Boyle Special

“The Greatest Show in Racing” is what Americans call the Indianapolis 500 and they have some cause to for doing so. It is not that there are no other top draw races and tracks in the USA as the Daytona 24 Hours and the Sebring 12 Hours are testament to. These two events have made history and are widely followed but, the one that is known all over the world, and that embodies the All-American lifestyle, is the Indy.

Typically American oval circuits, ones that allow the crowd to see all the cars at the same time, are not that popular in Europe. Here, city circuits like Monte Carlo, road circuits like Le Mans and dedicated autodromes such as Monza are all the rage. European cars have always found it tough adjusting to oval tracks. This is partly because their engines and chassis are always pushed to the max and partly because the suspension and tyres have to be able to cope with repeated and continuous stress. A straight, a ninety degree corner, a straight and then another ninety degree corner; things never change for 500 miles. There is no let up in the tempo.

Given this, it is not hard to imagine why car manufacturers have chosen this corner of Indiana as a testing ground for their models since 1911. The endorsement of a European manufacturer has always drawn much interest but one car builder went a step further: Maserati. Maserati claimed victory at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway two years running; in 1939 and 1940. Wilbur Shaw was at the wheel of the 8CTF that left the tough competition trailing. The car was nicknamed the Boyle Special in honour of the US-based sponsor who financed the two efforts. The double win could easily have become three but a defective wheel put paid to the 1941 challenge.

The fixed head, 8-cylinder car was tagged the 8CTF. It was conceived by Ernesto Maserati at the beginning of 1938. With the Orsi family providing precious backing, Maserati’s innovative designer was no longer shackled by economic restraint and Maserati duly opted for a three-litre supercharged engine; a tried and tested set up. Under the bonnet, each bank of four cylinders was independently powered and the engine was fitted with Roots compressors. The 8CTF project progressed very quickly and, by 1939, the engine was producing some 365 bhp. The powerful engine combined with formidable reliability were the factors that allowed Shaw to collect his two famous wins. But how was it that Michael J Boyle or ‘Umbrella Mike’, boss of Chicago’s biggest union, decided to collaborate with Maserati? Boyle was a familiar face on the Indy scene and he understood that he would not be able to squeeze any more out of the usual Miller and Stevens cars he already owned. Impressed by the performance of a Maserati 6CM he bought in 1938, Boyle ordered his chief mechanic, Harry ‘Cotton’ Henning, to visit Bologna and Maserati’s HQ. There he successfully negotiated the purchase of an 8CTF. Once back in the States, ‘Cotton’ set the car up for the Indy 500 and, with the help of a brilliant team of mechanics, managed to wring every last ounce of performance out of the car. The results were not long in coming.

The 1939 race was hard fought from start to finish. Over the 200 laps run, Wilbur Shaw had a long duel with Cliff Bergere in the Miller Ford-Offenhauser - who eventually finished third. In second was another tricky customer: the Adams-Sparks driven by Jimmy Snyder. In the end though, Shaw held on to cross the line first. Almost twenty years had passed since a European car had won at Indy and Wilbur Shaw was so pleased at his victory that he sent Maserati a photograph of himself alongside the car. He had written underneath: “To the Maserati brothers for having built such an amazing car”.

This is the story of how a small Italian constructor triumphed and become part of history at the most famous American motor-racing event.