Cummins Starts Up History With 1952 Indy Car

EAST LIBERTY, Ohio — While Cummins’ focus of its media event here was to spotlight its next-generation engines, it also brought along an important piece of its long history.

The Columbus, Indiana-based engine manufacturer showed off the No. 28 Cummins Diesel Special from 1952 that is the only diesel-powered car to ever capture the pole in the Indianapolis 500.

Clessie Cummins, who founded the company in 1919, had been a member of a pit crew in the first Indy 500 in 1911. The company first entered a vehicle into the race in 1931.

Though the Cummins Diesel Special retired midway through the race in 1952 after the turbocharger inlet became clogged with rubber debris from the track, the vehicle remained a prized company possession. It has spent much of the past three decades on display at the company’s headquarters. 

Several years ago, a number of volunteers started restoring the car, led by Bruce Watson, who recently retired as the company’s curator of historical artifacts.

In May, the car was started up for the first time in 17 years. At the media event here, Watson fired up the Cummins Diesel Special several times to allow members of the media to get a close-up look, just steps away from where Cummins’ new X15 and X12 truck engines were on display.