Paul the ole boy that built the car was firing it off at home in Michigan[ i think] and the truck hopped the rear wheel and got up on top the rear wheels and car and cut the guys head off. No cage just a hoop bolted to the tube frame. poof !
The Indy cars from back then until Mears chopped his feet up weren't too good. If you survived the impact the fire more than likey toasted you pretty good. [ Ask Norm Brown from Milwaukee with Duman. survived the crash but got burned]
If the Leffler car and others had grown addressing the safety issues too and the owners saw the light that in a few years they would own two cars anyway, might of worked. But can you image sticking one of those old POS's into the Guard RAILS that Winchester and Salem used to have. They would of been sliced like apple pie on impact then burned as fuel cell weren't much better that rubber bags covered by fiberglass or maybe metal.
