Team story
Origins
Andy Linden made his Indianapolis debut in 1951 in George Leitenberger’s number 57. The chassis is recorded as a Sherman in the World Championship archive and as a Silnes-Sherman by IMS, with an Offenhauser engine. The starting point is this American entry, in which the owner did not necessarily coincide with the car’s builder.
The Formula 1 journey
Linden started 31st and completed all 200 laps in fourth place, ahead of Bobby Ball’s Schroeder. In the following edition George Fonder drove the Sherman: the result lists 15th place after 197 laps. The 1952 season was the last championship year associated with the name, without another top-five placing.
Historical timeline
Three chapters in the story of Sherman
Three episodes to revisit the people, cars and races that shaped this journey.
First appearance · Indianapolis 500
Andy Linden · Indianapolis 500 1951. The recorded position is P4; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This is the first recorded race start, or the first entry if the team never started a race.
Sporting landmark · Indianapolis 500
Andy Linden · Indianapolis 500 1951. The recorded position is P4; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This marks the first win or podium where one exists, otherwise the highest recorded placing for this constructor.
Latest recorded appearance · Indianapolis 500
George Fonder · Indianapolis 500 1952. The recorded position is P15; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This is the last race start attributed to this constructor in the archive, not necessarily the end of the organisation behind it.
A distinctive way of racing
Leitenberger was the entry’s name; Silnes-Sherman preserves the chassis’s combined attribution. The change from Linden to Fonder does not in itself prove that a new car was built. The sporting sources allow the two races to be followed, but do not reconstruct a production catalogue with the same certainty.
What remains
Fourth place for a newcomer starting at the back distinguishes this appearance. Sherman features in the World Championship because the Indianapolis 500 formed part of it from 1950 to 1960, not because it contested the European calendar. Linden’s later years with other constructors remain the driver’s career, not an extension of Sherman’s.