1954 Watson Indy Car #16 Bob Estes Special

Modified

$374,000

Sold

1954 Watson Indy Car #16 Bob Estes Special

Seller details

Vehicle specs

  • Body style

    Race Car

Vehicle details

Notes and observations recorded by Hagerty staff.

Equipment

Offset 270 Offy, Hilborn fuel Injection, torsion bar suspension, 4-wheel disc brakes, centerlock alloy wheels, Firestone tires, tube shocks.

Condition

#2 Excellent

Could win a regional car show. Drives like new.

About Hagerty’s condition ratingsClose

No engine ID plate. Tired old paint, good upholstery, grimy chassis. The engine compartment shows some recent attention but also age. 7th at Indy in 1954 driven by Don Freeland, the first Watson-built roadster to finish the 500. Complete but needs everything.

Market commentary

The importance of this roadster is not so much that it finished 7th in 1954 but that it was the first roadster built by A.J. Watson to demonstrate his talent as a constructor, mechanic and crew chief. He would go on to domination Indy and Champ cars for the next decade. This is the price of history, the car is somewhat irrelevant and its condition is compromised, which takes little away from its history.

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