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Post by René on May 20, 2020 12:19:23 GMT
Here's a great interview with Jim Hall of Chaparral. The grandfather of the race car aerodynamicists? Yes, with a lot of assistance from General Motors' engineering department, kept quiet since GM had a strict policy prohibiting racing involvement. Shhhhh!  Jim Hall was a superb engineer and the senior partner as Chaparral evolved, but to collaborate with General Motors was a tremendous advantage. On the left is a General Motors design project called the Corvette GS-ll
And the very similar Chaparral 2A
I have a lot of respect for Jim Hall for guiding the great success of Chaparral, but he had one hell of an ace in the hole.
So Chaparral was de-facto the GM works team led by Jim Hall if I understand you correctly. But then not official. Looking at the Corvette GS-II and the Chaparral 2A this is indeed obvious.
It's great we have your American perspective when talking American racing, Carl!  I think Jim Hall is a fascinating charachter and a very clever man. A racing legend. |
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Post by charleselan on May 21, 2020 12:19:24 GMT
I would have to say that Chaparral was one of my most favourite race car manufacturers, loved them ever since I saw that picture of Roger Penske in the 2A at Laguna Seca on the cover of Sports Car Graphic.
Jim Hall was a great innovator but obviously helped no end by GM as Carl points out, he was also a very talented driver whose career was cut short by that horrific flip at Riverside (I believe it was at that venue) where the injuries sustained prevented a return. His partner Hap Sharp was also a pretty useful driver as well, a man who I understand took his own life some years later.
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Post by Carl on May 21, 2020 16:26:36 GMT
I would have to say that Chaparral was one of my most favourite race car manufacturers, loved them ever since I saw that picture of Roger Penske in the 2A at Laguna Seca on the cover of Sports Car Graphic. Jim Hall was a great innovator but obviously helped no end by GM as Carl points out, he was also a very talented driver whose career was cut short by that horrific flip at Riverside (I believe it was at that venue) where the injuries sustained prevented a return. His partner Hap Sharp was also a pretty useful driver as well, a man who I understand took his own life some years later. His horrifying accident was at Stardust Raceway, outside of Las Vegas, during the final Can-Am race in 1968.
All deserts look alike from a distance, even the desert outside Midland, Texas, where Chaparral was headquartered. Both Jim Hall and Hap Sharp were in the oil business and soon became friends with a mutual interest also in racing.
Chaparral was a rural Texas nickname for the speedy Roadrunner bird which lived among the chaparral desert shrubs. Fairly large and able to fly only short distances, its ground speed has been recorded at 27 mph.
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Post by charleselan on May 21, 2020 16:35:29 GMT
I would have to say that Chaparral was one of my most favourite race car manufacturers, loved them ever since I saw that picture of Roger Penske in the 2A at Laguna Seca on the cover of Sports Car Graphic. Jim Hall was a great innovator but obviously helped no end by GM as Carl points out, he was also a very talented driver whose career was cut short by that horrific flip at Riverside (I believe it was at that venue) where the injuries sustained prevented a return. His partner Hap Sharp was also a pretty useful driver as well, a man who I understand took his own life some years later. His horrifying accident was at Stardust Raceway, outside of Las Vegas, during the final Can-Am race in 1968.
All deserts look alike from a distance, even the desert outside Midland, Texas, where Chaparral was headquartered. Both Jim Hall and Hap Sharp were in the oil business and soon became friends with a mutual interest also in racing.
Chaparral was a rural Texas nickname for the speedy Roadrunner bird which lived among the chaparral desert shrubs. Fairly large and able to fly only short distances, its ground speed has been recorded at 27 mph.
Of course Carl but thanks for allowing me some leeway concerning the desert location . I think one of the contributory factors in Jim's accident was the long undulating straight on that circuit, not something seen at riverside of course. Ah! Roadrunner that brings back memories of the cartoon series as well; beep beep. |
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Post by Carl on May 21, 2020 17:14:19 GMT
Wile E. Coyote never lost faith in Acme Co. products |
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Post by mikael on May 22, 2020 9:10:00 GMT
Wile E. Coyote never lost faith in Acme Co. products Not quite "ACME" - but the name "IAME" in karting somehow always made me think of ACME Corp. and the road-runner - and vice-versa. (IAME stands for Italian American Motor Engineering, and it's the mother-company behind a number of other brands (in karting). For example, they bought the Parilla name (as seen in the picture, on the engine to the right) from the defunct Italian motorcycle manufacturer - and thus, this glorious brand lives on there, in karting.)
But sorry - this has nothing whatsoever to do with Can-Am - except for the motorsport link.
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Post by René on May 22, 2020 11:54:05 GMT
Wile E. Coyote never lost faith in Acme Co. products Ah Roadrunner! That was always so funny! I should buy these for on my slot track! Beep beep!
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Post by charleselan on May 22, 2020 13:27:12 GMT
Brilliant René, buy them immediately . I can remember two well know songs featuring "Roadrunner", for me the best was the Tamala Motown artist Junior Walker and the All Stars who had an album named such.  Also many years later during the Punk era Jonathan Richmond also brought out a track also called "Roadrunner". |
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Post by Carl on May 22, 2020 15:54:47 GMT
Joni Mitchell sang about a persistent coyote... ...and Del Shannon had a huge hit in 1961, "Runaway", with an early synthesizer
Both are available on Acme Records
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Post by Carl on Jun 14, 2020 22:46:37 GMT
A very good look at Peter Bryant's Ti-22 driven well at the Monterey Historic event. The speed display at start/finish shows 150 mph at the 45 second mark, damn good on the fairly short uphill straight.
