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PROPERTY FROM THE PATRICK S. RYAN COLLECTION The ex-Rodger Ward/Winner of the 1959 Indianapolis 500 1959 WATSON ROADSTER, THE LEADER CARD #5 Chassis No. 5 White with red and blue trim - Leader Card team livery Engine: four cylinder Offenhauser, dual overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder, 255ci., 360bhp plus at 6,200rpm; Suspension: live axles front and rear with transverse torsion bar suspension; Brakes: four wheel disc. Single seat racing car. The Indianapolis roadsters that dominated the Memorial Day classic during the 1950s and early 1960s are considered by many to be among the most beautiful racing cars of all time. They were certainly among the most successful designs for their chosen task. The roadster configuration that offsets the engine and driveline to one side and allows a lower seating position originated with Frank Kurtis, and Kurtis built roadsters were the weapon of choice for successful Indianapolis teams in the early 1950s. Young California based mechanic A.J. Watson was crew chief on the Kurtis roadster that Bob Sweikert drove to victory for owner John Zink in the 1955 500, and felt that he could improve on the roadster theme. Watson's formula was to make things as simple and light as possible, and his first roadster brought Zink a second consecutive 500 win in 1956 with Pat Flaherty at the wheel. The next two years saw the radical Epperly lay down cars in victory lane, and Watson parted company with John Zink. Bob Wilke, of the Milwaukee based Leader Card Company, hired A.J. after the 1958 season and the team known as 'The Flying Ws', Watson, Wilke and driver Rodger Ward, began a partnership that remains among the most successful in racing history. Wilke had been a distributor of Kurtis midgets and Offenhauser engines and wanted to form his own racing operation. Other notables on the team were legendary engine builder Takeo 'Chickie' Hirashima and Larry Shinoda, who did the graphics on the car, worked on the design of the rear end and handled pit signal duties for the team at Indianapolis. Shinoda would later achieve recognition in the styling world for his role in designing the Corvette Stingray and the Boss 302 Mustang. The car on offer here, the Leader Card #5, was built for Wilke in Watson's Southern California shop over the winter of 1958-59. Rodger Ward drove it to a second place finish at Daytona in April 1959, the only time that Indianapolis cars have raced at Daytona Speedway. In May, the team went to Indianapolis where Ward qualified sixth fastest on the first day. When the green flag dropped for the 500, Ward moved to the front, and the Leader Card roadster was in the lead after five short laps. Duelling back and forth with Jim Rathmann, Pat Flaherty and Johnny Thomson, the canny Ward took the checkered flag for his, and owner Wilke's, first Indianapolis win. That victory began a fantastic run at the brickyard for the next five years, Ward getting another win in 1962 with two seconds, a third and a fourth place for the Leader Card Team. Ward would also drive the Leader Card #5 at Milwaukee and Trenton in 1959, winning the Milwaukee 200 miler in August. Wilke had a new Watson for Rodger Ward in 1960, and 1952 national champion Chuck Stevenson ended a six-year retirement to drive the 1959 car, now carrying Leader Card #65 for the Indianapolis race. Stevenson qualified in the third row and ran well up in the top ten until a spin into the infield dropped him to a 15th place finish. Stevenson would also drive the car in the two Milwaukee races that year without notable success. In 1961, Doug Stearly purchased the car and it was entered at Indianapolis as the Stearly Motor Freight Special, wearing #24, with Paul Russo driving. Russo couldn't get the car up to qualifying speed during practice, and his friend Tony Bettenhausen offered to check out the car on Friday before qualifications began. Tony did several laps before a suspension failure on the main straight put the car into the wall, fatall