Offenhauser: the engine that has won for 40 years

Inspired by the Peugeot engine (4 cylinders, 2 overhead cams, 4 valves per cylinder) that won the Indianapolis 500 miles three times in a row, Harry Miller built his racing four-cylinder engine. It has a working volume of three liters, with two overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder. Miller soon became the dominant force at the Old Brick Shop.


But unfortunately, Miller, a mechanical genius, turned out to be a bad businessman. After the stock market crash, Harry went bankrupt. All rights and equipment for the production of motors were received by Fred Offenhauser, who was responsible for production at Miller. From 1937 to 1941, Offenhauser engines managed to win the Indy 500 three times, but at the end of World War II, Offenhauser decides to retire, and sells the company to Lou Meyer and Dale Drake. From now on, the company is called Meyer & Drake, but the engines have retained their former name.

Dominator

After the War, Offy seemed to have found a second wind: from 1947 to 1964, cars equipped exclusively with Offenhauser engines won the Indianapolis 500! What's more, from 1950 to 1960, offy-powered roadsters took the entire podium at the finish line, and lost only one qualification. Pole position was won by Fred Adabashian in 1952, in a Cummins Diesel Special.


The engine of the fifties model was an in-line monoblock atmospheric four, 4.4 or 4.2 liters, with a capacity of 400 horsepower. The American "roadsters" of those years: Watson, Kuzma and Kurtis-Kraft, used the Offenhauser unit, shifted to the left from the center of the chassis, and were equipped with a two-speed gearbox to win.

Leo William Goossen

Without this man, the story would be incomplete, because it was Goossen who developed for Miller what would later become known as the “Offenhauser engine”. Leo came to Miller on the recommendation of Walter Chrysler himself, at that time the head of the Buick production department, becoming the link between Miller and Offenhauser.

Harry was madly in love with "pieces of iron", but due to lack of education he could not explain to the engineers what he wanted from them. With the advent of the talented draftsman and engineer Goossen, Miller could easily generate ideas that he embodied on paper and handed over to Fred Offenhauser. Thus, for example, the front-wheel drive Miller 91 Perfect Circle Special and the Miller V16 were born - works of engineering art.


During his long career, Leo Goossen has designed engines for: Harry Miller, Fred Offenhauser, Art Sparks, Bud Winfield, Lou Meyer and Dale Drake...and also designed V8s for Howard Keck.

Nothing is eternal under the Moon

Ford came to Indianapolis in the early sixties. First with the lower, and later with the DOHC "eight" of the new generation. By the middle of the decade, it was believed that the era of four-cylinder Offenhauser engines was over, and the era of the Ford V8 had begun. After all, with the same working volume, Offy has no advantages over the Ford Fairlane.


And besides, the in-line four could not be made a loaded chassis element, unlike the same Fords. But in 1966, something happened that allowed Offenhauser to return to the top.

Offenhauser strikes back!

In 1965, Louis Meyer sold his part to Meyer & Drake, believing that the engine had run its course. But Dale Drake and Leo Goossen did not think so ... and a year later a revolution took place in America: a turbocharger appeared on Offenhauser engines! One of the first people to try the Offy-Turbo was Bobby Anzer.


The motor made an indelible impression, but the American Huffaker chassis did not allow the power of the revolutionary unit to be realized.


— Bobby Anzer.

In 1968, after a 3-year hiatus, the Offenhauser engine wins the Indy 500 again! This was done by Bobby Anzer. In combination, it was also the first victory of a turbocharged engine in the Indianapolis 500.

Offy vs Turbins

In the second half of the sixties, Offenhauser engines had to face a much more serious challenge than the atmospheric "eight" Ford. Andy Granatelli, the head of the oil company STP, brought a Paxton-Turbocar with a gas turbine to the Old Brick Shop! Parnelli Jones was on his way to victory, but retired a few laps before the finish line due to bearing failure in the transmission. The winner was AJ Foyt, in a Coyote-Ford.


The following year, Andy Granatelli and Colin Chapman entered three turbocars: one Paxton and two Lotus-56s. The only piston engine that managed to resist them was Offenhauser. True, there were some tricks here. Here's what Bobby Anzer had to say about it:



Bobby Anzer, riding the Eagle-Offenhauser, crossed the line first, leading 127 laps out of XNUMX. And this despite the fact that at the beginning of the race his gearshift lever broke, and Bobby rode the whole race in fourth gear.

I've got the power!

When McLaren decided to build a car for the USAC Champ Car series, they chose the Offy because of its impressive performance and legendary endurance. The British tested the Offenhauser engine on a dyno and got 959 horsepower at 7600 rpm. And this is with a boost pressure of 2.5 bar, by the standards of motorsport - minuscule! For example, in 1988, with the same boost pressure, a Formula One Honda RA168E engine developed "only" 1 horses.


Dan Gurney's AAR team got significantly more impressive numbers, though it happened by accident. During the tests, the turbocharger bypass valve jammed, and the boost pressure reached 10 bar! Power? 1400 horsepower at 10200 rpm!

The fact that the Offenhauser withstood such pressure and didn't explode... isn't really surprising at all. Indeed, by that time, Leo Goossen, exclusively for AAR, installed two oil pumps on the engine! Of course, they didn’t compete at such a level in races, limiting themselves to delivering 900-1200 horsepower.

Swan Song Offy

It seemed that Offenhauser would reign forever. But in 1973, "a spark jumped out of which a flame flared up." Literally. On the first laps of the Indy 500, a terrible accident occurred, as a result of which David Walter's car was literally torn in half. The bolide, revolving wildly, began to pour flaming fuel all around. Including spectators in the stands...

After this accident, USAC imposed restrictions on the size of the rear wings (then already featured in the Indycar), boost pressure, fuel consumption, and the size and location of the fuel tanks. The new rules hit Offenhauser hardest of all, which was notable for its excellent fuel appetite!


During the discussion of the new regulations, Foyt (Ford-Foyt) insisted on the lowest boost pressure, and Drake (Offenhauser) insisted on the highest. Representatives of Porsche settled down between them. Foyt's point of view won out. As a result, Porsche refused to create an engine for the Indycar at all, believing that they would be uncompetitive with such a low boost pressure.

There would be no happiness, but misfortune helped

Patrick Racing, who was a big fan of Offenhauser engines, paid for the work to adapt the engine to the new rules. This is how DGS (Drake, Goossen, Sparks) appeared - the latest version of the venerable Offy. The victories in Indianapolis of Eagle and McLaren cars equipped with these engines continued until 1976, and among the pilots who preferred DGS there were such aces as:

✅ Mark Donoghue
✅ Gordon Johncock
✅ Johnny Rutherford
✅ Bobby Anzer

The last time the Offy engine won at the Old Brick House was in 1976, bringing to victory Johnny Rutherford, who spoke at McLaren. Forced to start 25th, the Lone Star took the lead with 59 laps to go, 22 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Bobby Unser. Rutherford's winning speed was a record 253,4 kilometers per hour!


With the advent of the powerful and economical Cosworth DFX engine in the IndyCar, it became obvious that the days of Offy, in any of its variants, were numbered. In 1978, Gordon Johncock brought Offenhauser's final victory. Offy engines lasted in the Indycar right up to 1983, although the Vollstedt Racing team, which performed with this engine, could not score a single point.