For a cool 116 years Meguiar’s has provided the world with the very best in cleaning equipment, and with such a long and prestigious history it’s no surprise to learn of unusual partnerships from our past. In more recent years Meguiar’s has been involved in both drag racing and drifting, but did you know we once entered the Indycar 500?

The year was 1957 and the car – a Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser KK500G – was nicknamed (and branded) the Meguiar’s Mirror Glaze Special. Powered by a 4.1-litre 4-cylinder engine, the KK500G was built by American race car designer and builder Kurtis Kraft – a man who specialized in building ‘midget’ chassis favored by races like the Indy 500. In fact, his creations actually won the 500-mile event in 1950, 51, 53, 54 and 55!

Back in 1957 the Mirror Glaze Special was owned by Ray ‘The Flying Grocer’ Crawford who also raced the car at the prestigious event in both 1957 and 1958. Although he failed to qualify for the final race, he did manage to lap the oval circuit at a jaw-dropping 182mph! Ridiculously fast even by today’s standard, let alone the 50s. Let that sink in for a minute.

In addition to the Indy 500, Ray also brought the car to Europe to race at Monza in 57 and 58 finishing 7th and 4th respectively. Sixty years on the Mirror Glaze Special still lives, competing at various historic races and events including the Goodwood Revival. What a cool piece of Meguiar’s history!