The Cummins diesel-powered race car that competed in the 1952 Indianapolis 500 was a remarkable vehicle. With the number 28 on its bright yellow and red livery and Freddie Agabashian behind the wheel, it was powered by an inline-six engine from diesel truck engine builder Cummins in Columbus, Indiana. That’s just about 50 miles south of the Speedway, and Cummins saw an opportunity. The 1952 Cummins diesel racer is a tribute to the technical ingenuity and promotional know-how of Clessie Cummins, the self-taught engineer who founded the company in 1919 and led it forward. In fact, Clessie Cummins’ Indy 500 experience goes all the way back to the inaugural 1911 500-mile race, when he worked on the pit crew for Roy Harroun’s race-winning Marmon Wasp.

The Cummins diesel race car from 1952 lives on and is currently in excellent condition, with the car and its engine having undergone a multi-year restoration. Bruce Watson — the retired Cummins engineer who led the restoration project — drove it up the the hillclimb track at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2017, and former Indy 500 and Formula 1 champ Mario Andretti took it for some laps around the oval during pre-race ceremonies for the 2022 Indy 500. That race is now the premier event on the IndyCar circuit, but in 1952 it was actually part of the Formula 1 championship calendar.

The 1952 Cummins diesel race car was built to showcase Cummins’ engine power and engineering expertise. Its heart was a race-engineered 6.6-liter turbocharged I6 diesel engine that produced 430 horsepower in racing trim, which was more than double the output of the production truck engine it was based on. This was the first turbocharged engine ever to compete at the Indianapolis 500, and used aluminum construction for critical weight savings.

The car’s chassis was designed and built by Kurtis-Kraft and helped standardize the Kurtis-created roadster design, in which the engine and driveshaft were offset to the left of the driver; the established standard was to mount those components in the center of the chassis. The shift allowed the driver to sit lower within the car, reducing drag and improving aerodynamics — this was also the first Indy 500 race car to be tested in a wind tunnel. The low, long profile helped with stability and reduced drag. The roadster design eventually took over, dominating Indy 500 car garages until the rear-engine revolution of the early 1960s.

The 1952 Cummins diesel race car was slow off the line but powerful at speed, and took the pole with a record-seetting qualifying run of 138 mph. Agabashian fell behind at the start but quickly made up ground to take the lead. Unfortunately, he did not complete the race, retiring after 71 of 200 laps when debris clogged up the supercharger intake and knocked it out of commission. The car was officially scored in 27th place out of 33 entries, earning $2,653 (about $32,000 today). Despite their high-torque output and reliability, diesel engines don’t provide the acceleration needed in auto racing and never took hold in the paddock, although Cummins is still going strong. Even though the engine failed in the race and diesel power never returned to Indy, the company had made its point by scoring pole position on its first try.