Frank Kurtis

Frank Kurtis (born January 25, 1908 , † February 17, 1987 ) was an American racing car designer. He was best known through his company Kurtis Kraft, Inc. , which was founded in 1938 and has won many Indy 500 awards.

Life

Frank Kurtis was the son of a blacksmith in Pueblo ( Colorado ) who, at that time, repaired cars as well as carriages . The family later moved to Los Angeles ( California ), where Frank a position with Don Lee Cadillac received after he cheated about his age. Frank Kurtis began building his first automobiles in 1930. These were so-called midget cars . In total, he created over 550 such vehicles and 600 more for customers to build themselves. In 1937 he built an extravagant roadster for the son of his employer, Tommy Lee . He built his first racing car for the Indianapolis 500 in 1941, adding around 120 Indy 500 cars, five of which were winners. In 1947 he built the Kurtis-Kraft Special for himself with which he took part in the Indy 500 of 1948 and finished ninth.

Kurtis sold the first half of his company to Johnny Pawl around 1950 and the second to Ralph Potter in 1962.

Awards

• 1994 inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame
• In 1999, inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
• First non-driver to be inducted into the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 1986

swell

• Frank Kurtis at the Motorsports Hall of fame
• Frank Kurtis - An American Icon
• conceptcarz.com; Kurtis at a Glance ( accessed February 13, 2012)