Indy history: Don Lee’s Mercedes and Alfa, 1947

We’re almost a month away from the centennial edition of the Indianapolis 500, which means we’re going to be seeing an awful lot of Indy history coming out of the woodwork over the next few weeks. Take, for instance, the above photo, recently posted over at The Old Motor, showing L.A. auto magnate Don Lee’s two entries for the 1947 running of the race: a 1939 Mercedes-Benz W154 Grand Prix car and a pre-war Alfa Romeo. According to David Greenlees, both cars qualified for the Memorial Day spectacular – the Mercedes helmed by Duke Nalon and the Alfa by Ken Fowler – but bowed out with mechanical problems. Can anybody confirm David’s suspicion that both cars are still around today?