1931 Rigling and Henning Wonder Bread Special

This 1931 Rigling & Henning 'Wonder Bread' Special crossed the auction block in 2005 and found a buyer willing to part with $125,000 for this wonderful piece of history. Herman Rigling and Cotton Henning were based in Indianapolis and renowned for their race-winning chassis and proven 'Specials.' Their specialty was using Buick straight-eight engines mounted in steel-rail frames. A Special driven by Phil Shafer of Des Moines, Iowa piloted his Rigling & Henning Shafer 8 to a very impressive 12th-place finish at the 1931 Indianapolis 500 race. The car proved it had the endurance and the speed to compete in major competition. It was brought back to the Indy 500 race in 1933 where it finished in fifth, by far its best accomplishment.

Racing Specials were promoted by the Indy racing officials during the early 1930s as a way to rekindle public interest in the sport. During the 1920s, the race had become dominated by prominent marques and many were losing interest in the sport. As The Great Depression came into focus, the racing officials introduced new regulations which allowed the home-grown mechanic with their racing specials an opportunity to enter the race and compete for overall victory.

This 1931 Rigling & Henning 'Wonder Bread' Special is a result of those regulations. It has seating for two; the driver and the mechanic. It is not entirely known why rules required a riding mechanic during this time. It did double the chance for fatal accidents, and the Indy 500 saw many tragic accidents during 1931 through 1937 period. During the early period of racing, the mechanic serviced two primary duties. The first was to change the tires, fix the car, and keep a close watch on the vehicle's temperature gauge, oil pressure, and other dials. The second purpose was to serve as the mirror; the early cars did not have side or rear-view mirrors, so the duties of the riding mechanic extended to watching rear traffic.

By Daniel Vaughan | Jun 2007