I remember this project! Jackie Stewart was rumoured to drive it. There was a cartoon in one of the motoring magazines where the team manager says to Jackie: "Now remember to shovel like hell as you go down the back straight!"
Having grown up as a total Indy 500 fan I absolutely loved the 1960's and 70's at the Brickyard. Some of the best and brightest minds were always coming up with wild ideas on design and construction in the quest to build a cutting edge race car. Unfortunately, that's all gone now as IndyCar, while still exciting and very competitive, has become "Homogenized" as a "Spec Car" series. During those two heady decades almost every car was unique unto its self. Some, obviously, better designs than others but the individuality was absolute Magic to me in my teens and twenties. This LEAR Vapordyne IndyCar looks like it would have been right at home with some other the other more "Radical" designs which you have mentioned; The STP Turbine Cars from Andy and Vince Granatelli and the Howmet "Hornet" Turbine car (I didn't know that it had scored one race win. When and where that would have been is a mystery to me.) I've just found your channel and I've subscribed immediately. Cheers, Tim
Cheers Tim, glad you enjoyed. If I recall correctly the Howmet won its only race at a Sebring 12h event in Group 6. I also covered episodes on the Cummins diesel Indycar, and the Porsche Indycar
The problem was this project was all enthusiasm and no engineering. The steam engine is less thermally efficient than internal combustion and you need to condense the water and reuse it if you want to stay in the race. The problem was that a condenser big enough to do the job was too large for the car ... but nobody figured that out until a bundle had been blown on the project. Lear hired some really questionable engineers who knew nothing about steam, but said what he wanted to hear, while ignoring those who knew a lot about the subject but didn't say what he wanted.
@@HSGAutomotive I know its late to the game but yes, or contracted with the besslers, they did build a steam powered prop aircraft, and made all kinds of engines, and did all kinds of things with flash boilers of a drum type, thing is steam is heavy has high high power but all the tubing and metal needed to hold it fast would make it very heavy and then to carry the water and fuel, its not that it could not do the job they have hummers and show cars that run on steam but the range is very short, it might work as a pulling tractor or drag racer but not fore something as long distance as indy, now they do have smaller steam engines like the cyclone or concept locomotives or engines for generating that are rotery expansion engines, which are kind of like wankle engines but powered off steam they use a modified type of rotor and differant gearing to shaft of it to provide power thats not too huge but heavy for a race car, the concept is there and could be niche but not likely for endurace racing.
You are spot on. Let's not forget the "Learium" and similar lies; since Mr. Lear wanted to scared to 3 big US car makers into buying this whole endvour.
"...but nobody figured that out until a bundle had been blown on the project..." If these questionable engineers had taken a course in thermodynamics, they would have understood this.
FYI closest example of the engine is the napier deltic used in Diesel trains. It is an opposed piston engine with two opposed pistons in each cylinder set in a triangle (x2). The engine has 3 crank shafts united with a shared center shaft. The deltic produced over 1000hp, but weighed...well...a much as a train, but the principle isn't unimaginable, just highly optimistic. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napier_Deltic
Ah, of course! It's steam powered, how could I possibly have known?! Seriously though, a steam powered Indycar sounds awesome. I didn't even know steam powered cars were used regularly post-1900. I love this series, you can learn so much. Edit: 13 million USD. In the 60s! And it never even worked. That's really crazy and sad. Edit 2: And the steering the wrong way story just tops it off, that's hilarious.
Please do a video on the Barney Navarro 6 cylinder Rambler indy car. It had plenty of horsepower, however, the chassis was old. I think he might invented the pop off valve for turbochargers. Anyway, amagnificent failure. I think with the proper money and chassis, it would have succeeded. In many of the pictures you'll see AJ Watson standing in the background. It was Watson's 64 Rodger Ward chassis that the engine sat in.
