Scotsman Jim Clark won the Indianapolis 500 with this rear-engine car in 1965. After his victory, a traditional front-engine car never won that race again. The Lotus-Ford combined a European Formula One-inspired lightweight chassis with a big Ford V-8 engine. The Lotus-Ford's success effectively killed the traditional Indy roadster and established a new design for American race cars.

Drivers Dan Gurney (left) and Jim Clark (right) combined forces with designer Colin Chapman (center) to revolutionize the Indianapolis 500. Front-engine roadsters still dominated the race in the early 1960s, but Gurney believed a rear-engine Formula One style car could win. Gurney brought Chapman together with Ford, and Clark won the 1965 Indy 500 in a Ford-powered, Chapman-designed rear-engine car.

Even though front-engine cars dominated the Indianapolis 500, Dan Gurney (center) believed that a rear-engine Formula One style car could win. In 1962 he brought the United Kingdom's Team Lotus together with Ford Motor Company. Jim Clark (right) proved Gurney's theory correct in 1965, winning the Indy 500 in a Ford-powered, rear-engine Lotus Type 38.

Ford executives Benson Ford (left) and Lee Iacocca (right) stood with driver Jim Clark in front of the company's Indianapolis 500 racing engine. Starting with Ford's production Fairlane V-8, engineers substituted lighter materials, increased compression, and replaced the pushrod valvetrain with double overhead camshafts. Horsepower was tripled, and Clark won Indy with the engine in 1965.

Jim Clark won the 1965 Indianapolis 500 in a Lotus chassis powered by a rear-mounted Ford V-8. It was the first Indy 500 win for a rear-engine car, and it revolutionized the race. No front-engine car has won the Indianapolis 500 since. Clark is seen here posing in his groundbreaking car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Scotsman Jim Clark was photographed in his #82 Lotus-Ford Type 38 in 1965. Clark finished second at the 1963 Indianapolis 500, and he was forced out early by tire and suspension damage in 1964. The third time was the charm when, in 1965, Clark became the first driver to win Indy with a rear-engine car -- and the first foreign driver to win since 1916.

Driver Jim Clark gave a thumbs-up signal from the cockpit of his #82 Lotus-Ford Type 38 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1965. Clark won that year's Indianapolis 500 in his Formula One-style car -- the first rear-engine car to win at Indy. The British-built racer was powered by a 495-horsepower Ford V-8 engine.

Jim Clark (in car), Colin Chapman (in necktie, kneeling) and the Team Lotus crew posed with Clark's Lotus-Ford Type 38 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1965. Designer Chapman and driver Clark revolutionized the Indy 500 with their rear-engine Formula One style car. It was the very opposite of the front-engine roadsters that dominated the race prior to Clark's 1965 victory.

Scotsman Jim Clark won the 1965 Indianapolis 500 with a rear-mounted Ford V-8 engine, but his car and his crew belonged to the United Kingdom's Team Lotus. Mechanic Graham Clode brought two sets of coveralls to the race -- one to get dirty and one to keep clean for the much-wanted victory photo. This is Clode's clean set.

Driver Jimmy Clark conferred with Team Lotus director Colin Chapman (in sunglasses) at the 1965 Indianapolis 500. Clark's #82 rear-engine Lotus Type 38, powered by a 256-cubic-inch Ford V-8, won that year's race -- the first rear-engine car to take the checkered flag at Indy.

This photograph shows a rear-engine Lotus-Ford Type 38 at a 1965 practice session before the Indianapolis 500 race. Car builder Colin Chapman is seen talking with the eventual winner, driver Jim Clark.

Scotsman Jimmy Clark piloted his #82 Ford-powered Lotus Type 38 around Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1965. Clark won that year's Indianapolis 500 with an average race speed of 150.686 miles per hour. He was the first driver to win Indy in a rear-engine car, and the first foreign driver to win since 1916.

Team Lotus and Ford fielded two drivers in the 1965 Indianapolis 500: Jim Clark and Bobby Johns. Both men drove a monocoque Lotus Type 38 powered by a rear-mounted Ford V-8 engine. Clark's car wore #82 while Johns's wore #83. Johns finished seventh and Clark finished first, with Clark becoming the first Indy 500 winner in a rear-engine car.

Team Lotus and Ford brought in NASCAR driver Bobby Johns to pilot the #83 Ford-powered Lotus car in the 1965 Indianapolis 500, alongside Jim Clark's #82 car. Johns finished seventh. He made seven attempts to qualify for Indy during his career, also succeeding in 1969. Johns finished the 1969 race in tenth place.

Jimmy Clark's Lotus-Ford is refueled during Clark's run to victory in the 1965 Indianapolis 500. To service Clark's car Ford Motor Company hired the Wood Brothers, the fastest, most efficient crew in NASCAR. Even though Clark's Lotus was number 82, the Woods wore the same uniforms they used when racing their number 21 Ford on the stock car tracks.

Driver Jim Clark, in Formula One style Lotus-Ford race car number 82, conferred with his pit crew before winning the Indianapolis 500. This historic victory marked the end of conventional Indy roadsters. After the innovative rear-engine Lotus-Ford's 1965 win, a traditional front-engine car would never again take first place in this prestigious race.

In this May 1965 photograph, racing legend Jimmy Clark pilots the Lotus-Ford race car to victory at one of racing's legendary tracks, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This innovative car's lightweight chassis, four-wheel independent suspension, and rear-mounted Ford V-8 engine -- combined with the driving skills of Jimmy Clark -- helped redefine Indy racing in the 1960s.

Photographers surrounded driver Jim Clark in first-place car number 82. English car builder Colin Chapman knelt beside him, undoubtedly thrilled that his Formula One Lotus race car had defeated the conventional American Indy roadster. After the innovative rear-engine Lotus-Ford's 1965 win, a traditional front-engine car would never again see victory in the Indianapolis 500.

Jim Clark stood in the cockpit of his #82 Lotus-Ford Type 38 immediately after winning the 1965 Indianapolis 500. The Borg-Warner Trophy, the race's official prize, stood behind him. Clark's victory was the first Indy win in a rear-engine car, and it represented a major technological shift in America's premier motor race.

This photograph shows the victorious Jim Clark after his 1965 Indianapolis 500 win. Clark drove an innovative British-made Lotus Type 38 chassis powered by a rear-mounted Ford V-8 engine. The car's builder, Colin Chapman (in sunglasses), beams next to the driver.

Jim Clark won the 1965 Indianapolis 500 in a Lotus chassis powered by a rear-mounted Ford V-8. It was the first Indy 500 win for a rear-engine car, and it changed the pattern -- no front-engine car has won the race since. This program, for the celebratory banquet held the next day, was autographed by Clark.