Andy Granatelli
By Gregg Leary

DOB: 3-18-23 (85)
Resides: Santa Barbara, CA
His Autobiography, “They Call Me Mister 500” was finished in 1968
Mario’s 1969 Indy 500 win was added as the last page
Andy wanted to call it “War and Peace” but that title was taken
Andy’s dad left Italy at 18..taught himself to read and write English
Operated a successful grocery store in Dallas…lost everything in the stock market crash of 1929
An American “Riches to Rags” story…moved in with relatives in Chicago…were literally starving…on Relief they got bags of wormy oatmeal to eat.
At 9 Andy walked 9 miles each way to the 1933 World’s Fair where fairgoers would leave empty pop bottles on the ground…Andy would turn them in for 2 cent deposit…Andy organized the neighborhood kids into a unique redemption system…
Netting eight dollars a week…he gave the money to his dad for food. The highlight of 1933…the family went to a bakery and bought a PIE. Andy slipped on the ice while carrying it…and fell on top of it.
Andy’s Mom died when he was 12.
In 1937…the Granatelli’s were living “The Grapes of Wrath.” They packed their 1932 Oldsmobile like the Joad’s in Steinbeck’s book and headed down Route 66 to “The Promised Land” of California. However, you could only get a job if you were in the union and you could only get in the union if you lived in California for two years. The family continued to starve…dandelion and chicken head and feet stew…Andy and his brother Joe detailed cars for a dollar a day…they returned to Chicago.
Andy quit school at 14 and worked in a grocery store for six dollars a week. He sold produce, moved furniture and delivered coal. Andy became an expert at starting people’s cars during cold Chicago winters…by opening the point gap with a screwdriver and using a dime as a spacer to reset the points. Andy worked as a mechanic and front end alignment specialist at various dealerships…made good money and wanted to buy “A Real Duesie”…a 1937 Duesenberg convertible…for “six and a half”…Andy offered five HUNDRED and fifty…the salesman wanted six and a half THOUSAND. Andy decided to “change his whole way of life and start to think BIG.”
Andy and Joe delivered house trailers to California from Chicago…taking paying passengers in their cars…scared them so bad they got out at fuel stops…on the return trip picked up California performance parts…and paying passengers.

Andy’s first motorcycle was a Henderson Super X he took in lieu of payment for working on a buddy’s car. His first ride was an adventure…he crashed it while drag racing a car…tried to borrow a nickel to call an ambulance…couldn’t…so he decided to ride the damaged bike home…crashed through his neighbor’s door and into their dining room while they were having dinner.

“Andy’s Super Service” started in 1943 when Andy was 20 was…”The mother of all service stations”…a “Pit Crew” pumped fuel, checked belts, hoses, fluids, tire pressures…cleaned the windshield, wiped out the ashtrays…made suggestions…”Your fan belt is dangerously loose…and we happen to be having a special on fan belts…etc.”…customers were lined up for a city block. They “bought the sizzle and not the steak.”

In 1945 Andy and his brothers formed “Grancor Automotive Specialists” where they mass merchandised speed products. Andy recognized…”If you give a customer what he NEEDS, you’ll make a living. If you give a customer what he WANTS, you’ll make a fortune.” Andy was the first to develop a trade show booth for his automotive products…SEMA might not exist without Andy’s brainstorm.

In 1946 Andy promoted himself as “Antonio the Great” and ran the only successful rocket car on fairground racetracks throughout the Midwest. Andy took his first Grancor race car to Indy. Grancor ran Indy from 1946-54. 1961-66 Andy ran Novis. 

In 1947 Grancor sold hundreds of hopped up Ford V8’s to moonshiners and racers around the country. Andy formed the Hurricane Hot Rod Racing Association and put over 89,000 fans in the stands of Soldier Field’s ¼ mile track
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In 1948 Andy borrowed Bill France’s helmet to pass his rookie test at Indy. He was critically injured in a practice crash so he never raced in the 500.

In 1952 he ran the first drag race outside of California at Half Day Speedway in Libertyville, IL…26,000 fans came. Jim Rathman finished 2nd in Indy 500 in Andy’s Grancor Offy.

