Seven Secret Indy 500 Remnants-- Part 4: Ghost of Hinchman

GHOST OF HINCHMAN, 607 S. ILLINOIS ST.

"J.B. Hinchman Inc.," it says, fadingly, on the side of a low, windowless neglected bunker of a building  on Indianapolis' Southside.  Hinchman makes racing suits for drivers and has for nearly 100 years.  When Pete DePaolo won the Indy 500 in 1925, he was wearing a Hinchman.  So did many of the top Indy racers through the years: the Unsers, Mario Andretti and Foyt.

Hinchman was the first racing suit tailor to use fire resistant Nomex in his designs.

Throughout the second half of the 20th century the Hinchman suits were made in this little building on South Illinois Street.

--CooterSuit