Introduction

Sportscar racing became very popular in the US after WWII. So popular, that in 1966 the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) along with the Canadian Automobile Sports Club (CASC), founded the Can-Am series for Group 7 type sports racers. Because of sponsorship from Johnson Wax, the Can-Am was the best paying racing series in the world. This meant that the cream of international auto racing were very interested in the Can-Am. Past and future F1 World Champions John Surtees, Jody Scheckter, Jack Brabham, Graham Hill, Phil Hill, Denny Hulme, Jackie Stewart, and Mario Andretti all participated in the Can-Am at one time or another. Indy 500 winners A.J. Foyt, Mark Donohue, and Parnelli Jones (along with Andretti) also did.

The Can-Am pushed the limits of engineering. Advances were made in aerodynamics, turbocharging, and the use of materials such as fiberglass, aluminum, and titanium. That is until a gas crisis, rules makers, and the increasing cost of new technology ended it.

As high profile as the drivers were, it was almost always the cars that were the stars. Lola, McLaren, Shadow, Chaparral, Ferrari, Porsche, BRM, March, Ford, and Chevy all built chassis and/or engines for the series.

Can-Am cars were classified as Group 7 racers by the International Motorsport Federation (FIA). Group 7 racers had very few restrictions placed on them. (Restrictions were added over the years, but it was pretty much an “open” formula.) No maximum engine size or turbocharger boost limits. No minimum weight. No tire limitations. No structure or material limitations. (Both monocoque and tube frame chassis were used.) The cars did have to be open-cockpit, closed-bodied cars with two seats and two doors.

Racing technology changed dramatically over the course of the Can-Am. Engines grew to over 9-liters (550 cubic inches) and some were even turbocharged. To put all this horsepower on the track (and keep the cars there) wings and suction devices were used. A Can-Am car was one wild ride.

Lola has over the years built various types of race cars. They were one of the major chassis suppliers to the Can-Am.

There were six races in the inaugural Can-Am season. Five were won by men driving Lola T70s. Mark Donohue won one race, Dan Gurney one race, and John Surtees (Team Surtees was the official factory, or “works”, team) won three — including the series opener at St. Jovite, Quebec, on September 11 — plus the championship. Donohue’s and Surtees’ were powered by Chevy V8s (which became THE engine to use in the Can- Am), while Gurney’s victory would be the only one by a Ford powered car in the history of the series.

Originally designed in 1965, the Mk2 version of the T70 was used in 1966. With an aluminum monocoque chassis and a rounded and flowing body shape, the T70 was an attractive looking car with good aerodynamics for the time. A popular car, over 100 T70s were built between 1965 and 1967.

Surtees won one race in 1967, in a failed attempt to retain his title. As in 1966, the T70 was Lola’s Can- Am chassis. Having gone through two more updates, the latest was designated T70 Mk3B.
In 1968, the latest Can-Am Lola was the T160. Team Surtees, no longer the official Lola “factory” team, still fielded a Lola, but so heavily modified that it was called a T160TS. (The “TS” for Team Surtees.) One of the modifications was the addition of a wing high above the car’s rear bodywork. (Rear wings, pioneered by Jim Hall and his Chaparral team, generate aerodynamic downforce to help hold the car on the track.) Power for the Surtees car, and most others, came from a 427 Chevy. Lola founder and designer Eric Broadley, described the T160 as a simpler, stronger, lighter T70. Best finishes for the Lola T160s were a pair of fourths — one by Sam Posey and one by Swede Savage. The best Lola finish in 1968 was a second by George Follmer in a T70.
1969 saw Lola deliver the T162 and T163. These Lolas were updates of the T160. The best Lola driver this year was Chuck Parsons who’s managed four podium finishes — three thirds and a second but no wins — in his T163.

While Lola sold T165s (updated T163s) to customers in 1970, Carl Haas’ works team entered a T220 and T222 for Peter Revson. The T220 was wrecked in mid-season and replaced with the T222. The T220 and T222 were identical except for the wheelbase which went from 88 inches to 98 inches. These cars were completely new designs, owing little to previous Lolas. Revson’s best finishes were a second and a pair of thirds, but older Lolas finished in the top 6 several times.

1971 saw a resurrection of Lola’s fortunes. World Driving Champion Jackie Stewart drove the new, radical, L&M sponsored T260. Instead of having a wide, sloping, wedge-like nose (as most Can-Am cars had), the T260 had a very narrow, short, rounded one. The theory was that the nose shape would help the T260 “bullet” down the straights

and keep it stable as aerodynamic conditions changed (turbulence, cresting a hill, cornering). As it tuned out, on some high speed tracks, a wing was mounted in front of the nose to increase downforce. Stewart garnered one pole (top qualifying position), one “fastest lap”, two wins (in 10 races), and third in the championship standings.

