Can Am Car Bodies-Show Your Stuff!

[Speedhoppy]

Is that white McLaren #7 pretty much the same body lines as the AFX #7 (Peter Revson?) and #54 Can-Am cars (typically in orange).

It also sort of reminds me of that AMRAC/ROKAR body that got posted around here somewhere.

Regardless, that white McLaren would great look next to a black Shadow IMO.

Coach D, are you referring to this AMRAC/ROKAR body, called the "Manta"?

IMG_3113.JPG IMG_3055.JPG



Here it is with my Tomy Shadow MK.II (painted in the interim color scheme of white top/black sides) and Tomy Ferrari 612. The Shadow & Ferrari are mounted on SRT chassis........

[brighamdmo]

Is that white McLaren #7 pretty much the same body lines as the AFX #7 (Peter Revson?) and #54 Can-Am cars (typically in orange).

Yes, to my best knowledge, the McLaren that most closely matches the Aurora/Auto World "McLaren XLR" is the M12. The M12 was a customer car built by Trojan (a UK racecar fabricator), and it was based on the McLaren M6B, not the newer M8, which had as customer car models the M8C and M8E.

One of the key differences between the M6/M12 and M8 is that the M8 used the engine as a stressed chassis member, and the M6/M12 did not. Perhaps that difference was intended to make the M12 more attractive as a customer car, since that would open up engine options beyond the Chevy V8 (even though all M12 buyers appeared to have gone with the Chevy engine).

Besides the Pete Lyons Can-Am books (which are superb!), here is a great source of info on the M12s and virtually any other sports racing car: http://www.racingsportscars.com/type...Laren/M12.html

Note how many body variations the M12 had, especially in the big NACA ducts feeding the oil coolers astride the cockpits. You can see 0, 1, and 2 of these ducts on different cars in the photos (Aurora/AW went with a single duct on their M12). This is typical of the many body variations that could be seen on any Can-Am car. In some cases, cars were modified so frequently that they were slightly different race-to-race. What a time of innovation and ingenuity!

Sorry for going on so long! I love the historical link of our little cars in relation to the 1:1 cars that once thundered over the tarmac (and still do so in historical/vintage racing!).

Dale (no real expert on anything)

[Speedhoppy]

Dale, all one has to do to become informed ( the term "expert" we will leave to those who actually LIVED with these cars in real life), is get the reference material (books, magazines, etc.), and/or go online, OR interview the actual people who were there (assuming their memories haven't faded). There is a wealth of information out there for anybody to learn about pretty much anything, especially our favorite race cars..........

[ctdurf]

Mark is right there with the two in front . The T530 was the first purpose-built ground effects center seat Can Am car . Prior to that all the center seat cars were someone's full fender body kit hung on a F5000 chassis . Even then there are variations n the cars and kits . Lola produced a kit to create the Lola T333 out of a 330 or 332 car . Hall/Haas didn't like the performance of the front bodywork of the kit and showed up at the first race with a unique nose built around the nose cone of the 332 and some custom front fenders . It didn't take long for everyone to copy it ....

First up of the three cars is the red T530 Lola . Its a Russell Maxx body with an AFX Ferrari airbox on it , mounted on a GJet chassis .

The second car is the Chaparral Cars McLaren M12 . Purchased at the insistence of Hall's driver John Surtees so the 2H could be set aside it was driven a few times by Surtees and then abandoned by him to be driven by Andrea DeAdamich .

The third car is hard to see . If you look closely enough you can see the helmet and driving suit of Jacky Ickx in front of a tall red air box on a car with white fenders . There's a Lola T333c in the back of the pack .



Hoppy ! How about a couple of opinions ? I agree with your list of Chaparral built Chaparral cars . Where would you put the Camaro Trans Am car ? Not a customer car like the Lolas but not a 100% build either . The bare shell was built by Chevrolet the rest by the Chaparral boys . Where does it fit in the full group of cars ?
Second question : There was a Chaparral F5000 car built . It was never "officially" raced by Chaparral but was loaned to Franz Weis , a Chaparral employee , to run a couple of minor SCcA races before it was damaged in a crash . It it a Chappy or not ?

Durf

P.S. Don't you wish Surtees hadn't gotten involved so we might have seen the 2H in it's original coupe form ?

[Speedhoppy]

Hoppy ! How about a couple of opinions ? I agree with your list of Chaparral built Chaparral cars . Where would you put the Camaro Trans Am car ? Not a customer car like the Lolas but not a 100% build either . The bare shell was built by Chevrolet the rest by the Chaparral boys . Where does it fit in the full group of cars ?
Second question : There was a Chaparral F5000 car built . It was never "officially" raced by Chaparral but was loaned to Franz Weis , a Chaparral employee , to run a couple of minor SCcA races before it was damaged in a crash . It it a Chappy or not ?

Durf

P.S. Don't you wish Surtees hadn't gotten involved so we might have seen the 2H in it's original coupe form ?

