1955 Kurtis 500SX Roadster

Los Angeles mega dealer Bill Murphy purchased this rare 500X Kurtis sports car in August 1955. It is serial number 3 of 6 500X cars built by Frank Kurtis and the Kurtis-Kraft Company. Sam Hanks, an Indy driver and employee at Bill Murphy Buick, was the car's assistant engineer, crew chief and pre-race shake-down driver. In the two years the car raced - September 1955 through September 1957 - it scored nine overall wins and eighteen class wins at tracks throughout Southern California from Torrey Pines to Riverside. Murphy competed in the Del Monte Trophy race in 1956, the final year of the Pebble Beach Road Races.

The Murphy Kurtis has the same basic design feature of the Kurtis Indy roadster of the era - 4120 chrome moly tubing for the frame, 4-bar torsion suspension, hand-formed aluminum panels and Halibrand quick change rear end and magnesium wheels. A 364 cubic-inch Buick nailhead engine with Hilborn fuel injection supplies the power and is coupled to a Jaguar 4-speed XK-140 transmission.

The 500SX sat at Murphy's dealership for two decades until it was purchased in 1979 by Rich Siefried. The Kurtis resumed its winning record at the 1980 Monterey Historics and it also won the Pebble Beach Cup.

This example has its original Hilborn-Injected Buick Nailhead engine, Jaguar 4-speed transmission, and Halibrand quick-change differential. It also has its original drive train, body and frame members with only fresh paint and upholstery added.