The collection documents Granatelli's lifelong involvement with automobiles, from his youth through his career as an auto industry executive, and as a racing car owner, designer and promoter. The collection consists primarily of files, photographs, scrapbooks, and drawings. Some of the earliest files relate to Grancor, a company founded by Granatelli and his two brothers in 1945, which customized cars for clients. Other things contained in the files include meeting minutes, articles of association, business and financial records, legal records and profit and loss statements. Also included are papers relating to an organization he started called the Hurricane Hot Rod Association.
A large portion of the files relate to Granatelli's term as President of STP, a division of the Studebaker Corporation, from 1961-1974. These files detail the internal workings of the company during this period, and include papers relating to such things as strategic planning, sales, marketing, advertising and competitors' products. Additionally, this portion contains STP's Board of Directors' minutes, documents on policies and procedures, papers documenting advertising campaigns, comparative sales figures, sales manuals, and Granatelli's business correspondence. The largest part of the files relate to the Indianapolis 500 race. There are detailed files on the drivers and race teams he assembled for the annual race, but these files also include design drawings, specifications, test data, lap logs, performance statistics, and reports documenting the implementation of design changes. The scrapbooks in the collection contain clippings, biographical materials, and other documents relating to auto racing in America and especially the Indianapolis 500. Finally, the collection contains a large number of photographs covering all aspects of Granatelli's career.
Arrangement:
Collection is arranged into nine series.
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1946-2006
Series 2: Granatelli Corporation, 1943-1975
Series 3: Studebaker Corporation, 1935-1991
Series 4: United States Auto Club (USAC)
Series 5: Novi Engine, 1949-1971
Series 6: Product Literature, 1949-1972
Series 7: Racing Programs, Publications, and Ephermera, 1940s-2007
Series 8: Photographs, 1932-2008
Series 9: Audiovisual Materials, 1960-2001
Biographical / Historical:
Andy Granatelli (1923-2013) was an automobile racing promoter, a race car engine designer and an automotive innovator. Two of his cars, a 1967 turbine engine race car and the 1969 Indianapolis 500 winner, are in National Museum of American History's Division of Work & Industry collection. More than any other racing figure, Granatelli bridged the realms of garage tinkerers and professional motorsports, and he stimulated public interest in auto racing on a national level. His STP Corporation became a high-profile sponsor of Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR race cars, with Granatelli appearing in ads and commercials. His larger-than-life personality and flair for the dramatic made him an American cultural phenomenon. His career is well summed up in the profile written for his 2003 induction into the Automotive Hall of Fame.
Racer, entrepreneur, engineer, promoter, business executive. This is how one begins to describe the career of Andy Granatelli. But the title Mister 500 is the one that befits him most, for it describes a lifelong dream to conquer the famous 500-mile race in Indianapolis.
It was a preposterous dream for the scrappy kid growing up in the slums of Chicago, whose mother had died when he was twelve, and two years later, at the age of fourteen, dropped out of school to help his father feed the family. Andy Granatelli began his quest for Indy 500 fame at the age of 20 in 1943, when he and his brother pooled their meager, hard-earned money and purchased a Texaco gas station on the north side of Chicago, which he called Andy's Super Service. Andy, always the promoter, needed a gimmick to set himself apart from other service stations. His gimmick? Granatelli initiated the first pit stop service station, utilizing four or five mechanics to work on a car at one time.
Customers appreciated the true super service experience and would often wait in line for this unique treatment. With this unique service and Andy's P.T. Barnum style it was no wonder that the station was prosperous, and just two years later, in 1945, he formed the Granatelli Corporation, known as Grancor Automotive Specialists. As the head of Grancor, Andy Granatelli pioneered the concept of mass merchandising performance products and power and speed equipment to a generation of Americans who were discovering the joys of hot rodding.
Andy quickly learned that if you give the customer what he needs, you can make a living; give him what he wants, and you can make a fortune! Granatelli's racing career began in 1946, when he built the first rocket-powered car to race on an oval track. That same year, he took his first car to the Indianapolis 500--a pre-war Harry Miller--designed Ford.
When Andy Granatelli wasn't burning up tracks, he was tearing up the business world. In 1958, Andy and his brother Joe purchased Paxton Products, a failing engineering firm that made superchargers. With Andy at the helm, Paxton Products became profitable in seven months. In 1961, Andy sold Paxton Products to Studebaker Corporation and stayed on as Paxton's CEO. Two years later, Studebaker management wanted Granatelli to work his magic on an under-performing division called Chemical Compounds Corporation. Chemical Compounds had only one, little known product . . . STP Oil Treatment. With virtually no advertising budget, Andy created a four-pronged approach to turn the company around: a recognizable corporate logo (the STP oval), a product (oil treatment), a product spokesman (himself) and a reason for existence (racing). The STP logo became one of the best recognized in history. STP could be found in virtually every venue of speed: on land, on the water or in the air. Andy Granatelli once said that in the 1960s, virtually every kid in America had an STP sticker on his bedroom door, his notebook or his lunchbox, and he was probably right!
