Can Am Car Bodies-Show Your Stuff!

[ctdurf]

Gary , you know you're killing me ...
You must finish that Chaparral and then maybe do a 2H on a 1.7 Mega G+ .
So here's on for you guys . How many Chaparral Cars racers are
in this photo ???

[C&RHORacing]

The photo isn't big enough for me to tell...

[ctdurf]

Truth being stranger than fiction there is a bigger , better photo in my gallery ... On it's side . I cannot for the life of me get it to roll over . No matter what I do it
flips over when I move it here .
????????????????????????????? I need a 12 year-old to fix this .

I hate being old and computer inept !

[bluesguy]

I'm not a twelve yearold,,,but I play one on tv.

Mike

[bluesguy]

One??????? The white one with the high wing looks like McLaren that Jim Hall entered in 1969 Can Am races when the latest Chaparral wasn't ready for prime time.

[ctdurf]

Great job on the picture ! But , I am afraid "one" is not the correct answer .
Keep looking .

[Hilltop Speedway]

Got a few that still hang around the track...RM

[Speedynh]

thanks mike for making the pic seeable.
of the cars on the track, no Chaps that I can see. (I don't know what that white thing is- maybe an old winged-and spoilered-up, out-of scale early McLaren?)
maybe one out of focus in a box on the shelf?

[ctdurf]

It's "Chaparral Cars" racers you are looking for . Some of Chaparral Cars greatest successes were accomplished with other brands of cars . For instance the first CART win was with a LOLA-Chevrolet with John Andretti in the seat .

[C&RHORacing]

Well, the white McLaren M12 was run by Hall, as was the Hall/Haas Lola T530 in the front...(but I had to look that up because I thought it was Haas on his own). Everything else looks t be somebody else's..it that a Roman Brio Lola in the back?

Bob

[bluesguy]

Ok,, we need to get Mark (Speedhoppy), to look at this pic.
He's quite knowledgeable of all things Chaparral related, and he's the OP.

[bluesguy]

Is there a RS spyder in the back row?
Like this????? But this is modern times pic.

[Speedhoppy]

Ok,, we need to get Mark (Speedhoppy), to look at this pic.
He's quite knowledgeable of all things Chaparral related, and he's the OP.

bluesguy, you ask for me, you get me! I have been traveling for work; just got back on the Forum tonight.
IF you are talking about actual "Chaparral" racecars (designed and built by them in Midland) then there are none in the picture in question. What I saw was the white McLaren M12 "customer car", that Hall purchased for John Surtees to drive in 1969 while he was trying to make the Chaparral 2H (known as the "White Whale") function (which he did not). His modification was the addition of a Chaparral-style wing, and the low profile crossover intake manifold made for the 2H. In retrospect, he should have just run the M12.

There was one other car I saw up front that looked like the full-bodied Formula 5000 Lola (the series was re-named "Can Am" to try to get interest up) Hall ran with several drivers (including Brian Redman, who flipped the car and broke his back), but it is a Lola, not a Chaparral.

Hall ran the Chevy Camaro Trans Am team one year (after Penske switched to the AM Javelin). He ran a team of Lola formula 5000 open wheelers with Carl Haas, and they won three straight championships with Brian Redman as their driver. They also ran a Lola at Indy for Al Unser, and won the 500 first time out (also winning the other two 500 mile races that same year; the only team to date to win what was called the "Triple Crown").
After Hall left racing for a second time (following the Indy winning 2K), he came back to Indycars again, but did not build the cars.

What most folks call "true" Chaparrals:

Chaparral 1- Built for Hall by Troutman and Barnes; essentially an improved front-engined Scarab with independent suspension front/rear;

Chaparral 2A, 2D, 2F - All built on the original fiberglass reinforced plastic chassis of 1963. 2F had the wing, rear hip radiators, 427 Chevy engine;

Chaparral 2C, 2E, 2G- aluminum chassis (modified and upgraded from a chassis sent by Chevy R&D for evaluation). 2C looked like the original 2A, with a movable "flipper" spoiler (that car ended up with the same modification in 1965), but was physically smaller and lighter. Only ran at the end of 1965, but won it's first race in Kent (also Hall's last win as a driver). The 2E was the winged car designed for the 1966 Can Am. The 2G was the 2E with an engine upgrade (from 327 to 427 cu ins.) and progressively bigger tires, used in 1967-8 It was this car that crashed at Las Vegas and ended Hall's driving career;

Chaparral 2H - A true "Monocoque", the body/chassis one piece (except for removable hatches & engine cover). Full fiberglass reinforced plastic chassis. Known as the "White Whale", it was full of innovative ideas that just did not work. Ran in the Can Am in 1969, had a best finish of 4th;

Chaparral 2J -The "Sucker Car". Aluminum chassis (also sent to Hall by Chevy R&D to remake into a race car), used suction fans & Lexan skirts to aid traction. Ran in the Can Am in 1970, got pole positions and fastest laps, but nary a finish. Banned at the end of the year, it caused Hall to drop out of racing for a few years, until he and Carl Haas hooked up to run Formula 5000 and eventually Indycars;

Chaparral 2K - The first "ground effects" Indy car, designed by John Barnard (UK), used the same system Lotus had for their Formula 1 car. Ran three years, won Indy (and the Championship) with Johnny Rutherford as driver.

That's IT as far as Chaparrals go, gents.........

[bluesguy]

Chaparral Racing 1969 Can Am McLaren M12.

[CoachD]

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.