Durf, when I think of "Chaparral" there were the cars they fabricated, and those they acquired from elsewhere and "massaged", such as the Camaros, the McLaren M12, the Lolas (both Formula 5000 and Indycars) and I think they ran another Indycar (March perhaps) before Hall retired for good. Yet, the aluminum chassis used for the 2E & G, and the "Fan car" all originally came from Chevrolet R&D, but were so completely re-worked, they are considered Chaparrals. The 2H was all- original, and it's construction was truly the predecessor of the high-tech chassis construction used now. There are some that don't think the Chaparral 2K "Yellow Submarine" Indy car (designed by Lotus man John Barnard) should be considered a Chaparral. But Hall used a number of designers and engineers at one time or another, so I am not buying that.......

Certainly those other cars had Chaparral innovations incorporated into them. But a Camaro is a Camaro; a Lola is a Lola, and a McLaren is a McLaren, no matter how much modified at least to me.

I have seen a picture of the Formula 5000 car you mentioned; but originally, that was going to be the chassis of Hall's first attempt at the Indy 500. I have a video interview where Hall talks about this, but the rules were changed to eliminate the stock-block engine he wanted to use, so he shelved it. Engine man Franz Weis (long time Chaparral employee) resurrected it years later to run in Formula 5000; my understanding is that it crashed and was destroyed.....

John Surtees (in my opinion) was one of the greatest motorcycle and race car drivers of his era (still the only man to win championships on two & four wheels). When he came to Chaparral, he was expecting much, but was very disappointed with the 2H. Hall did design it as a coupe, but visibility was marginal, even with a series of periscope mirrors (Hall and his team admited that testing alone was okay, but surrounded by other racers? No way that would work). Insisting he be set up to see over the front fenders (a reasonable request), the change upset the airflow to the rear wing and the radiator. But the truth of the matter is the car was built too narrow for the 20 " wide wheels, and the articulated De Dion suspension he created caused the car to have uneven handling characteristics (even going up on two wheels at times), which would shake the confidence of any driver. Since Hall was still injured, he could not test the car himself to understand what Surtees (also an excellent test driver, and the one who developed the Lola T-70 with Eric Broadley) was experiencing. Hall admitted in interviews that if he had to do it all over again, he would have widened the car, and put in a conventional independent suspension, as it was the first Chaparral that didn't have even decent road holding.

I'll admit that when I first saw a picture of the 2H, I thought it was his next Group 6 car for Le Mans, had the 3 liter engine size restriction not gone into effect. Hall had stated he would have carried on with endurance racing at least one more year...........

[CoachD]

Thanks for the info Dale. Since the AFX/AW McLaren XLR is pretty easy to get. I'm surprised no one here has done a white repaint like the Chaparral car.

And yes Mark, the Manta was the one I was thinking about.

[bluesguy]

1969 Chaparral 2h.

[bluesguy]

Evolution.

[C_Spray]

New wide Lola T-70 bodies

From BHR ("kidmillions" on ebay). Lots of other decal variations available and in the works.

[Speedhoppy]

From BHR ("kidmillions" on ebay). Lots of other decal variations available and in the works.

That is a nice looking HO Lola T-70 roadster body, C_Spray! Tell us more about it. What chassis is under there? Are there any other bodies available? I have not heard of BHR (or "kidmillions"); share some knowledge with us.........


I found this (as you said) on Ebay; it's a Lexan body kit.......

[C_Spray]

That is a nice looking HO Lola T-70 roadster body, C_Spray! Tell us more about it. What chassis is under there? Are there any other bodies available? I have not heard of BHR (or "kidmillions"); share some knowledge with us.........

BHR/kidmillions is Robert Hackl, a very talented modeler and HO Can-Am fan. He shuns FB and forums, but does really nice work. I have created dozens of liveries of decals for his bodies (check my galleries) He has produced a 1966 Lola T70 Mk II spyder, 1967 McLaren M6, 1969 BRM P154 and 1969 Porsche 917PA so far. A 1968 Lola T160 is on the works. All were very popular cars and ran in lots of variations and liveries.

As far as I know, the best way to contact him is through ebay...

[RjAFX]

My GrandDaughter 9 years old has been painting a lot of cardboard, but over Christmas vacation She started painting slot cars with a rattle can and tape. All of her rattle can, and taping work is done. Next She starts practicing with a brush, and water based paints.

This thread is perfect for her CanAm cars.

[el gecko]

Watch out RJ, you got a modeler on your hands! Great job!

What kind of paint is she using? I need to raise my paint game.

[RjAFX]

All of the rattle can paint is KRYLON. I think it's the best you can rattle.

We have been drawing on cardboard boxes taping the designs, and painting. Getting the feel of, for everything. How the paint lays when to close, to far. She has got the hang of it......she is very patient for a 9 year old, hell for 40 year old.

Just thought.....if she wants to keep doing this I'll have to start her own thread......GrandDaughtersGarage

[model murdering]

Now yer talking. Garage threads are such a nice diversion!