Founded as an independent British engine manufacturer in 1983, it started building engines for Indy cars with the money of team owner and chassis manufacturer Roger Penske. The Ilmor 265-A, badged initially as the Ilmor-Chevrolet Indy V-8, debuted at the 1986 Indianapolis 500 with Team Penske driver Al Unser. In 1987, the engine program expanded to all three Penske team drivers (Rick Mears, Danny Sullivan, and Al Unser), Patrick Racing, and &lt;a href="Newman/Haas%20Racing"&gt;Newman/Haas Racing&lt;/a&gt;. Mario Andretti, driving for Newman/Haas, won at Long Beach, the engine's first Indy car victory. He also won the pole position for the 1987 Indianapolis 500. A year later, Rick Mears won the 1988 Indianapolis 500, the engine's first win at Indianapolis. The engine went on to have a stellar record in CART. From 1987 to 1991, the "Chevy-A" engine won 64 of 78 races.