The thundering spectacle of the Indianapolis 500 has long attracted manufacturer-backed teams and privateers alike, and for much of the race’s history, plucky “specials” went wheel-to-wheel with big-name players. Norm Olson of Grosse Pointe, Michigan, was one such privateer drawn by the Brickyard’s siren song, and in 1949 and 1950, he achieved his competition dreams with the very car offered here.

Olson—brother of Oscar “Ozzie” Olson of the Olsonite Corporation, who later famously sponsored Dan Gurney’s Olsonite Eagle Indy cars—clearly knew a thing or two about construction. For an engine, he selected a robust Offenhauser four-cylinder; for a frame, he either began with an unused Maserati 8CTF chassis (much like the one used by Wilbur Shaw in his 1939 and 1940 Indianapolis 500 victories) which he modified with custom crossmembers, or constructed his own chassis that hewed extremely closely to Maserati’s proven design.

In May 1947, the Grosse Pointe Times reported that Olson’s “sleek black and white speedster is almost complete,” with hopes to qualify in Indianapolis the following week. That did not come to pass. Olson’s car was instead entered in the 1948 running of the event, but again failed to qualify.

The car was in better form in 1949. West Virginia native and World War II Army Air Forces Veteran Duke Dinsmore was slated to take the wheel of the Norm Olson Special at the 1949 race. Dinsmore, who following the war had raced in Champ Car, was no stranger to the Indianapolis 500, having competed prior in 1946 and 1947. Dinsmore qualified at 127.750 mph—good for a 15th-place start—and completed 174 laps of the race before a radius rod failure forced a retirement. His performance was still good enough for a 15th-place finish, earning a purse of $2,565. Interestingly, while some pre-race photographs show his car wearing #28, he ultimately raced the Norm Olson Special as #29.

The 1950 running of the Indianapolis 500 marked the first time the race was part of the Formula One calendar, with drivers that competed credited with FIA World Championship participation, and the top five drivers earning points towards the Formula One World Drivers’ Championship—the first year the award was given. Furthering the excitement during race week at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway that year was the presence of Hollywood stars Barbara Stanwyck and Academy Award-winner Clark Gable, who were filming scenes for their forthcoming racing-themed romance movie To Please a Lady.

The Norm Olson Special would return to racing’s hallowed grounds that year, this time with Indianapolis, Indiana native Jackie Holmes behind the wheel. Holmes, competing in just his second Indianapolis 500, qualified at 129.697 mph, nearly 2 mph faster than Dinsmore the prior year, earning the Norm Olson Special a 30th starting grid position. Holmes would complete 123 laps of the legendary race, retiring after spinning out in turn two. Despite the spin-off, he still managed to place 23rd, earning a purse of $2,119.

The car was later brought to Jamaica by Jim Gore, owner of a junkyard and, remarkably, a professional alligator catcher! He would reportedly race the special, by then fitted with a Chevrolet V-8, in the 1962 Jamaican Grand Prix, where it is said to have placed second to a Lotus. Perhaps predictably, it later ended up in Gore’s junkyard, where it was eventually purchased by Lotus historian Graham Capel and shipped to the UK. A restoration commenced in the 1970s, including a return to the 1950 Indianapolis 500 livery, with Capel finally acquiring an appropriate Offenhauser engine in 1980.

Passing through a series of owners in the UK, the special was the subject of a 1990 Classic & Sports Car magazine feature. It was eventually owned by David Clarke of dealers Taylor & Crawley, who later became McLaren Cars sales director. In his care, a Borg Warner Super T-10 four-speed gearbox was fitted to better handle the “Offy” engine’s ample output, and he ran the car at Silverstone and Goodwood.

The Norm Olson Special returned to America in 2017 when it joined the collection of Sam and Emily Mann. Still wearing its earlier restoration, and equipped with a Drake-built Offenhauser motor that was reportedly sourced and fitted in the early 2000s, it has while under the Manns’ ownership participated in the Millers at Milwaukee gathering hosted at the Milwaukee Mile—one of the many events for which the car is very well-suited. It is accompanied by a remote starter and a jack.

Indeed, with two Indianapolis 500 races under its belt, followed by decades of vintage competition both at home and abroad, this Offenhauser-powered special is emblematic of a thrilling period in American open-wheel racing history—and has plenty more thrills in store for its next caretaker.