Just as 1971 had been up, 1972 was down for Lola. The T310 was a radical departure from the T260. The T310 was longer, lower, and wider, with an almost flat (except for the wheel wells) nose. Although developed using a wind tunnel, it was too-little/too-late, as the project started late and didn’t get sufficient track testing. Driver David Hobbs best finish was a fourth, but any finish above seventh was rare.

1972 was the last year in the Can-Am for Lola Cars. Although a few older Lolas continued racing in the final two years of the series, the T310 was the last factory Can-Am Lola.

Texan Jim Hall began racing sportscars in SCCA events in the early ’50s. He became pretty good at it. In 1957 he moved from Dallas to Midland to be closer to his family’s oil business. There he joined a syndicate that built and ran a sportscar track called Rattlesmake Raceway. It was never very good as a racing facility, so when Hall formed Chaparral in the early ’60s, he acquired the track as a private test facility and built his factory there.

Early Chaparrals competed in various sportscar races across the country including the 24
Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring. From 1963-1965, Chaparrals driven by Hall and Hap Sharp, dominated SCCA racing. Chaparral was well known for aerodynamic innovations. Hall was one of the first to put “air-dams” under a car’s chin to keep the front of the car on the ground. He was also one of the first to put a “spoiler” on the rear deck edge to keep the back end on the ground. When the Can-Am was formed in 1966, Chaparral joined in.

In 1966, Hall shocked the racing community by mounting an inverted wing on two vertical struts on the back of his Chaparral 2E cars. Working like an airplane wing, only upside down, it generated downforce (instead of lift) to increase rear traction, preventing oversteer in corners. The radiators were relocated from the front of the car to the sides, which reduced cockpit temperatures and allowed a second wing to be mounted inside the front bodywork to keep the front of the car stuck to the road.

The wings were also movable. The Chaparrals used an automatic transmission, so there was no clutch pedal, which allowed Hall to add a third pedal. While accelerating, the driver would hold the pedal down with his left foot. This kept the wings horizontal for less drag. Releasing the pedal put the wings in an angled position, for greater downforce in the corners (the increased drag also helping slow the car).

Jim Hall teamed with Phil Hill, who had become the first American to win the Formula One World Driving Championship in 1961, to drive Chaparrals in 1966. Chaparrals set fastest qualifying time twice that season (Hall once and Hill once) and Hill gained the team’s first Can-Am win on October 16, 1966, at Laguna Seca, California.

For 1967, Chaparral entered a revised version of the 2E called the 2G. The 2G was wider and aerodynamically cleaner than the 2E, but the aluminum chassis wasn’t built for the amount of torque being put out by the team’s 427 cubic inch Chevrolet motors. (It was better suited to the 327 cubic inch engine used in their endurance racing coupes, but they were committed to the big block.)

The team only entered one car for ’67, with Hall at the wheel. They managed neither a pole position (fastest qualifier) nor any wins. Their best finishes were a pair of seconds.

Hall had planned on running his new, 2H in 1968, but development bugs kept it from debuting until 1969. He would be forced to race the 2G in 1968. The result was one pole but no wins. Las Vegas, the sixth and final race of the season, was also the last race as a driver for Jim Hall. Late in the race, his Chaparral collided with a backmarker, was launched into the air, and landed upside down. Hall was rescued from the ensuing fire, but his severely broken legs lead to his retirement from driving.

Although introduced by Jim Hall in 1966, not many cars besides the Chaparrals used high wings for extra downforce. Several cars carried them in 1969, but Hall himself introduced another radical car, the previously mentioned Chaparral 2H. Dubbed “The Great White Whale”, because it looked like one, it would not be one of Hall’s better efforts. It was originally designed as a narrow coupe with windows in the doors because the driver sat so low in the body. Driver John Surtees felt that visibility was poor and had Hall take the car’s canopy off and raise the driver’s seat. The vestigial passenger seat remained under the bodywork. There was a low wing at the back of the body.

This Chaparral didn’t cut it. The team bought a McLaren M12 to use while they continued to sort the 2H out. At one point in the season, the 2H wore a huge wing in the center of the car with the struts mounted to the sides of the car. Quite possibly, the most bizarre looking racer ever built. Although Hall and Surtees never got along well, Hall took full responsibility for the failure. He felt that had he not broken his legs, which kept him from test driving, he could have sorted the car out. At any rate, the team’s direction changed for 1970.

