1968 AAR Eagle MK4

Dan Gurney and Carroll Shelby founded the All American Racers (AAR) team in 1964, initially racing in American sports car and Champ car races, followed by international Formula One events with cars named Eagle. The Formula One team, under the guise of Anglo-American Racers, was based in the United Kingdom and built using British-sourced Weslake engines.

At the 1965 Indianapolis 500, the AAR team used a Goodyear-backed Lotus 38. The following year, the team hired Lotus designer Len Terry to develop their own car, resulting in the Ford-powered Eagle T2G that was co-developed with the Eagle T1G for Formula 1. The team left Formula One in 1968 to concentrate on the Champ Car series. In the 1980s, the team partnered with Toyota to develop the Celica for the IMSA GT Championship.

Among the Gurney AAR Indy Eagles was the Rislone-sponsored example driven by Bobby Unser to his first of three '500' wins. Power was from an Offenhauser four-cylinder engine that was enhanced with the help of a turbocharger, this being the first occasion on which a turbocharged engine won the '500.'

Another AAR Indy Eagle was built for team owner Lindsey Hopkins and driven by Roger McCluskey to a 7th-place qualifying start for the 1968 Indy 500. It ran as high as 2nd place before its day ended prematurely due to a coolant leak. The Eagle was powered by a 2.65-liter turbocharged Offenhauser engine that offered approximately 750 horsepower at 8500 RPM. The engine was backed by a Hewland LG500 Mk1 4-speed gearbox and had an overall weight of 1,380 lbs.

An AAR Indy Eagle of Team Penske was driven by Mark Donohue to fifth place in the USAC road race at Mosport, Canada. The Eagle was converted to methanol for the Riverside Indy Car season finale race, and Donohue chased Gurney for the lead until a broken suspension part ended his valiant drive.

by Daniel Vaughan | Apr 2020