Claiming record-breaking speeds, a mysterious 15-year disappearance, and a more recent resurgence as a Northeastern show regular, the 1961 Ewing Dean Van Lines Special embodies a story worthy of a Hollywood film. Al Dean was a suave Los Angeles-based moving van executive and racing enthusiast who created his own team, starting in 1953 with dirt-track cars. Incrementally more successful each year, the Dean Van Lines team eventually employed future driving legends A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti.
The team campaigned a new racecar or two almost every year, and these Offenhauser-powered roadsters were developed and tuned by team manager Clint Brawner; they were referred to as the Dean Van Lines Specials. In 1960 the Dean team retained driver Eddie Sachs, a mercurial star who had worked his way up from washing dishes at the Brickyard cafeteria, declaring his intent to one day win the Indianapolis 500. His steed was to be a brand-new roadster built by A.J. Watson metal-shaping specialist Wayne Ewing. While the new car was quite similar to the Watson roadsters that dominated Indianapolis from 1956 to 1964, there were a few differences, particularly in the shape of the cowl and windshield support… read more >