The FIA, auto racing’s world ruling body, outlawed tall wings (from now on they would have to be near the bodywork) after 1969 because of some spectacular accidents that had occurred to F1 racers. Also, “movable” aerodynamic devices such as Chaparral’s flipper wings were outlawed.
Chaparral

Jim Hall’s answer to this, the Chaparral 2J, did not debut until the third race of the 1970 Can-Am season in July at Watkins Glen, New York.

The 2J was as radical as the 2E and 2H had been. Maybe more so. The car looked like a white brick. A very fast white brick. The car carried two motors. A 465 cubic inch Chevy V8 powered the rear wheels and a 274 cc Rockwell snowmobile engine powered a pair of “sucker” fans in the rear bodywork. The fans sucked air out from under the car, creating a vacuum that held the 2J on the track. Sliding Lexan skirts were placed around the bottom edge of the body to seal the “plenum” area under the car. Enough suction could be generated to hold the car upside down on the ceiling of a room! Where a wing generates downforce (good) it also generates drag (bad). The suction device generated downforce with no drag loss.

Reigning F1 World Driving Champion Jackie Stewart qualified the 2J third at Watkins Glen and drove the race’s fastest lap, but his race was cut short by brake problems. The Chaparral team missed the next three races but returned to competition in September at Road Atlanta. They also brought a new driver with them, Vic Elford. Elford drove the 2J in three of the remaining four races. (The team would miss one more race.)

Elford was fastest qualifier in all three of those races but he only finished one (sixth at Road Atlanta). Something always broke. But the competition felt that, with a year of experience under their belt, the Chaparral team would bury them in 1971. Competitors were always lobbying the SCCA to ban the 2J. At the end of the season it was. The sliding Lexan skirts were said to have violated the “moveable aerodynamic device” ban. With that, Jim Hall closed up shop. An era in international autoracing had come to a close.

Hall did return to autoracing in 1980 with the Chaparral 2K Indycar. Johnny Rutherford won the Indy 500 that year in the car. Hall owned a CART Indycar team into the 1990s, but bought his team’s chassis from other companies.

In 2004, the Petroleum Museum in Midland, Texas, opened the Chaparral Gallery, a permanent home for the surviving Chaparrals. Photos from the grand opening of the museum, including the Chaparral Cars work shops and Rattlesnake Raceway, can be found via this link at Motorsport.com.

When you hear the name McLaren today, you think of Formula One, but in the late ’60s and early ’70s everyone thought “Can-Am”. New Zealander Bruce McLaren formed Team McLaren in the mid-1960s. His goal was to win the F1 World Driving Championship in a car of his own design. But Bruce was also racing in US sports car events, so when the Can- Am came along in 1966, with its huge (for the time) purses, Team McLaren went after it, too.

For the inaugural Can-Am season, Team McLaren built and raced the McLaren M1B, an
Oldsmobile powered, tube frame chassis sports car, which was an evolution of the M1A they had run in sports car races the year before. Two team cars were entered for Bruce and fellow countryman Chris Amon. While Bruce and Chris set several fastest laps and led several races, the team’s best finishes were three second places. Several privateers raced customer M1As and M1Bs.

In 1967, McLaren switched to 6-liter iron-block Chevy V8s and aluminum monocoque chassis construction for the team’s M6A racers. Amon was replaced by another New Zealander, Denny Hulme, as Bruce’s driving partner. As the 1967 season got underway, they embarked on a domination of the Can- Am that would last five years. Five of the season’s six races were won by Team McLaren. Three races were won by Hulme and two races plus the championship by McLaren himself. Various private entrants raced McLaren M1As, M1Bs (the team always sold their old cars after the season was over), and M1Cs (new customer car), but none came close to what the factory team achieved.

While the M1 and M6 racers had rounded bodywork, which was the norm at the time, McLaren’s 1968 car, the M8A, was more of a wedge shape. Power came from 427 cubic inch aluminum block ZL-1 Chevy V8s. The new aluminum motors produced 620-640 bhp at 7000 rpm — 100+ bhp more than the previous year’s motor.

McLaren cars won all six races in 1968 — Team McLaren won four (three for Hulme, one for McLaren), John Cannon one in an M1B, and Mark Donohue one in an M6B. Denny Hulme won the championship. Upwards of half the field at each race were McLarens. Between the winning of the team and the selling of customer cars, McLaren was a success.

One customer was Dan Gurney and his All American Racers (AAR) team. Their heavily modified M6B was known as a McLeagle — a contraction of McLaren and Eagle (which was the name given to the cars designed and built by AAR).

During the final race of the season at Las Vegas, Denny Hulme became the first person to turn a lap in a Can-Am car at a speed over 120 mph. This speed was a BIG deal in 1968.