I saw it at Harrah's collection in Reno in 1974. It was the largest collection of classic cars in the world, now, alas, split up. It was a HUGE warehouse crammed with cars, many of little interest. But others... Oh my DOG. The Corsair looked like the 1930s idea of sci-fi. I believe it was the idea of an heir to the Heinz 57 company and was a rebodied Cord 812 that sat six. Lotsa Deusenbergs but the jewels of the collection were two of the six Bugatti Royals made. I was alone in the huge place, aside from the young (my age at the time) caretaker. It ws soon obvious that I knew a lot more than he did about the cars so he let me sit in one of the Royals, a thrill that stays with me to this day.
Very obscure engine for sure. I have a request. Could you do a video on old group 4 FIA cars with very big obnoxious body kits from 90/80 because I wanted to search them and I couldn't find anything in particular. They are a great base for some unsung heroes for sure
a reimagination of the idea... imagine this tech being used in locomotives driving alternators to feed the drive trucks. lighter locomotives which could use multiple truck assemblies the length of the chassis in a word.
God I would love for some modders to recreate some of these cars for Assetto Corsa, I would love simulating the experiences of such crazy car stories, this, the howmet, the Lamborghini group c, wish I had the talent to make it happen
That's some serious "sackful of Badgers" level craziness. If nothing else, the steam pressures needed for 1,000hp would be brown trousers level terrifying. The thought of what would've happened had the car actually worked, made it into the race, and then crashed? Race over, crater in the track stops play. The casualties in the crowd would be unthinkable - both from the shrapnel from the KABOOM!, and from the scalding from the steam powering the KABOOM! Even worse, there would be the potential of a secondary Fuel/Air explosion from the kerosene fuel being vaporized by the steam & meeting an ignition source - like the 1,000+ degree boiler... TBH, I wouldn't be at all surprised if some/all of the engineers who built this abortion had realized the danger inherent in the idea, and were mostly humoring Lear, while having no intention of the car ever being able to run at any track...
Though safety concerns would be valid, the idea of a steam car running immense numbers isn't unrealistic, or unsafe. The Doble E20 produced 1,000 lbft of torque in 1925 and made it the fastest steam road car around, at roughly 130 mph. Not Indycar level performance by 60's standards, but it was the equivalent of a Bugatti Veyron in its time, and the torque output alone proves the engineering can be done safely with the right design.
@@HSGAutomotive ... And, if I may be so presumptuous... a re-design using new materials, sensors, and control systems makes a safe steam engine powered automobile technically possible, now more than ever. (I really want to grow my own fuel.)
Cool looking, but a total harebrained scheme, seems he didn't even look at boiler tech, pressure vessels, or the difference between the application of torque and horsepower for racing performance before just going all in and spending enough to make a traditional or turbine powered car and program that could have been successful and actually added to the progress of usable technology, sort of sad really. The guy must have been a great sales person, or just had money to burn he didn't earn with any effort. They could have made a turbine generator with 4 electric motors, or relevant development on advancing turbos and internal combustion engines for that sort of money, and made money from they investment while creating even more real jobs.
there are many examples of why some would call me a smart-ass. this however...i had NO clue. none. nada. zip. zero and i think this is the damnedest ride i have heard about. really cool!
I remember this project! Jackie Stewart was rumoured to drive it. There was a cartoon in one of the motoring magazines where the team manager says to Jackie: "Now remember to shovel like hell as you go down the back straight!"
Having grown up as a total Indy 500 fan I absolutely loved the 1960's and 70's at the Brickyard. Some of the best and brightest minds were always coming up with wild ideas on design and construction in the quest to build a cutting edge race car. Unfortunately, that's all gone now as IndyCar, while still exciting and very competitive, has become "Homogenized" as a "Spec Car" series. During those two heady decades almost every car was unique unto its self. Some, obviously, better designs than others but the individuality was absolute Magic to me in my teens and twenties. This LEAR Vapordyne IndyCar looks like it would have been right at home with some other the other more "Radical" designs which you have mentioned; The STP Turbine Cars from Andy and Vince Granatelli and the Howmet "Hornet" Turbine car (I didn't know that it had scored one race win. When and where that would have been is a mystery to me.) I've just found your channel and I've subscribed immediately. Cheers, Tim
Cheers Tim, glad you enjoyed. If I recall correctly the Howmet won its only race at a Sebring 12h event in Group 6. I also covered episodes on the Cummins diesel Indycar, and the Porsche Indycar
I see the unsung heroes cars are getting funky
The problem was this project was all enthusiasm and no engineering. The steam engine is less thermally efficient than internal combustion and you need to condense the water and reuse it if you want to stay in the race. The problem was that a condenser big enough to do the job was too large for the car ... but nobody figured that out until a bundle had been blown on the project. Lear hired some really questionable engineers who knew nothing about steam, but said what he wanted to hear, while ignoring those who knew a lot about the subject but didn't say what he wanted.
