Colt 1971 Indy car-by-car histories
Al Unser's 'Johnny Lightning' Parnelli Jones Colt at the 1971 Indy 500. Copyright Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Copyright permissions granted for non-commercial use by Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
George Bignotti built two new Colts for 1971, the principal difference in the Lola-derived cars being the broadening of the monocoque to accommodate the maximum allowed 75 gallons without the need for an extra tank. Al Unser won the Indy 500 but a change to less reliable Offy engines ruined his season. Joe Leonard stuck with the Ford engine, won the California 500, and retained his USAC title.
After winning the Indy 500 on his debut in his new 1971 Colt, Unser then used the Ford-powered 1970 Colt at the next four races, while his Colt 71 was rebuilt with the turbo Offy engine and tested encouragingly at the Speedway. The McLaren M16 had revolutionised the use of aerodynamic devices in Indy racing, with the 1971 Eagle proving to be best able to copy the McLaren's front and rear wings, but Unser and Bignotti thought that moving to the more powerful Offy engine would at least bring the Colt closer to the McLaren's performance. By this stage in the two engines' development, the turbo Ford could produce 700-750 bhp, depending on the builder, and the turbo Offy about 820-830, but the Offy was less reliable as a result. In a "tortoise and hair" strategy, Leonard's Colt 71 stayed with a Ford engine.
At Milwaukee in August, Unser tangled with the Eagle of brother Bobby and his 1970 Colt-Ford ended up in the wall, badly damaged. With the California 500 at Ontario only three weeks away, Al Unser had no choice but to use the Offy-powered Colt 71 in practice at Ontario and was delighted with the car, setting the fastest lap of the day on 24 August at 177.4 mph. The McLaren M16s and the works Eagles ended up fastest in qualifying, as was now the norm, and the Colt had been stripped of its wedge-shaped side bodywork and was now sporting a McLaren-style rear wing [and front spoilers?]. Al Unser started sixth in the revamped car, with every chance of preserving his championship points lead. Leonard, in his Ford-engined Colt 71, started ninth. After Mark Donohue's McLaren and Unser's Eagle both ran out of fuel after missing pit signals, Al Unser led comfortably until his gearbox failed with forty laps to go, letting Leonard through for a fortuitous victory, one that put him ahead of his teammate at the top of the championship points table. With both of the 1970 Colts having been damaged, Unser and Leonard used their 1971 Colts at the two remaining races, the delayed Trenton 300 and the Bobby Ball 150 at Phoenix. Bobby U led Trenton from start to finish with brother Al running second in the Colt-Offy until a bolt penetrated the Colt's main radiator and Al posted yet another retirement. Leonard's 'tortoise' Colt-Ford finished third and clinched the championship. An accident knocked Al Unser out of the final race as well, so he was pipped for second place in the championship by race winner AJ Foyt and another 'tortoise', Billy Vukovich.
The McLaren M16 had completely changed the landscape of Indy racing, and the VPJ team would need something new for 1972. In an interesting move, Jones recruited Maurice Philippe, who had designed the Lotus 72 which had been the inspiration for the McLaren M16, and he would create the Parnelli VPJ1 for the team in 1972. Mario Andretti joined VPJ from Andy Granatelli's operation, and the last time the 1971 Colts were used was at the opening race of the 1972 season, before Philippe's new creations were ready.
Al Unser's 1971 Indy 500-winning Colt '71 at the Indy Museum in June 2015. Licenced by Frank Fujimoto under Creative Commons licence Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic. Original image has been cropped.