By 1969, Team McLaren and the Can-Am were known as the “Bruce and Denny Show” because of their domination. The Can-Am series expanded to eleven races in 1969 and Team McLaren won EVERY race, with Denny winning five and Bruce winning six and the championship. Their weapon in 1968 was the M8B, an evolution of the M8A. The major visual difference was the replacement of the M8As rear deck spoiler with a high Chaparralesque rear wing. But it was more than driving skill or advanced technology that won them every race in 1969.

What was McLaren’s secret? They rarely introduced “great” innovations. What they did better than anyone else was test, test, test. Many teams would show up for the first Can-Am of the year with a brand new car that had absolutely no miles on it. McLaren would work out the bugs in the off-season, so that they could concentrate on racing when the season started. What is truly amazing, is how long it took other teams to catch on to what McLaren was doing.
The final race of 1969 was held at Texas World Speedway in College Station. The course used part of the track’s banked oval and an auxiliary road course. For the first time ever, Can-Am cars could run at 200 mph (on the banking). McLaren’s McLaren hit 210 mph.

The car that McLaren sold to customers in 1969, the M12, was an M6B chassis with an M8A body. One of those customers was Jim Hall’s Chaparral team. Their own 2H racer wasn’t quite ready for the season so they bought an M12 to use in the interim. Chaparral heavily modified the rear bodywork (altered rear spoiler and moved air intakes on sides) and added their usual high rear wing. The best finishes by non-team McLarens were a second by George Eaton (M12) and thirds by Eaton, John Surtees (Chaparral M12), and Mario Andretti (M6B).

Tragedy struck Team McLaren before the start of the 1970 season. On June 2, Bruce McLaren was killed while testing one of the team’s new M8D Can-Am racers at Goodwood, England.
Team McLaren continued, with Denny Hulme as team leader and Dan Gurney as second driver. For 1970 they raced the M8D, an evolution of the M8B, but with a lower wing (as now dictated by the rules) mounted between two fins at the rear of the bodywork. The fins earned it the nickname “Batmobile”. Power now came from a Chevy 427 V8 made from a Reynolds high-silicone aluminum alloy. The alloy was hard-wearing and had no need for iron cylinder liners.

After winning at Mosport and St Jovite and finishing ninth at Watkins Glen, Dan Gurney had to leave Team McLaren because of sponsor conflicts. (Team McLaren was sponsored by Gulf Oil and Gurney had Castrol Oil as a personal sponsor.) His replacement, Peter Gethin, won one race. Hulme won six races and the championship. Nine victories in 10 races for Team McLaren. That one loss occurred at the seventh race of the season at Road Atlanta. The loss ended the team’s Can-Am race win streak at an amazing 19 races and the marque’s at 23, over three seasons.

McLaren’s 1970 customer car was the M8C, an evolution of the M12. The best finish for an independent McLaren driver was a second by Lothar Motschenbacher, in an ex-Team McLaren M8B. Motschenbacher also finished second in the Can-Am point standings for 1970.

Hulme returned to Team McLaren in 1971 but Gethin was replaced by Peter Revson. This year’s racer was the M8F, which looked like an M8D but with smoother lines. The fins holding the rear wing now had extensions, or fences, that extended the length of the car at both side edges of the body. The fences were to help direct air over the body and the wing (instead of it spilling over the body sides). The aluminum Chevy V8s they used were now up to 495 cubic inches in displacement. Horsepower was 740 at 6400 rpm with 655 lb-ft of torque at 5600 rpm. Later, McLaren would use 480 and 510 cubic inch engines.

In 10 races, Hulme won three and Revson five and the championship — Team McLaren’s fifth consecutive Can-Am championship. Motschenbacher (M8D) was again the best independent McLaren driver, finishing fifth in the championship.

The 1971 customer M8E was an improved M8C. Several teams that bought M8Es also bought M8D “Batmobile” bodywork for them, creating M8E/Ds.

The McLaren M20 was a completely new design for 1972. While retaining the “Batmobile” look, the single radiator in the nose was replaced by two radiators – - one on each side of the body. Between the front wheel wells (the old radiator position) a wing was mounted. Customers could buy M8FPs (production M8F).

McLaren was in the fight of their life in 1972 against Porsche. Hulme won only two races and Revson none as Team McLaren failed to win a sixth consecutive championship. Francois Cevert won one race in an independent M8F.

Not only did Team McLaren’s reign in the Can- Am come to an end in 1972, so did their involvement. The costs of running the Can-Am had become too high. The team also wanted to pay more attention to their Formula One program. In 1973 and 1974, the only McLarens in the Can-Am were older, existing cars run by privateers. The best 1973 finish was a second by David Hobbs in an M20. The final race of 1974, which was the last race of the original Can-Am series, was won by Scooter Patrick in an M20, with John Cordts second in an M8F. It is only fitting that the final race of the Can- Am series was won by a McLaren.