Its unfortunate, because the Doble clearly showed the raw potential of steam even in the 20's.
@@HSGAutomotive I know its late to the game but yes, or contracted with the besslers, they did build a steam powered prop aircraft, and made all kinds of engines, and did all kinds of things with flash boilers of a drum type, thing is steam is heavy has high high power but all the tubing and metal needed to hold it fast would make it very heavy and then to carry the water and fuel, its not that it could not do the job they have hummers and show cars that run on steam but the range is very short, it might work as a pulling tractor or drag racer but not fore something as long distance as indy, now they do have smaller steam engines like the cyclone or concept locomotives or engines for generating that are rotery expansion engines, which are kind of like wankle engines but powered off steam they use a modified type of rotor and differant gearing to shaft of it to provide power thats not too huge but heavy for a race car, the concept is there and could be niche but not likely for endurace racing.
You are spot on. Let's not forget the "Learium" and similar lies; since Mr. Lear wanted to scared to 3 big US car makers into buying this whole endvour.
@@gafrers Low brow promotions like the secret "Learium" was supposed to attact favorable attention to his project.
"...but nobody figured that out until a bundle had been blown on the project..." If these questionable engineers had taken a course in thermodynamics, they would have understood this.
FYI closest example of the engine is the napier deltic used in Diesel trains. It is an opposed piston engine with two opposed pistons in each cylinder set in a triangle (x2). The engine has 3 crank shafts united with a shared center shaft. The deltic produced over 1000hp, but weighed...well...a much as a train, but the principle isn't unimaginable, just highly optimistic.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napier_Deltic
There’s plenty of opposed piston engines
Opposed piston engines are more efficient than any other kind.
The Deltic produced over 5000 hp, in its final locomotive iteration
I guessed it right before you even said that it was. xD Such an interesting concept for an engine, to power it through steam.
11:35 seems james and richard built it
the indy car was just the first step in the development of a steam powered Learjet and portable 8 track player
I remember seeing the Peter Pellandine steam car demonstrate at Shelsley Walsh years ago.
Ah, of course! It's steam powered, how could I possibly have known?!
Seriously though, a steam powered Indycar sounds awesome. I didn't even know steam powered cars were used regularly post-1900. I love this series, you can learn so much.
Edit: 13 million USD. In the 60s! And it never even worked. That's really crazy and sad.
Edit 2: And the steering the wrong way story just tops it off, that's hilarious.
Yeah what a car xD
The Stanley Steamer “Rocket” set the world land speed record at 127.6 mph in 1906.
Please do a video on the Barney Navarro 6 cylinder Rambler indy car. It had plenty of horsepower, however, the chassis was old. I think he might invented the pop off valve for turbochargers. Anyway, amagnificent failure. I think with the proper money and chassis, it would have succeeded. In many of the pictures you'll see AJ Watson standing in the background. It was Watson's 64 Rodger Ward chassis that the engine sat in.
1938 Phantom Corsair " The Car Of The Future "
''The Flying Wombat'' as it is also sometimes called. Saw it at Goodwood
I saw it at Harrah's collection in Reno in 1974. It was the largest collection of classic cars in the world, now, alas, split up. It was a HUGE warehouse crammed with cars, many of little interest. But others... Oh my DOG. The Corsair looked like the 1930s idea of sci-fi. I believe it was the idea of an heir to the Heinz 57 company and was a rebodied Cord 812 that sat six. Lotsa Deusenbergs but the jewels of the collection were two of the six Bugatti Royals made. I was alone in the huge place, aside from the young (my age at the time) caretaker. It ws soon obvious that I knew a lot more than he did about the cars so he let me sit in one of the Royals, a thrill that stays with me to this day.
