Video: Holy Smokes… 1941 Indianapolis 500, in Color!

A 30-minute video of footage taken during qualifying and race day for the 1941 Indianapolis 500 has been posted to Google Video. But that’s not all… it’s also in full color! There are simply too many great things to see in this video to list them all. This is absolutely priceless stuff, a must-see if there ever was one. Through the magic of the Internet, it can be viewed below.

The person that uploaded it to Google Video appears to be associated with the Online Imperial Club, “home to hundreds of Imperial, Chrysler Imperial, and Chrysler New Yorker Brougham owners and fans from around the world”. In fact, it was the 1940/41 Chrysler Newport Phaeton that paced the 1941 Indy 500.

It’s amazing to see this video and think about how relatively carefree things must have been in May of 1941, only to be followed by the horror and sacrifice of World War II. And of course it’s well known that the Speedway itself just barely survived the war years (the Indy 500 was not run from 1942-45), before being saved by Tony Hulman and built into the national treasure it is today.