Porsche’s first foray into the Can-Am was not by design but by the luck of the calendar. Beginning in 1969, Watkins Glen held a combined racing weekend for the World Championship of Makes (endurance racing sports cars) and the Can-Am. A 6-hour endurance race would be held on Saturday and a Can-Am on Sunday. The “prototype” sports cars that ran in the endurance were legal (though under-powered) to run in the Can-Am. So as long as the teams were there, they would enter the Can-Am. (Hey, the money was good.) Jo Siffert drove a factory entered Porsche 908 Spyder to a sixth place finish. Another Porsche driver, Tony Dean, who entered his own car, became a Can-Am regular with his 908 Spyder. (Like I said, the money was good.)

Later in the year, Siffert returned with a Porsche 917PA, an open topped (Spyder) version of the recently developed 917 endurance racer. The 917 had a complex aluminum-tube space frame chassis and was powered by an air cooled, 4.5-liter flat-12 engine. It was heavy and under-powered compared to the 7-liter Chevys prevalent in the Can-Am. Siffert’s best finish was a third, but he did finish fourth in the Can-Am championship after only racing two thirds of the season.

In 1970, Siffert again drove a factory entered endurance Porsche in the Watkins Glen Can-Am. This time he scored an amazing second place finish in a 917K coupe. The only Porsche regular in the Can-Am, however, was Dean in his little 3-liter 908. It may not have been fast, but it was reliable. This was proven at Road Atlanta when he gave Porsche their first Can-Am victory. This win broke Team McLaren’s 19 race win streak. Dean finished sixth in the championship.

There were three Porsches regularly driven in the 1971 Can-Am — the 908 of Frank Matich, the 917PA (ex-Siffert car) entered by Vasek Polak for Milt Minter, and the 917/10 of Jo Siffert. The endurance Porsches also put in their appearance at Watkins Glen (for the last time), but the best finisher was Gijs van Lennep in ninth.

Siffert’s 917/10 had the same wheelbase as the 971PA, but the body was shorter and had fins on each side of the rear bodywork. Engine size was 5- liters when introduced (a third of the way into the season), but up to 5.4-liters by the end of the season. Just before its first race, Siffert signed a sponsorship contract with STP. They couldn’t come up with any day-glo red paint (STP’s racing colors) in time to paint the car for the race, but they did find contact paper in the proper color with which to cover the car.

Siffert scored several top-5 finishes, including two seconds, to finish fourth in the championship. Unfortunately, he was killed in a Formula One race before the season ended. Minter finished sixth in the championship.

1972 saw the face of the Can-Am change with the introduction of Porsche’s new 917/10K. Fitted with twin-turbocharged, 5-liter flat-12 engines, the factory supported, L&M cigarette sponsored, Roger Penske prepared 917/10Ks of Mark Donohue and George Follmer won six of nine races. Donohue missed four races because of injuries suffered in a testing accident, so Follmer was brought in as a substitute driver. After Donohue returned, Penske entered cars for both drivers. Follmer accounted for five of the six Porsche wins and was rewarded with the Can-Am championship. Several other drivers raced 917PAs or 917/10s, but not of the configuration of the Penske cars.

Had the 5-liter turbocharged flat-12 not worked out, Porsche had built a normally aspirated 7.2-liter flat-16 motor. Though tested, it was never raced. It was never needed, as the turbo motors produced 1000 hp on the dyno and 900 hp in race trim.

The body of the 917/10K was slab-sided with a wing mounted between fins on the rear bodywork. The bodywork directly in front of the front wheels, was concave, instead of the normal convex shape, to help produce downforce. The 917/10K could go from 0-60 mph in 2.1 seconds, 0-100 mph in 3.9 seconds, and 0-200 mph in 13.4 seconds! Their race performance was so awesome that they were called the Porsche “Panzers”.

In 1973, Porsche and Penske upped the ante. Donohue’s 917/30 had streamlined bodywork and a new 5.4-liter, twin turbocharged, flat-12 motor that produced 810 ft-lb of torque and 1100 hp in race trim (and had seen 1500 hp on the dyno). This was the most powerful road racing car until the turbocharged F1 racers of the mid-1980s. Donohue called the 917/30 “a monument to my career as an engineer and driver.”

Porsche won all eight races in 1973. Charlie Kemp and George Follmer won the first two races in 917/10Ks before Donohue and the 917/30 got their act together and won six in a row and the championship. This was the first time that anyone had won six straight Can-Am races.

