Dan Gurney's first Indianapolis Eagle Turbo joins the Monterey auction scene

It seems that almost every time a vintage open-wheeler comes up at auction, it has glorious European badging and history. Something with a prancing horse or a trident perhaps, along with stories about laps turned at Spa or Monaco. Nothing wrong with that. But this is precisely what makes one lot at Russo and Steele’s Aug. 14-16 Monterey auction stand out. It’s truly all-American.

Built in 1968, the cigar-shaped Indianapolis Eagle was the first of its kind built by Santa Ana, Calif.-based All American Racers (AAR), the storied outfit owned by successful businessman Lindsey Hopkins and run by legendary driver turned team boss Dan Gurney.

Sporting a massive number 8 on the flanks of its multi-hued livery (its distinctive “beak” in flaming orange giving way to a deep blue), this particular machine was driven by Roger McCluskey, who rarely met a vehicle he couldn’t muscle to the podium.

McCluskey’s career included wins in sprint, champ and stock car divisions, and appearances in everything from the ‘70s IROC races to the 24 Hours of Le Mans (whose 1967 edition found him pulling fellow Ford GT40 driver Mario Andretti to safety after a crash). He drove Indy Eagle Chassis 40-1 at the 1968 Indianapolis 500, qualifying seventh and then running as high as second before an early retirement. When Bobby Unser won in a sister car, it demonstrated the prowess of Gurney’s snorting 750-hp Offenhauser-powered machines.

“This car hits all the right marks in that it’s a great piece of history but it’s fully sorted and ready for any number of vintage racing events,” says Drew Alcazar, CEO of Russo and Steele, whose annual Monterey auction during the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance week unfolds at the waterfront near Fisherman’s Wharf.

“With more people snapping up vintage racers, getting on the grid these days is increasingly competitive,” says Alcazar, noting the usual frenzy at Italy’s Mille Miglia Storica, where having a vintage Alfa Romeo is far from a guarantee of making the cut from a few thousand submissions down to the race’s 350 entrants. “When you show up with something like this Eagle, which has great history and a genius like Dan Gurney behind it, that changes things in your favor.”

Indeed everyone associated with this early Indy Eagle has a story. Gurney’s exploits as a driver are well known, though perhaps less so his subsequent success designing and building winning Formula One, Indy and other sports cars. McCluskey went on to become president of the Indy-based United States Auto Club. And owner Hopkins, once Coca-Cola’s second biggest shareholder, fielded a number of Indy 500 entries and also was founding co-owner of the New Orleans Saints football team.

This racer was fully restored by Walter Goodwin of Indianapolis’ Race Car Restorations, and its viability as a vintage racer was put on display in 1998 when Bobby Rahal flogged her around the snaking track at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in England. Russo doesn’t offer pre-auction estimates, but with this sort of flag-waving pedigree the bidding for this Eagle is sure to be lively.