Dodge Stock Block Indy car 1973 entered by Bruce Crower

[Pete366]

Anybody know why it didn't try to qualify? It was #47, dark red and a sister car to a stock block Chevy also entered by Bruce Crower for the 1973 Indy race. Anyone know what chassis it was in?

[LittleFauss]

.....'Hi Pete, 'That one's going to be a tough one. Even Allen Brown's OldRacingCars.com isn't able to pin it down and questions the make of chassis.

This from Allen Brown's site with relevant facts and unknowns:

22.Eagle 67 (Jigger Sirois): Denny Hulme drove the highest placed new Eagle at the 1967 Indy 500 for Smokey Yunich as the #69 "City of Daytona Beach Spl". It then went to Lindsey Hopkins and was Roger McCluskey's #38 backup car at the 1968 Indy 500, wasn't entered in 1969 and was then the #37 Sprite backup TCO car for Mel Kenyon in 1970 (Bob Laycock Card File). The car then passed to Bruce Crower and was equipped with a twin-turbo Chev engine. It's race record is not clear as the details on the owner's site (http://www.microweldinc.com/collection/eagle.html) do not match Phil Harms data. However, the pictures on that site show it was the Crower #47 car in 1973 and that means it must have been the car Jigger Sirois drove in practice at the 1973 Indy 500. Harms had this as an Unknown/Dodge.

(Read last sentence in above quote.)

'Don't worry, it was hard enough keeping up with all of Bruce's varied experiments. From his flat-8, combining two Chevy Cosworth Vegas,' to his 209 CID turbo-charged stock-block Chevys and even his modified Chevy cylinder heads with intake and exhaust ports all on the same side.

'With all of that, the most consistant Crower ever ran was when he ran a standard '72 Eagle with a stock-block Chevrolet and with Chuck Gurney doing the driving.

'Finally, good luck with the Riley and please let us know how it's coming.

[Pete366]

Not the 67 eagle tub

Thanks Little Fauss, the Eagle that was Smokey's car was restored as that by Don Lyons and was a Crower car, but the photos I have(which I unfortunately can't scan) show a much different tub than an Eagle. It almost appeared it was an 72 Eagle copy with markedly different cowl and different sidepods. I'll try to get someone to post the photos. The Riley is slowly coming along, most of the suspension links and uprights are done along with the transaxle and the engine should be done this summer- lots of detail work, thanks for asking.

[Allen Brown]

I know this thread was nine years ago, but in case someone is still wondering what this car was, let me put you out of your misery.

According to The Lafayette Journal and Courier 11 May 1973, it was "a hybrid race car that began life in 1969 as a Gerhardt machine and later had a Chevrolet engine before being rebuilt to take Dodge power". The article goes on to say "In its earlier days, the car was driven by Gary Bettenhausen in some road races. When Crower acquired the car, it was cut in half to take the Dodge powerplant, and late-model Eagle-type suspension was added to the rear. The front end was reworked and side tanks added, All that's left now of the original Gerhardt, [mechanic Curt] Waters said, is the "bathtub" - that's the cockpit section."

So a 1969 Gerhardt:

https://www.oldracingcars.com/gerhardt/69/