For 1974, the Sports Car Club of America, partially because of the OPEC oil crisis ans partially because of the dominance of the turbocharged Porsche engines, introduced a fuel consumption formula of three miles per gallon. Porsche pulled out of the Can-Am. The only Porsche regulars during the five race season were a couple of old 908s.

The 917/30 made one appearance in 1974, at the Mid-Ohio Can-Am. Reasons varied from the official story that this was the track at which it got the best gas mileage, to a rumor that the promoters would not rigidly enforce the gas mileage rules in an effort to increase interest in the dying series. Brian Redman started the car on pole but finished second.

The 917/30 made one last run before being retired to a museum and occasional historic racing duty. On August 9, 1975, Donohue drove it at the Talladega superspeedway to a World Closed Course Speed Record of 221.120 mph. It had run 250 mph on the straights.

This section is actually the history of two manufacturers, Autocoast and Shadow, who’s stories are intertwined.

The Autocoast Ti22 debuted late in the 1969 Can-Am season, at Laguna Seca. Designed by Peter Bryant, the car was a reflection of the rule changes that were to go into effect for the next season. For 1970, rear wings would have a maximum height of only 31 inches, so downforce would need to be generated in different ways. Bryant chose to make the car a single aerodynamic device. In addition, the monocoque chassis would be built of both aluminum and titanium. Much of the suspension was also made of titanium. It was chosen because the car needed to be very strong and very light. Titanium is 60% lighter than steel and is much stiffer than aluminum. This was the first time that titanium was used in any quantity in a car. Hence, the name “Ti22″, which is the atomic symbol and weight of titanium. Power came from the ever popular Chevy V8.

In that first outing at Laguna Seca, the Ti22 finished 13th. At Riverside, it officially exited the race (after qualifying fourth) with transmission problems. In reality, a titanium suspension piece had broken, but the team was courting the Titanium Metal Corporation as a sponsor for 1970, so they wouldn’t admit that a titanium item had failed. Engine failure stopped the Ti22 at the last Can-Am race of the year and at a race in Fuji, Japan.

Jackie Oliver, who drove the car in 1969, returned to drive it in 1970. He qualified fourth and finished second in the season opener, after leading several laps. Disaster struck at the second race of the season, as the Ti22 cart-wheeled off the track on the first lap. Oliver walked away from the wreck but the chassis was totalled. The team did not get a new car on the track until the final two races of the season. Oliver did manage a pair of second place finishes in those two races.

Also in 1970, Don Nichols built the Advanced Vehicles System (AVS) Shadow. Like Autocoast, they used the conventional Chevy big-block engine. However, nothing else on the car was conventional. The fundamental design principal behind the Shadow was reduced aerodynamic drag, which was to be achieved by having minimal frontal area on the car. This became possible when Firestone agreed to develop tires that were 30% smaller in diameter than those in use at the time — 17 inches in the front and 19 in the rear (as opposed to the normal 24 and 26 inches).
Unfortunately, smaller tires meant smaller brake rotors, which had less stopping force and didn’t dissipate heat fast enough. Also, because there was no room for the radiator in the body it ended up being mounted in the rear wing, which didn’t work well. Other innovations were originally included in the Shadow, but they were slowly compromised as things didn’t work out as planned. George Follmer drove the car twice and Vic Elford once. It finished none of the races, although Follmer did qualify fifth fastest for the season opener.

There was a “meeting of the minds” in 1971. Through “business” maneuverings, Bryant lost control of the Ti22. (The Ti22 only raced twice in 1971 with David Hobbs at the wheel, and failed to finish either race.) He and several other people from the Ti22 project, including driver Jackie Oliver, joined forces with Nichols, to build and race a slightly more “normal” Shadow. With the signing of Universal Oil Products as sponsor, the UOP Shadow team was born.

The Goodyear tires used in 1971 were larger than before (18.8 and 22.3 inches) but still smaller than conventional Can-Am tires. They were about the size of that day’s Formula One tires. About the only titanium in the new car, was a pair of struts attaching the engine to the back of the chassis tub. The overall shape of the Shadow MkII was of a low wedge with “fences” running down each side of the body and a wing in the back. The car was painted in various forms of back and white — usually all black with white lettering, but sometimes white on top and black on the sides. One time, it was painted all white with black lettering. All paint schemes were very stark and very attractive.

The car, however, was still not a success. Although Oliver usually qualified the car well (including one pole position), it only finished one race (third at Edmonton).

