Sixty or seventy miles southeast of Indianapolis stands Patterson Auto. It has a piece of racing history. That has been there more than forty-five years. The words have changed but the most important part, the shape, remains the same.
Pat O’Connor grew up and lived most of his life in North Vernon, Indiana. At the age of 29 he was killed in the 1958 Indianapolis 500. It is amazing how the people in this area still talk about him as if it were just a few years ago that the sharp kid with the penchant for going fast was making his mark on Championship racing.
I think it is because of his personality. It seems he was just cool. You know, one of those guys that everyone enjoyed being around. Looked cool, talked cool, acted cool, and drove real cool.
He drove the hills at Salem, Winchester and Dayton like he owned them. That’s cool. He won the Midwest Sprint championship three times before he was 26 years old. That’s real cool.
One gentleman who lives in the neighboring town of Seymour remembers Pat away from the track. He told me a story about how the young guys would get together and have backward races. I mean they would line up their cars in a school parking lot, or anywhere with the space needed, and have a race driving backwards. Bob said that Pat was the fastest backwards driver anyone ever saw. Now that’s cool.
On State Road 7, which takes you to Madison, Indiana on the Ohio River, on the south side of North Vernon, is the used car lot Patterson Auto. I have driven past it many times. It has a silhouette picture of the Ansted Rotary Special that Pat put on the front row in the 1956 500. He led 39 laps that year putting on a real show with Pat Flaherty and Paul Russo in the early stages of the race. The Kurtis Kraft chassis was set off by the chrome headers on the left side. Man, they looked cool.
I spoke with Darrell Patterson, the owner of Patterson Auto. He told me this property was owned by Pat in the ‘50’s. There were little motel cottages in the back. The main building was a laundry for a while then Pat converted it into a restaurant. The sign out front was made for Pat with the #7 roadster on it.
The little cottages are gone and the main building is now the offices for Patterson Auto, a very nice car lot. However, the sign still depicts that cream and black roadster with the chrome pipes cascading down the side.
If you ever get the chance to drive to North Vernon, it’s about an hour and fifteen minutes from Indianapolis, head south on State Road 7. About a minute after you cross U.S. 50 look up to your left. There’s Pat in that Ray Nichels prepared roadster. It’s cool.