1954 Kurtis 500S

This car took part in the Louis Vuitton 1950s Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in August 1996.

Frank Kurtis is probably better known for his cars that ran in the Indianapolis 500 race in the 1950s,  winning of five occasions, but he also built the small engined (by American standards) cars that dominated American midget car racing which took place round a ¼ mile or ½ mile oval track. He also built the Kurtis roadsters that were basically Indianapolis 500 cars with a two seater body and these were very successful in the USA, particularly on the winding circuits of the West Coast where they frequently beat the more sophisticated imported European cars. The Kurtis 500S was powered by a variety of American V8 engines, most frequently a 331 cu in Cadillac unit, but the programme of this Silverstone event doesn't identify the make of engine, just that the capacity is 4,900cc which is about 300 cu in. It was entered for the race by Don Shead and driven by James Shead.