Leonard Wood built a stunning replica of the 1965 Indy 500 winning car
STUART, Virginia -- Jim Clark's 1965 Indianapolis 500 winning car -- the famed Lotus-Ford -- will be on display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the activities leading up to Sunday's 99th Indianapolis 500. It's the 50th Anniversary of Clark's only Indianapolis 500 win in the all-time classic car that is currently owned by the Ford Motor Company and on display at the Henry Ford Museum in Greenfield Village in Michigan.
Leonard Wood has his own version of the 1965 Lotus on display at the Wood Brothers 21 Racing Museum in Stuart, Virginia -- a five-eighths scale replica of the car the Wood Brothers helped get to victory lane in the 1965 Indianapolis 500.
Wood started working on it in when he was 79 in the fall of 2013 and completed it in time for his 80th birthday last year.
"I made a go-kart for the daughter of a Ford Motor Company executive and Eddie Wood (his nephew) was impressed with the way it turned out," Wood said. "Eddie wanted me to make a go-kart for his grandson. We started kicking it around and after going to England with the real Lotus and Dario Franchitti driving it in England, I thought why not make a Lotus."
Wood started building the car by memory, but the deeper he got into the project, the more he wanted it to look like the real one. When Edsel Ford, II (great grandson of Ford founder Henry Ford and member of the Ford Motor Company Board of Directors) came to the Wood Brothers Shop, he was impressed, but said, "It would be kind of nice to make it look like the real one."
That inspired Wood to make it as realistic as possible, even though it is not full-sized.
"The further along it went the more detail needed to be made to look real," Wood said. "The uprights in the real one were tubular to make it right. As it went along it looked like Riley (Eddie's grandson) was not going to get this car. We decided to put it in the museum instead.
"The original Lotus was so tight that Jim Clark could barely get into this. I couldn't make this one half-scale because nobody would be able to get into it."
Even at 80, however, Leonard Wood is able to get into his creation and has been known to take it for a spin around the parking lot at the Wood Brothers Museum.
"I can get in it, crank it up and drive away," Wood said proudly. "It's got an onboard starter, a choke where you don't have to have somebody start it. You just slide in it, turn the key on and go at it. It's a go-kart engine with it's own charging system.
"I run it through the parking lot like wide open. This thing has tremendous grip. It has rack-and-pinion steering with it just like the real one. I can drive it all day. It drives perfect. I love the way it drives."
It's so fast, in fact, that Leonard Wood's nephews, Eddie and Len, who are currently in charge of the Wood Brothers Racing Team, get a little nervous when they hear Uncle Leonard start it up.
"Eddie and Len have put it on a table on display to keep me out of it," Leonard Wood said. "I was very thankful that I could make something like this at 79 years old but I'm even more thankful at 80 that I can still get in and out of it."
The entire car is handmade out of aluminum -- just like the original. There is a remarkable eye to detail that is given to keep it realistic.
"Of that era is this my favorite race car," Leonard said. "It's really sweet looking.
"I'll have to admit I think it turned out really well."
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