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.
4.38 Cubic feet (consisting of 9.5 boxes, 4 oversize folders, 1 map case folder.)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Business cards
Advertising cards
Advertisements
Business letters
Legal documents
Caricatures
Publications
Printed material
Letterheads
Technical manuals
Receipts
Design patents
Patents
Manuals
Advertising fliers
Advertising
Reports
Printed ephemera
Ephemera
Printed materials
Business records
Technical reports
Periodicals
Commercial correspondence
Business ephemera
Photographs
Newsletters
Illustrations
Print advertising
Invoices
Correspondence
Advertising mail
Date:
1838-1981
Summary:
A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Petroleum forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Subseries 1.1: Subject Categories. The Subject Categories subseries is divided into 470 subject categories based on those created by Mr. Warshaw. These subject categories include topical subjects, types or forms of material, people, organizations, historical events, and other categories. An overview to the entire Warshaw collection is available here: Warshaw Collection of Business Americana
Scope and Contents:
The subject category Petroleum relates to the manufacturing, refining, and sales of petroleum and other oil-based products including use in motors, spindles machinery, cylinders and by painters
Within these materials there exists producer and supplier overlap with other fuel, oil, and lubricant product lines such as linseed, rosin, whale, and refined vegetable oils. See also subject categories Automobile Industry, Aviation, Coal, Engines, Gas, Oils and Lubricants, plus other related topics, as applicable.
Petroleum includes business records, serial publications, guides and histories of specific companies, patents, images, realia, as well as widely-varied subject records. Business records also include import and export documentation and records of patents. Oversize material included with the series comprises of additional serial publications and business records.
Material related to specific subject areas provide overviews of several subjects pertaining to the petroleum industry. This includes the general history of the petroleum industry, chemistry and science related aspects of oil recovery and production, and literature about aspects of the petroleum trade intended for tradesmen. Materials extend to gas and electric companies, the automobile, aviation, and maritime industries, as well as addressing issues within the oil recovery trade such as procedures, storage equipment, and balancing safety and cost considerations.
No particular depth is present for any singular subtopic though Petroleum offers a breadth of general information about various aspects of the petroleum and its related industries.
Arrangement:
Petroleum is arranged in three series.
Business Records and Marketing Material
Genre
Subject
Forms Part Of:
Forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana.
Series 1: Business Ephemera
Series 2: Other Collection Divisions
Series 3: Isadore Warshaw Personal Papers
Series 4: Photographic Reference Material
Provenance:
Petroleum is a portion of the Business Ephemera Series of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Accession AC0060 purchased from Isadore Warshaw in 1967. Warshaw continued to accumulate similar material until his death, which was donated in 1971 by his widow, Augusta. For a period after acquisition, related materials from other sources (of mixed provenance) were added to the collection so there may be content produced or published after Warshaw's death in 1969. This practice has since ceased.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.
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.
advertising -- Petroleum industry and trade Search this
Genre/Form:
Business cards
Advertising cards
Advertisements
Business letters
Legal documents
Caricatures
Publications -- Business
Printed material
Letterheads
Technical manuals -- 20th century
Receipts
Design patents
Patents
Manuals
Advertising fliers
Advertising
Reports
Printed ephemera
Ephemera
Printed materials
Business records
Technical reports
Periodicals
Commercial correspondence
Publications
Business ephemera
Photographs
Newsletters
Illustrations
Print advertising
Invoices
Correspondence
Advertising mail
Citation:
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Petroleum, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Lee Ya-Ching Papers, NASM.2008.0009, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Unrestricted research access on site. Must be handled with white cotton gloves provided by Archives Center staff, and with special care due to the fragile nature of the items.
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.
Unrestricted research access on site. Must be handled with white cotton gloves provided by Archives Center staff, and with special care due to the fragile nature of the items.
Rights:
Public domain. Fees for commercial use. Negative No. 89-12299.
Topic:
Automobiles -- 1900-1910 -- Ohio -- Cleveland Search this
Factories -- 1900-1910 -- Ohio -- Cleveland Search this
Machinery -- 1900-1910 -- Ohio -- Cleveland Search this
Automobile industry and trade -- 1900-1910 -- Ohio -- Cleveland Search this
Rolls-Royce of America, Inc. (New York City, NY ; Springfield, MA) ; Oil Engine Div. (Shrewsbury, United Kingdom) ; Morris Motors Ltd. ; Rolls-Royce Owners' Club, Inc. (Rochester, NY) ; Rolls-Royce Import Co. (New York, NY) ; Rolls-Royce, Inc. (Paramus, NJ) ; Rolls-Royce Renting Co., Inc. (Long Island City, New York) ; C. S. Rolls & Co. ; Harold Radford (Coachbuilders) Ltd. Search this
Notes content:
two envelopes OVERSIZE ; also in French ; 1920 ; unique illustrations of 1920 Rolls-Royce cars and mfg. plant ; automobiles and aeroplane (airplane) engines ; reprinted article "Aircraft Power Plant Engineering" from "Engineering", Feb. 6, 1948 ; 'C' range marine and industrial diesel engines ; natural gas engines ; diesel engines ; "Falcon" engines ; automobiles ; motor cars ; "Rolls-Royce Bulletin" (September 1920, June 1937, September 1937 reprint, June 1939 reprint, 1951, January 1952, July 1952, January 1953, June 1953)
Includes:
Trade catalog, manual and histories
Black and white images
Color images
Physical description:
46 pieces; 4 boxes
Language:
English
Type of material:
Trade catalogs
Trade literature
Place:
Derby, United Kingdom
Date:
1900s
Topic (Romaine term):
Automobiles and automotive equipment (including trucks and buses) Search this
1935-1950 ; watch makers ; precision instrument makers ; watch and instrument engineers ; "R&S" ; small parts in non-ferrous metals for engineering, automobile and aircraft trades ; pumps ; engine parts ; plugs for aircraft engines ;
Gasoline fire engines; combined chemical and water hand fire engine; automobile fire engine and hose wagon. Tower windmill; force pumps; submerged cylinder pumps; suction force pumps.
