George/Fran Leitenberger

Auto Racing, Class of 1975

Photo Gallery (click on a thumbnail for slideshow)

: George, left, and Francis Leitenberger

: George Leitenberger, Roy Sherman and Francis Leitenberger, left to right, stand behind the car they groomed for the 1951 Indianapolis 500 race. The Johnstown automobile dealers financed the construction of the all-aluminum mount. Sherman was a driver on the team.

: The Johnstown-owned Leitenberger Offenhauser Special entered competition at the Indianpolis 500 qualifying sessions in 1953. Driver George Fonder is in the car. Standing are left to right, Harry Kinsey of Johnstown, Charles Alfater of Cleveland, both mechanics, and George and Francis Leitenberger, car owners.

Accomplishments

Johnstown brothers entered entered five cars in the world renown Indianapolis 500 from 1951 through 1955
Two of the Leitenberger cars qualified for the Indianapolis 500.
Driver Andy Linden finished in fourth place at Indy in 1951.
Driver George Fonder finished 15th at Indy in 1952
Three other Leitenberger cars didn’t advance past the qualifying sessions at Indy.

Comments

Mary Anne Camp says

June 1, 2014 at 6:05 pm

Hey, that’s my uncle Frannie!

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