Back at Indianapolis, Granatelli entered a revolutionary race car of his own design - one with a turbine engine in 1967 and 1968. Even though the car failed to finish both years due to mechanical failure, the cars demonstrated superior speed and performance. At the end of the 1968 season, the U.S. Auto Club revised engine specifications, effectively outlawing Granatelli's turbine car. Undeterred, Granatelli returned to Indy the following year with a conventional car and proceeded to win his first Indianapolis 500 with Mario Andretti at the wheel. Four years later, in 1973, Andy won his second and last Indy 500 with a car driven by Gordon Johncock. Andy Granatelli's childhood dream of conquering Indy was fulfilled, not once, but twice.
Source
Andy Granatelli Biography, Automotive Hall of Fame (last accessed January 29, 2020 https://www.automotivehalloffame.org/honoree/andy-granatelli/)
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center
Warshaw Collection of Business American, Series: Automobile Industry (NMAH.AC.0060)
Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated American Sheet Music, Series 1: Transportation (NMAH.AC.0300)
Evan Rangeloff Collection of Punchboards and Liggett & Myers Tobacco Sales Materials (NMAH.AC.0716)
Materials at the National Museum of American History, Division of Work and Industry
The Divison holds artifacts related to STP and the STP-Paxton Turbo Car. Included are key chains, trophies, STP stickers, TuneUp Masters stickers, belt buckle, and patch. See accession 2017.3043.
STP-Paxton Turbocar, 1967. See accession 1978.0418.
Materials at the National Museum of American History, Division of Cultural and Community Life
Division holds artifacts related to Andy Grantelli's racing career such as helmets, goggles, trophies, and coveralls and vests with the STP logo. See accession 2017.0092.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Vincent J. Granatelli, 2017.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Viewing film and audio portion of collection requires special appointment. See repository for details.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Bryce Canyon National Park -- photographs -- 1930-1940 -- Utah
Wyoming -- photographs -- 1930-1940
Colorado -- photographs -- 1930-1940
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- photographs -- 1930-1940
South Dakota -- photographs -- 1930-1940
Florida -- photographs -- 1930-1940
Georgia -- photographs -- 1930-1940
Tennessee -- photographs -- 1930-1940
Zion National Park (Utah) -- photographs -- 1930-1940
Kentucky -- photographs -- 1930-1940
Mt. Rushmore S.D. -- photographs -- 1930-1940
Black Hills (S.D. and Wyo.) -- photographs -- 1930-1940
Badlands National Park (S.D.) -- 1930-1940 photographs
Date:
1935 - 1940
Summary:
The collection consists of a disassembled photograph album, featuring images from the travels of Stauffer and his wife.
Scope and Contents:
This album consists of 109 loose pages, bearing a total of 134 black and white silver gelatin photoprints, some postcards, and a photomechanical reproduction clipped from a publication, with a 1939 World's Fair ticket stub. The subjects of the photographs include: Lincoln's birthplace and other sites in Kentucky; Tennessee; Georgia; Florida; Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts; the 1939 New York World's Fair, ships in Battery Park and Manhattan buildings; the ships The Normandie, The Queen Mary, and The U.S.S. Constitution and the Southern Clipper airplane; the Badlands and Black Hills of South Dakota, Cathedral Spires and Mount Rushmore portrait busts during construction; Yellowstone National Park and Wyoming; Rocky Mountain National Park, Pikes Peak and Denver, Colorado; Bryce Canyon, the Mormon Temple, Zion National Park, Salt Lake City and other areas of Utah; Boulder Dam; Santa Catalina Island; Carlsbad Caverns; and celebrities Bill Robinson and Eddie "Rochester" Anderson at a barbecue in Los Angeles. There are also photographs of the Stauffers and of friends whom they visited during their travels.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into
Biographical / Historical:
Born in Alliance, Ohio on November 28, 1899, Clyde Stauffer served in the U.S. Navy from November 8, 1917 to July 31, 1919. He later worked as a police officer in Detroit, Michigan. He and his wife were active in the Veterans of Foreign Wars police post in Detroit, serving terms as post commander and president of the Women's Auxiliary, respectively. They traveled extensively throughout the United States to attend VFW meetings, and the album forms a record of their travels during the years 1935-1940. After retirement from the Detroit police force, the Stauffers moved to Oscoda, Michigan, and he worked at Wurtsmith Air Force Base. Later they lived in Tucson, Arizona. Stauffer died in August, 1984.
Album forms a record of vacation travel by Mr. and Mrs. Clyde W. Stauffer, 1935-1940. Their travels were occasioned by Mr. Stauffer's position as commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars police post of Detroit, Michigan, and the need to attend V.F.W. meetings around the country. Mrs. Stauffer was president of the V.F.W. auxiliary. Mr. and Mrs. James H. Stern met the Stauffers in Oscoda, Michigan, and both families eventually relocated in Tucson, Arizona.
Provenance:
This collection was bequeathed by Clyde W. Stauffer in August 1984. Mr. Stern, as administrator of the estate, sent the album to the Museum.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
Automobile travel -- Photographs -- 1930-1940 -- U.S.A. Search this
Photograph apparently taken either by Clyde W. Stauffer or Mrs. Stauffer at barbecue during Mr. Stauffer's tour of V.F.W. chapers.
Local Numbers:
AC0139-0000001 (AC scan no.)
93-12795 (OPS neg no.)
Restrictions:
Unrestricted research use on site by appointment. Photographs must be handled with cotton gloves unless protected by sleeves.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
Barbecue cookery -- 1940 -- Los Angeles Cal. -- Photographs Search this
