Richard Petty isn’t referred to as a “king” in the NASCAR circles for the sake of it, having racked up 200 wins, 7 championships, and an unmatched passion for motorsports. It’s reflected well in his garage, which is filled with machines, telling a whole story about his connection with the world. Among his collection was the Lotus 56 turbine car, which was once owned by Mario Andretti.
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Richard kept the machine in his collection for years, considering the history surrounding it. The car changed the game in the Indy scenes, using a turbine engine and an all-wheel drive. So, Petty chose to let it gather dust in his garage rather than part with it, and as his son Kyle Petty recalled, buyers came calling more than once.
Richard always turned them away at the door, until someone decided to break the bank for it.
Kyle narrated to PRN Live, “A guy that bought it, the guy that wanted it, he showed up. And he said, ‘Can I look at it?’ My dad says, ‘Sure, it’s back there in the back.’ Sure enough, it’s back there in the back under six foot of dust. And they dig around, and the guy says, how much do you want for it?”
“My dad says, not for sale. And the guy said, I’ll give you this for it. And my dad said, I’ll help you load it. And my inheritance went up 80-fold because of this one car from Andretti to Petty, that’s it, man, that’s it,” he added.
From Andretti to Petty ️@kylepetty shares the legendary story from the time his dad, Richard Petty, owned one of @MarioAndretti‘s cars️
“My dad said it’s not for sale…” pic.twitter.com/RTfVAvGzdb
— PRN (@PRNlive) March 20, 2026
Kyle said that one moment changed the math big time, with the sale sending his inheritance through the roof. In his telling, it was a case of waiting for the right knock on the door and knowing when to answer it.
The car ran at the 1968 Indianapolis 500 under the STP banner, the same name that rode with Petty in NASCAR. After its time on track, the chassis, known as Lotus 56-3, spent years on display before Andy Granatelli handed it over to Petty.
Though it was driven in competition by Art Pollard and Graham Hill, it carried the stamp of Mario Andretti, who played a central role in the turbine program and put the car through its paces in testing.
