wheel. Only thanks to Ascari's exceptional talent does the works car qualify as the only one of the four Ferraris, and even then Ascari starts from a meager 19th position. The Ferraris turn out not to be suited to the oval circuit with its banked corners. Technically they are set up for flat circuits with many bends. In the race itself Ascari has to keep shifting gears because the gear ratios are not suitable for the track. On the fortieth of the two hundred laps he drops out with a broken wheel hub. The Ferrari 375 Indianapolis present in the museum is the Grant Piston Ring, one of the three private cars. It was supposed to be driven by Johnnie Parsons, but because he was unhappy with the little attention Ferrari paid to his car in the run-up to the race, he left during the second qualifying weekend. His replacement Danny Oakes was a much less capable driver and failed to qualify.