Frank Kurtis was famous for his highly successful oval-track midgets and the many wins at the renowned Indianapolis 500. The Kurtis 500S was constructed in 1953 where it rapidly demonstrated that it was a front running car, capable of challenging Jaguar, Ferrari or any other car on the grid. The 500S had a short life, with only a 2 year production and close to only 30 examples built. The body was made in aluminum, making the 500S very light, and powered by a range of American V8 engines.