In 1972, the team finally abandoned the low profile tires for conventional rubber. The larger tires meant that the body of the MkIII, though of similar shape to the 1971 MkII, was now taller. The radiators were moved to the sides of the car and a wing placed between the front wheels, just as McLaren did with their M20 this same year. The team also began testing a turbocharged Chevy V8, but didn’t race it. Unfortunately, their 1972 season was no better than 1971, with Oliver only finishing one race (and in third, like 1971).

For 1973, Shadow built an all new car, the DN2. (Shadow had also started racing in Formula One, with that racer known as the DN1. DN standing for Don Nichols.) Tony Southgate had replaced Peter Bryant as designer. The car had a “shovel nose” similar to Lola’s T310 of 1972. It was also designed to use the 1200 hp turbocharged engine they had been working on. The engine was only raced three times and never worked well. Therefore, they were forced to use a normally aspirated Chevy, which didn’t have enough horsepower (735) to move the DN2′s heavy chassis quickly enough to keep up with the now dominant Porsches. The car did not handle well, either. Mechanical problems also continued to dog the team, resulting in only two finishes (third at Edmonton and second at Laguna Seca) in eight races.

For 1974, Shadow was the only team to field new cars as the Porsche, Lola, and McLaren factory teams had all pulled out of the series. The new DN4, although looking very much like the DN2, was smaller and lighter, to take advantage of the series’ new fuel economy rules. (Cars would now have to get 3 mpg or better.) Shadow entered two cars in 1974 — one for Jackie Oliver and one for 1972 Can-Am champion George Follmer. Both cars were powered by 800 hp, 495 cubic inch Chevy V8 engines.

The team finally got it right. In five races, Follmer had one pole position and three second place finishes, while Oliver sat on pole three times and won four races and the championship. After five years of trying, Don Nichols finally had his championship. Unfortunately, the Can-Am ceased to exist after he had won it.

After the Can-Am season ended, the team put on a pair of exhibition races. Only Shadows participated in these races. Before the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, Follmer beat Oliver and Jean-Pierre Jarier. All drove DN4s. Later, before the Laguna Seca F5000 race, Follmer and Oliver in Can-Am DN4s were beaten by Jarier and James Hunt in Formula One DN3s.

Finally, at Mosport in 1975, Can-Am cars raced in anger for the last time. Oliver drove a Shadow DN4 to victory in a one-off “Formula Libre” race, beating various endurance prototypes and other Group 7 Can-Am cars. An era had ended.

Shadow went on to race in Formula One, with little success, until the early eighties. Before Shadow folded, Jackie Oliver, who had become Team Manager, and several other “disgruntled” Shadow employees left to form the Arrows F1 team.

In the previous five sections of this series, we looked at the major manufacturers in the Can-Am — the ones who won races. They were the teams that spent large amounts of money and made major commitments to winning the series. But there were other manufacturers who participated in the series who, for whatever reason, didn’t make the commitment, or didn’t spend the money or the time it takes to be a winner in a major racing series. Their vehicles were no less interesting. We will look at those cars in this final chapter on the Can- Am.

BRM

British Racing Motors was begun in the 1950s as a Grand Prix racing team. They entered the Can-Am in 1970. The BRM P154 looked like a flattened wedge, a common shape for sports cars at the time. The body was compact, and stable in the wind tunnel, but the car’s handling has been described as “terrifying”. There were several structural failures during the season and BRM’s Chevy engines were not reliable. George Eaton managed to qualify his BRM in the top eight several times but didn’t finish any races. Pedro Rodriguez finished eighth, fifth, and third in the last three races.

A much revised and much better P167 didn’t arrive in 1971 until the final two races of the season. Brian Redman scored a fourth and Howden Ganley a third. BRM’s Can-Am program suffered from the fact that they were a Grand Prix team that was merely dabbling in the Can-Am.

Caldwell

Designed by Ray Caldwell and financed by driver Sam Posey, the Caldwell D7 of 1967 was one of the first race cars to use a “flipper” wing. Instead of being mounted at the rear and transferring downforce to the wheel hubs, it was chassis mounted at the rollbar. It was operated at first by engine oil pressure and later by compressed air controlled by the driver with a knob. Posey never qualified nor finished better than mid-pack with the car. The D7C of 1968, driven at first by Posey and the by Brett Lunger did no better.

Ferrari

The first Ferrari entered in a Can-Am race was the Dino endurance racer of Pedro Rodriguez, which failed to impress anyone in two races in 1966.

In 1967 a P3/4 endurance racer was driven by Lodovico Scarfiotti, and two P4 spyders (open cockpit), based on the P4 endurance coupe, were driven by Jonathon Williams and Chris Amon. The best finish was a seventh by Scarfiotti.

