For decades, the Indy 500 was one of the very fastest, most prestigious motor races the world over. It attracted not only top talents from Europe and factory efforts here in the US, but also bonkers works from small-time, innovative garages. And we got some nutty engines out of the whole thing.
My personal favorite weirdo Indy 500 engine was Porsche's turbocharged flat six developed out of the 935 engine they raced at the end of the '70s. Here's what it looked like:
Porsche's Interscope-branded Indy program ended up a bust when official politics neutered the engine and got the Interscope team to drop the German motor. Porsche, however, then took that same engine, stuffed it into an aging 936 prototype body (pictured at top), and won the 1981 24 Hours of Le Mans with it.
What do you think is the craziest engine of Indy 500 history?
Photo Credit: Porsche, Engine photo from Porsche via 8w