One of the most famous cars in the history of the Indianapolis 500, the Watson-Offy Roadster known as Ol’ Calhoun enjoyed a celebrated career over its five years in competition, which began at the 1960 running of the Memorial Day Classic. Owner J.C. Agajanian, a wealthy Southern California hog farmer and refuse collector, had purchased the brand new A.J. Watson-built roadster, No. 10 of the 23 Watsons built, for Texas ace Lloyd Ruby, who qualified the red-painted roadster 12th and finished seventh. Ruby also drove the car in both USAC races in Milwaukee. Agajanian returned to Indy in 1961 with the car, now finished in red, white and blue, officially named the “Willard Battery Special” and with a new driver: 27-year-old, California oval ace Rufus Parnelli Jones. The young Jones qualified the roadster in fifth place and took the lead early in the race, running with the leaders until being struck on the forehead by a piece of debris. He then slowed, driving one-handed while wiping the blood from inside his goggles. Jones finished 12th and shared Rookie of the Year honors with Bobby Marshman. The team challenged again in 1962; Jones, who had given the car its famous nickname, became the first Indy 500 driver to surpass 150 MPH in qualifying, but his fortunes faded with his brakes late in the race, ending in a seventh-place finish. On their third try together in 1963, Jones and Ol’ Calhoun were not to be denied. After qualifying on the pole, Jones opened a substantial lead that went largely unchallenged until late in the race, when Jim Clark’s radical mid-engined Lotus began to close the gap. Controversy ensued when Ol’ Calhoun’s external oil tank split and began leaking onto the track, endangering those in its wake. Chief steward Harlan Fengler eventually ruled against black-flagging Jones, who went on to claim his first and only 500 victory as a driver. Jones and his Roadster made one last effort at winning the 500 in 1964. Ol’ Calhoun, now well past its “Best Before” date but by then finely honed to its fullest potential, qualified a respectable fourth behind the new Lotus racers of Clark and Marshman and A.J. Foyt’s conventional Watson, but a dramatic fire in the pits put an unfortunate end to Ol’ Calhoun’s racing career. Jones would go on to fulfill his promise as one of America’s greatest race drivers and an ambassador of the sport before his passing in 2024, and Ol’ Calhoun took its rightful place in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, but the two have remained inseparable in the minds of the Brickyard faithful who witnessed the pair in their halcyon days together. Jones himself tried to convince Speedway Museum management to allow him to purchase his faithful mount, but when that failed, he turned to renowned Indy Car expert Chris Paulsen to create this exacting replica. In that endeavor, the museum gave Jones and Paulsen their full cooperation, allowing the original car to be taken apart and measured in every detail in order to achieve maximum authenticity in the re-creation. Appropriately adorned in its 1963 Indy-winning No. 98 livery of Pearlescent White, Candy Apple Blue and Candy Apple Red, the car sports a new 255 CI Offenhauser inline 4-cylinder engine installed in 2024. Its black-upholstered cockpit incorporates the array of U.S. gauges, a padded steering wheel, in-and-out transmission and Simpson safety harnesses seen in the original. Significant details such as the faired-in front suspension, polished exhaust and Firestone racing tires on gold knock-off racing wheels complete this most evocative re-creation of a true Indy 500 legend. Eligible for Vintage Indy and Miller Meet vintage Indy Car events, this faithful replica of the original Ol’ Calhoun comes with extra gear sets and original Ol’ Calhoun spare racing tires.