The 1970 Can-Am at brand new Road Atlanta, a race with a surprise winner. As engines are started, legendary Trophy Queen Linda Vaughn's profile is unmistakable and more pronounced than the intake velocity stacks on the race cars.
A lap of Road Atlanta with Oscar Koveleski [#54 McLaren M8B], founder of the Polish Racing Drivers of America
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Post by charleselan on Jun 16, 2020 13:51:51 GMT
A very good look at Peter Bryant's Ti-22 driven well at the Monterey Historic event. The speed display at start/finish shows 150 mph at the 45 second mark, damn good on the fairly short uphill straight.
The 1970 Can-Am at brand new Road Atlanta, a race with a surprise winner. As engines are started, legendary Trophy Queen Linda Vaughn's profile is unmistakable and more pronounced than the intake velocity stacks on the race cars.
A lap of Road Atlanta with Oscar Koveleski [#54 McLaren M8B], founder of the Polish Racing Drivers of America
Great films Carl. I viewed the 1970 Road Atlanta example a few weeks ago on my TV, it was really excellent and I do remember the surprise of Tony Dean winning in his "little" Porsche 908/2. Tony picked up a lot of cash using that car in Can-Am as it was reliable and not slow in terms of getting reasonable place finishes. As we have mentioned before Oscar's car actually ran with a Slot Car sponsorship that featured the graphics of a slot track running all around the upper deck of the bodywork. Very clever marketing with that. |
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Post by Carl on Jun 18, 2020 4:41:44 GMT
A lap of Road Atlanta with Oscar Koveleski [#54 McLaren M8B], founder of the Polish Racing Drivers of America
Great films Carl. I viewed the 1970 Road Atlanta example a few weeks ago on my TV, it was really excellent and I do remember the surprise of Tony Dean winning in his "little" Porsche 908/2. Tony picked up a lot of cash using that car in Can-Am as it was reliable and not slow in terms of getting reasonable place finishes. As we have mentioned before Oscar's car actually ran with a Slot Car sponsorship that featured the graphics of a slot track running all around the upper deck of the bodywork. Very clever marketing with that. John Charles, I somehow always overlook the clever Autoworld sponsorship presented as a perimeter road similar to those at Goodwood and Zandvoort.
Oscar Koveleski was a very good driver whose innovations sometimes trumped Chaparral.
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Post by René on Jun 18, 2020 15:30:17 GMT
A very good look at Peter Bryant's Ti-22 driven well at the Monterey Historic event. The speed display at start/finish shows 150 mph at the 45 second mark, damn good on the fairly short uphill straight. The 1970 Can-Am at brand new Road Atlanta, a race with a surprise winner. As engines are started, legendary Trophy Queen Linda Vaughn's profile is unmistakable and more pronounced than the intake velocity stacks on the race cars. A lap of Road Atlanta with Oscar Koveleski [#54 McLaren M8B], founder of the Polish Racing Drivers of America
Great films Carl, very cool! This one is also great; the Can-Am Challenge at Long Beach 2017. So nice to see the original Can-Am cars in high definition.
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Post by René on Jun 18, 2020 15:38:38 GMT
As we have mentioned before Oscar's car actually ran with a Slot Car sponsorship that featured the graphics of a slot track running all around the upper deck of the bodywork. Very clever marketing with that. This car was reproduced as a slot car by Vanquish MG, a manufacturer that no longer exists. I have several Vanquish cars but unfortunately not this one. I've seen it on ebay a while back but the price they asked was very steep.
Great slot car though with working diff and full chassis detail!  |
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Post by charleselan on Jun 18, 2020 16:04:42 GMT
Great films Carl. I viewed the 1970 Road Atlanta example a few weeks ago on my TV, it was really excellent and I do remember the surprise of Tony Dean winning in his "little" Porsche 908/2. Tony picked up a lot of cash using that car in Can-Am as it was reliable and not slow in terms of getting reasonable place finishes. As we have mentioned before Oscar's car actually ran with a Slot Car sponsorship that featured the graphics of a slot track running all around the upper deck of the bodywork. Very clever marketing with that. John Charles, I somehow always overlook the clever Autoworld sponsorship presented as a perimeter road similar to those at Goodwood and Zandvoort.
Oscar Koveleski was a very good driver whose innovations sometimes trumped Chaparral.
Carl, That indeed was the Can Am car that Oscar ran with AutoWorld sponsorship. It was very distinctive and I believe that AutoWorld were very big in slot car racing in the late 1960's and early 1970's. Slot car racing was pretty big back in the 1960's in particular and one make in America called Cox produced some fantastic model cars in the 1960's and although the company no longer exists, they are much sought after today. Cox actually sponsored Chaparral and their red oval sticker can be seen on the lower body sides of the cars. Obviously they produced some Chaparral models in their range which were very good for that period, but the one that I really lusted after was the Ford GT40 in metallic bark blue with twin white central stripes, based on Ken Miles/Loyd Ruby's Daytona winning car of 1965. In my nearby town back then there was a newsagent right at the top of the town (quite a steep climb) and in the basement the owners son ran a model store. I would go there regularly and chat with him while I looked at what he had for sale; one time he had this very Cox Ford GT40 and we looked at it for ages. However my family were not flush with money and it was for then an expensive model, so I never had the opportunity to buy it, I could just dream. Getting back on track  , Oscar was a very good driver and ran some beautifully prepared cars over the years. JC |
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Jim Hall was a superb engineer and the senior partner as Chaparral evolved, but to collaborate with General Motors was a tremendous advantage.
, Oscar was a very good driver and ran some beautifully prepared cars over the years.