Gil Andersen

Gil Andersen

Andersen at the 1915 Indianapolis 500
Born (1879-09-27)September 27, 1879
Horten, Norway
Died December 23, 1935(1935-12-23) (aged 56)
Logansport, Indiana
Nationality Norwegian-American

Gil Andersen (sometimes misspelled Anderson) (27 September 1879 – 26 July 1935) was a Norwegian-American racecar driver active during the formative years of auto racing.

Biography

Gil Andersen was born on September 27, 1879 in Horten, Vestfold county, Norway. He later became a full citizen of the United States. He competed in the first six Indianapolis 500 races, appearing in annual races from 1911 through 1916. For the 1911 Indianapolis 500, all of the drivers except for Gil Andersen were American citizens.[1] One of his major victories was in the 1913 Elgin Road Race, which he won at an average speed of 71 mph.[2]On October 9, 1915, Anderson set a new auto speed record of 102.6 mph, winning the first Astor Cup race at Sheepshead Bay. N.Y. [3] In 1928 Andersen established a new American stock car speed record, when he clocked 106.52 mph in a Stutz Blackhawk on the measured mile at Daytona Beach, Florida.[4]

He worked as an engineer for the Stutz Motor Company. Stutz was in operation from 1911 and continued through 1935. Gil Andersen also was a co-founder of the ReVere Motor Company. ReVere Motor Company is a defunct luxury car manufacturing company which was in operation from 1918 until 1926.[5]

Gil Andersen died on July 26, 1935 in Logansport, Indiana at age 55.

Indy 500 results

Year Car Start Qual Rank Finish Laps Led Retired
1911 10 10 — — 11 200 0 Running
1912 1 1 80.930 12 16 80 0 Crash T3
1913 3 14 82.630 11 12 187 18 Camshaft gears
1914 24 16 90.490 11 26 42 0 Cylinder bolts
1915 5 5 95.140 5 3 200 26 Running
1916 28 3 95.940 3 13 75 0 Oil line
Totals 784 44

Starts 6
Poles 1
Front Row 2
Wins 0
Top 5 1
Top 10 1
Retired 4

[6]

Images

References

  1. ↑ 1911 Indianapolis 500(Autoblog)
  2. ↑ "STUTZ WINS ELGIN RACE.; Anderson Drives Winning Car at 71 1/2 Miles an Hour.". New York Times. August 31, 1913. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  3. ↑ The Encyclopedia of American Facts & Dates, Gordon Carruth, Eighth Edition, Harper & Row
  4. ↑ "Andersen to Pilot Stutz in Dual Stock Car Race". Milwaukee Sentinel. March 18, 1928. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  5. ↑ Gil Andersen (The Indy 500 drivers — Where are they now?)
  6. ↑ Gil Andersen, Extended driver stats (ChampCarStats.com)

External links


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