The new 1971 Colt destined for Al Unser was first tested at Indianapolis in March 1971 and returned to the Speedway for its first race in May. Unser only qualified fifth, significantly slower than the leading Offy turbo cars, but in race trim could run with the leaders and took over the lead when Mark Donohue's McLaren M16 retired. He held on to win from Peter Revson in another McLaren. Unser won again at Milwaukee a week later but the Colt was then converted to Offy power for the rest of the season. The car proved unreliable in this form and Unser did not win another race. The car was converted to 1972 form but only raced once in that specification and was then retired. It was soon converted back to its 1971 Indy 500 winning form with Ford engine and used as a show car by Parnelli. Remained in the Vel's Parnelli Collection until the collection was sold to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum in May 2012. On display in the Museum in September 2021.
Driven by: Al Unser. First race: Indianapolis Motor Speedway (R5), 29 May 1971. Total of 5 recorded races.
Joe Leonard's Colt '71 at Pocono in 1971. Copyright Jim Stephens 2014. Used with permission.
Joe Leonard's 1971 Colt was also ready for the Indy 500, where he retired after the turbocharger failed. Leonard also drove this car at Pocono in July; at Milwaukee in August, where it failed during his qualifying run; at Ontario in September, which he won; and at at Trenton and Phoenix in October. The car was used once more in 1972 specification at Phoenix in March 1972 and was then retired. It remained in storage until 2000, when it was restored by Phil Reilly. Remained in the Vel's Parnelli Collection until the collection was sold to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum in May 2012. On display at the Amelia Island Concours D'Elegance in March 2015. On display in the museum in December 2019.
Driven by: Joe Leonard. First race: Indianapolis Motor Speedway (R5), 29 May 1971. Total of 6 recorded races.
1972
The Unser Racing Museum's 1971 Colt on display in the museum in November 2019. Copyright Ian Blackwell 2019. Used with permission.
This car was originally built as a spare car during 1971, but not needed, so only completed in early 1972 as an interim car for new team member Mario Andretti. It was updated to 1972 specification and raced by Andretti at Phoenix in March 1972, finishing second. Its history thereafter is not known, but Mike Lashmett, who was a teenage 'gofer' with the VPJ team in 1971, has commented that Andretti's car was built from a spare tub, was later used for Viceroy PR, and that it became the car in Al Unser's 1971 Johnny Lightning Special livery that has been on display at the Unser Racing Museum (Albuquerque, NM) since it opened in September 2005. Still in the museum in October 2018.
Driven by: Mario Andretti. First race: Phoenix International Raceway (R1), 18 Mar 1972. Only one recorded race.
Despite the team's success in 1971, it was clear that the McLaren M16 was a far more advanced car than the Lola-based Colts that the Vel's Parnelli team was using, so Parnelli and Miletich employed Lotus designer Maurice Philippe to design completely new cars for 1972, to be built up by George Bignotti's crew. Unser and Leonard would be joined by another big name in USAC racing, Mario Andretti, whose relationship with Andy Granatelli at STP had broken down after two years of trying to develop the McNamara cars. Andretti's chief mechanic Jim McGee moved with him from STP to Parnelli Jones.
In August 1972, Vel Miletich was interviewed by the Los Angeles Times about the considerable expense of the team, and he mentioned having "kept three cars for our own museum collection - the first and second Indy winners and Joe's championship winner". He added that the team had sold "one of its old cars for $25,000, another for $10,000". The three cars retained would be Colt 70 '001', 71 '101' and 71 '115', so one of the two cars sold would presumably have been the ex-Leonard 1970 Colt. One of the Colt-Lola T150 had been sold a year earlier to Agajanian Faas Racers, but it's not easy to see what the second car Miletich refers to could have been. One went to George Eaton, and appeared to be in late-1971 specification when he acquired it, and the other went to Salt Walther, which appeared to be in 1970 form. Walther told the press he paid $15,000, which is neither $25,000 nor $10,000. Walther's car was referred to as a 1970 Lola bought to be copied to create Colts, so there may be another car involved here. One possibility is that the other of the cars Miletich described selling could be the third 1971 Colt that Mario Andretti drove at Phoenix in March 1972, but that was an Offy car and both Walther and Eaton received Ford cars. This mystery is yet to be resolved.
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