In 1958 Andy bought Paxton Products and turned around the supercharger building business….sold it to Studebaker in 1961. Stayed on at Studebaker as VP, Chief of Performance Engineering, Chief Driver. S. set over 400 land speed and endurance records…Andy set many himself. In 1961 in a Chrysler ran 179 mph on the sands of Daytona Beach…the fastest NASCAR time ever. Andy developed prototype engines for the Chrysler 300, Cadillac Eldorado, and Studebaker Avanti. He redesigned the Novi racing engine, nearly doubling its horsepower.

In 1963, Andy became President and CEO of a Studebaker subsidiary called Chemical Compounds…whose only product was STP Oil Treatment. (Scientifically Treated Petroleum) In 7 years Andy took it from 7% to 85% of market share. Employees went from 7 to over 2000. Andy redesigned the logo…dropped the words “Oil Treatment” from the logo…went into contingency sponsorships in car, boat and aviation races. STP was available in 99% of the 238,000 gasoline stations across the country. STP decals were estimated to be on 30 Million cars…STP’s logo was as recognized as Coca Cola…the New York Times ran a cartoon with Neil Armstrong landing on the moon…next to an STP decal. Andy as corporate spokesman was identified by 87% of Americans polled…up there with popes and presidents. Chairman and CEO from 1964-1973.

1966 Jim Clark finishes 2nd in Indy 500 with STP sponsorship.

1967…The STP Turbine, “Whooshmobile”…”Silent Sam” driven by Parnelli Jones…led with 3 laps to go…$6 transmission bearing failed. What if Parnelli had won…would Andy have kissed him? Over 30,000 articles were written about the turbine car. Johnny Carson was filmed taking the turbine for 125 mph plus laps…over 160mph on the backstretch at Indy.

1968…the Colin Chapman designed “Flying Doorstop” 4 wheel drive Lotus turbines. Andy enters five cars…for Parnelli Jones, Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart, Jim Clark (who was killed before he had a chance to drive it.) On the first day of practice, Jones withdraws because he feels USAC inlet restrictions on the turbine make it incapable of winning. Mike Spence, driving a turbine is killed in practice. Jackie Stewart fractures his wrist in a F1 accident, so he can’t drive at Indy. Joe Leonard signs on and wins the pole. Graham Hill is 2nd fastest. Art Pollard qualifies 11th. Joe Leonard is leading with 10 laps to go but his car flames out. (Sponsor American Oil Co. had the cars run its gasoline instead of the kerosene that was recommended for lubricating the engine…it probably caused the flameout.)

1969…Andy finally wins Indy with Mario Andretti…and gives him “the kiss heard ‘round the world.” Andy carried Mario on his shoulders to the pace car for his “Victory Lap.” Mario looked like a jockey in the Kentucky Derby.

1971…STP sponsors Fred Lorenzen for a couple NASCAR races.

1973…Andy wins Indy again with Gordon Johncock.

Andy provided free fireproof racing uniforms to all 33 Indy starters…I believe after Johncock’s STP teammate Swede Savage was badly burned and died as a result of his injuries.

1972…STP sponsors Richard Petty. It becomes the longest running major sponsor in Motorsports history. Petty wins his very first race with STP sponsorship at Riverside.
Wins 7 more races and the Cup Championship. Petty wins 4 Cup Championships with STP..72, 74, 75, 79…and 4 Daytona 500’s 73, 74, 79, 81….as well as his 200th victory on July 4, 1984 at Daytona with President Reagan in attendance.

In 1985 Andy set land speed records at Bonneville in a street legal Camaro then took three passengers with him in a Chevy Caprice and set another speed record. What must his passengers have said?

Andy conceived and popularized “while you wait tune ups and oil changes” with Tune Up Masters…took them from 18 to 278 locations in 11 southwestern states. He sold it in 1986 for $60 million. He developed his “Youth at Risk” program at Tune Up Masters where he hired and trained many gang members thought “unemployable, undesirable, …”

Andy has spent his “retirement” as a “fund raiser extraordinaire” for dozens of charities. He is a mentor, motivational speaker, philanthropist and humanitarian.
He has been knighted by the Italian Government.
Inducted into 21 Halls of Fame.
His resume from 1961 to the present is 3 Legal Sized pages!