Would be nice to have steam powered range extenders on hybrids nowadays
Very obscure engine for sure. I have a request. Could you do a video on old group 4 FIA cars with very big obnoxious body kits from 90/80 because I wanted to search them and I couldn't find anything in particular. They are a great base for some unsung heroes for sure
Possibly
@@HSGAutomotive thanks
This is like when a boss asks an engineer to design a moonshot without any idea what it would take.
a reimagination of the idea...
imagine this tech being used in locomotives driving alternators to feed the drive trucks.
lighter locomotives which could use multiple truck assemblies the length of the chassis in a word.
Research and development was tax deductible till 2020. Business is business
The deltic engine had a diesel big brother... How did that not get mentioned?
so a USB stick with wheels..
a harmonica on wheels
Neither one of those makes any sense
It’s a Keurig coffee maker on wheels.
is it mango flavoured?
Vape stick with wheels.
SpeedyPuff 5000
God I would love for some modders to recreate some of these cars for Assetto Corsa, I would love simulating the experiences of such crazy car stories, this, the howmet, the Lamborghini group c, wish I had the talent to make it happen
If some of my plans for the future pan out, you might not need to rely on AC modders for these kind of cars... ;)
That's some serious "sackful of Badgers" level craziness. If nothing else, the steam pressures needed for 1,000hp would be brown trousers level terrifying. The thought of what would've happened had the car actually worked, made it into the race, and then crashed? Race over, crater in the track stops play. The casualties in the crowd would be unthinkable - both from the shrapnel from the KABOOM!, and from the scalding from the steam powering the KABOOM! Even worse, there would be the potential of a secondary Fuel/Air explosion from the kerosene fuel being vaporized by the steam & meeting an ignition source - like the 1,000+ degree boiler...
TBH, I wouldn't be at all surprised if some/all of the engineers who built this abortion had realized the danger inherent in the idea, and were mostly humoring Lear, while having no intention of the car ever being able to run at any track...
Though safety concerns would be valid, the idea of a steam car running immense numbers isn't unrealistic, or unsafe. The Doble E20 produced 1,000 lbft of torque in 1925 and made it the fastest steam road car around, at roughly 130 mph. Not Indycar level performance by 60's standards, but it was the equivalent of a Bugatti Veyron in its time, and the torque output alone proves the engineering can be done safely with the right design.
@@HSGAutomotive ... And, if I may be so presumptuous... a re-design using new materials, sensors, and control systems makes a safe steam engine powered automobile technically possible, now more than ever. (I really want to grow my own fuel.)
Also known as the Vape-powered Kazoo.
Pine wood derby
i want an Indy Water powered car
yeah... it can work too
Cool looking, but a total harebrained scheme, seems he didn't even look at boiler tech, pressure vessels, or the difference between the application of torque and horsepower for racing performance before just going all in and spending enough to make a traditional or turbine powered car and program that could have been successful and actually added to the progress of usable technology, sort of sad really. The guy must have been a great sales person, or just had money to burn he didn't earn with any effort. They could have made a turbine generator with 4 electric motors, or relevant development on advancing turbos and internal combustion engines for that sort of money, and made money from they investment while creating even more real jobs.
Hi man, would the Ford car with the mini-nuke in the back work for Unsung Heroes?lol that shit would be amazing
Haha, the Nucleon. Probably not since there was never much of an attempt to make it real if I recall correctly
@@HSGAutomotive drat lol anyway keep rocking man!been enjoying the series from the start!
Thanks my dude. Be sure to vote on your favourite episodes on the Discord!
im sure chinman and his genius mechanics can figure something out to get it to work
It's a fucking steam locomotive race car... WTF
ikr XD
there are many examples of why some would call me a smart-ass. this however...i had NO clue. none. nada. zip. zero and i think this is the damnedest ride i have heard about.
really cool!