STP-Paxton Turbocar
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| Category | USAC Roadster | ||||||||
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| Constructor | Granatelli | ||||||||
| Designer(s) | Ken Wallis Andy Granatelli |
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| Technical specifications | |||||||||
| Chassis | Space frame | ||||||||
| Suspension (front) | Double wishbone with coil spring | ||||||||
| Suspension (rear) | Double wishbone with coil spring | ||||||||
| Engine | United Aircraft of Canada ST6B-62 gas turbine, mid-mounted | ||||||||
| Transmission | 1-speed | ||||||||
| Tyres | Firestone | ||||||||
| Competition history | |||||||||
| Notable entrants |
 STP Division of Studebaker Corp.
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| Notable drivers |
Parnelli Jones Joe Leonard
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| Debut | 1967 Indianapolis 500 | ||||||||
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The STP-Paxton Turbocar was an American racing car, designed by Ken Wallis as the STP entry in the Indianapolis 500.
Wallis, a distant relative of Barnes Wallis, had developed a workable plan for harnessing a gas turbine to a race car. He first presented the idea to Dan Gurney, who passed on the idea. Wallis then offered the plan to Carroll Shelby and Shelby said (according to later court testimony), "Hogwash." Finally, Andy Granatelli of STP expressed interest in the concept. Wallis and his crew moved in with Andy's brother Joe at STP's Paxton division in Santa Monica, and they began work on the turbocar in January 1966. It was Granatelli who introduced a side-by-side concept — that is, putting the mid-mounted (relative to the wheelbase) engine at the driver's left (a similar idea, with the driver in an offset gondola on the left, had been used by Smokey Yunick several years earlier). Granatelli also added four-wheel drive to the design.
The aluminum frame of the car was badly warped during heat treating in early 1966, eliminating any possibility of the car racing in the 1966 Indianapolis 500. Work started over again and the car was ready for the 1967 Indianapolis 500. Parnelli Jones drove the car during tire testing in Phoenix early that year and was impressed with the car. He agreed to drive the car in the Indianapolis 500 after being offered $100,000 and half of any prize money he won.
Jones qualified the car at Indianapolis in sixth place at 166.075 mph. At the start of the race, he quickly took the lead and rarely relinquished it. However, with just eight miles left to go, he coasted into the pits with a transmission bearing failure. The car was refurbished and entered by STP in the 1968 Indianapolis 500. Driven by Joe Leonard, the car crashed into the wall during qualifying and never raced again.
The car was originally donated to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History by the STP Corporation. It is currently on loan to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum. Curiously, rather than model this car Mattel chose to make a model of the similar "Shelby Turbine" which practised at Indianapolis in 1968 as one of the popular Hot Wheels toy cars. The Lotus 56 used a modified version of the same engine and 4 wheel drive in a more advanced wedge-shaped body with new USAC intake restrictions, but one car crashed and the 3 entered into the race did not finish either before USAC banned turbine and 4-wheel drive cars entirely.
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