For 1968, Ferrari built their first true Can- Am car, the 612, powered by a 6-liter V12 engine. The 612 had a steel tube space frame chassis with aluminum body. It carried a movable wing above the engine, just behind the driver. There were two trim tabs on the wing and a perforated panel on the nose that raised under braking to act as air brakes. The car was heavy, the brakes were weak, and both handling and aerodynamics were slightly off. The 612 raced only once (by Amon), at the last race of the season in Las Vegas. It was eliminated in a multi-car accident on the first lap. Pedro Rodriguez also ran the year old P4 in two races but finished neither.

In 1969, Ferrari again got Amon’s 612P into the series late, but this time they only missed three races. Although built on the 1968 car’s chassis, the 612P was lighter and horsepower was up to about 650. Late in the season the engine size was increased to 6.9 liters. Amon qualified well, led several laps, and had a second and a third place finish, but usually he was let down by the engine. He was sixth in the season’s final standings. Jim Adams campaigned the 612P (with engine size reduced to 5 liters) in 1970 and 1971 with little success.

In 1971, Ferrari entered a new car, the 712, in only one race. The car was based on Ferrari’s 512S/M coupe endurance racer but with slightly different suspension, a 680-hp 7-liter engine, and wedge shaped body. Mario Andretti qualified the car sixth at Watkins Glen and finished fourth. Jean- Pierre Jarier drove the 712 a few times in 1972 with his best finish being a fourth.

A few men drove 512S and 512M endurance cars in Can-Ams in 1971 and 1972. Their best finish was a fourth by Herbert Mueller in 1971.

Ford

While several cars during the history of the Can-Am were powered by Ford engines, only a few were complete cars built with Ford money and support. The first was a GT40 coupe driven by Eppie Weitzes in the 1966 season. His best finish was a sixth at Mosport, Canada.

The second was the Honker II of 1967, designed by Len Bailey (who worked on the Ford GT40 program), built by Alan Mann Racing, and run by Holman Moody (of stockcar racing fame). The car was sleek and streamlined with a long tail and painted a beautiful metallic lavender. It was named after John Holman, who liked to use the air horns on the big-rig trucks he drove. Powered by a 351 cubic inch engine (and later a 377 cubic inch unit) and driven by Mario Andretti, the car should have been a contender, but Mario never liked the car. The shifter had to be moved, and the handling and the brakes were never right. The car only qualified for two races, failing to start one and failing to finish the other. Mario hated the car so much that he once quipped to car sponsor actor Paul Newman that he’d trade places with him — put Mario’s name of the car and let Paul drive. Quite possibly the prettiest Can- Am racer ever, though.

Another Ford project started in 1967 was the G7A. It was based on the Ford J-car chassis which was similar to their Le Mans winning GT40 MkIV. It was to have all sorts of techno-goodies on it but they never came to pass. It was later sold to veteran race mechanics Charlie and Kerry Agapiou. It was raced three times in 1969, driven by John Cannon, George Follmer, and then Jack Brabham. It failed to finish all three races.

Jack Brabham got to drive a second Ford in 1969, the Alan Mann “Open Sports Ford”. He finished third in its one outing at what is now Texas World Speedway. Frank Gardner also did one race in this car but the car did not finish the race.

March

March was formed in 1969 to go Grand Prix racing. This it did. It also, belatedly, went Can-Am racing in 1970 with the STP sponsored, Chevy powered 707 racer. While simple in design, it was rather unusual looking. The front of the car looked a lot like the front of the March 701 Grand Prix car, with its twin adjustable canards. This made the 707 look a little like a hammerhead shark. It was low-slung and several inches wider than the typical Can-Am racer. It was also a couple of hundred pounds overweight. Chris Amon drove the car three times, finishing fifth once and fourth twice. Designer Robin Herd looked at 1970 as a warm-up to a major effort in 1971. Alas, there was no factory effort in 1971. Gordon Dewar drove the 707 in the 1971 Can-Am, but with no success.

McKee

Bob McKee built cars that were run in the Can-Am from 1966 through 1969. The most famous one was named the Cro-Sal Special. Raced in 1969, it had a turbocharged Oldsmobile engine — the first turbocharged engine in the Can-Am. A second version had a flip-up airbrake mounted on top of the engine’s air induction plenum. Joe Leonard finished eighth at St. Jovite in the Cro-Sal Special. A 4-wheel drive version of this car appeared for one race, but failed to qualify.

Others

Other manufacturers that built cars for the Can-Am were Burnett, Cooper, Genie, Lotus, Mac-It, Matich, Merlyn, and Mirage. And there are yet others (mostly in the early years of the Can-Am). Some were built in some quantity in factories while others were one-offs built by a single person. None were successful nor played a significant enough part in the Can-Am to be mentioned here.