Andy Granatelli passed today

Andy Granatelli, former CEO of STP and Hall of Fame motorsports entrepreneur, dies at 90 (12/29/13 5:39 pm)

 

sad day. legend!

the brickyard was never the same.

 

+1 legendary and game changing owner. RIP.

 

Wow. I had thought he had died a while ago.

A crazy self-promoter, a crazy idea-tester, and the world was better for having him in it.

His book is a pretty good read.

Memory eternal!

 

So did I.

RIP, what an interesting man!

 

Another legendary name. There must be some good bench racing going on in heaven.
RIP Andy.

 

Very sorry to hear this. When I was in banking he was one of my clients when he moved STP to Ft. Lauderdale back in the early 1970s. Although I was much younger than he and rarely had direct contact with him, he always treated me with respect and took time to chat with me about racing. He definitely had a gentleman side that few probably ever knew.

Sincere condolences to the family.

 

RIP Andy. I remember his white trench-coat, his STP commercials with the screwdriver, and sponsorship of Mario Andretti.

 

thank you for sharing.

 

I met Andy in a Santa Barbara auto parts shop somewhere around 1987. He was amazingly gracious and we chatted for a few minutes. It was really cool to meet him. He had a big impact on the sport.

 

Hi,

Rest in Peace. The STP logo for a car guy (especailly one who grew up in the 70's) is just as ingrained in his psyche as is a global brand likeCoca Cola. In my humble view a real marketing genius.

Condolences to the family,

Ramin

 

One of my all time heroes. So long Andy. We miss you.

Andy at Bonneville

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAYrKW1vxjc[/ame]

Andy's Turbine car at Indy

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRr-DGO2sOw[/ame]

 

RIP, Andy. As a child I was a huge fan of the Indy 500 and the STP cars. I will never forget the moment I saw the turbine car running on the track. What a wonderful piece of machinery. Thanks for sharing the video.

 

Andy showed racing how to think out of the box.

A real pioneer and a real loss.

 

I was always an enormous fan of him; from driver, to promoter, to car owner, to innovator, to sponsor. He was the ultimate promoter of the sport, responsible for so many of racing's creative initiatives.

Never forget him kissing Mario on the cheek in 1969 after the Indy win. Even had the STP decal on my ride back in the day. RIP.

 

Mario's first win at Indy comes to mind - they asked Mario what contributed to the win . . .

"I used more STP than da udder guys."

 

As the Mayor said, one of my heroes also. Still remember watching the Indy 500, when his turbine car came so very close to winning the Indy 500. Indy, in their usual back-asswards thinking, instead of embracing new technology and innovation, banned turbine powered cars. Shame on them, we need more people to push the envelope. RIP, Andy.

 

I met him 3 years ago and he told some great stories. Sad to see him go but he definitely lived a full and exciting life.

 

If you didn't have an STP sticker on your Pee-Chee, you weren't cool.

 

Re-read the Jackie Stewart autobiography "Faster" for a fascinating chapter on Andy Granatelli.

 

He lived those those Sammy Davis JR years ,( an old joke world you rather live 60 Sammy years or 100 regular) I'm sure they had some great stories

 

From my collection
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Sorry to hear of his passing. One of our service centers is the former Texaco the he owned on the North side of Chicago.

 

did he invent STP?
if so, i think he sold it for a fortune.

 

No, he didn't invent STP. He was brought on as CEO and Chief Personality to promote STP. Which he did very well. It was then owned by Studebaker, and was spun off at Studebaker's demise. I can't remember how much he made from the deal.

He did, however, make a lot more on the "Tuneup Masters" chain, which he purchased, promoted, and then sold.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqKDjBV9FPI]1984 Tune Up Masters Commercial (with Andy Granatelli) - YouTube[/ame]

This was in addition to his other crazy-but-true ventures.

Matt