The Canadian-American Challenge Cup or Can-Am, was an SCCA/CASC sports car racing series from 1966 to 1974. The Sports Car Club of America ( SCCA) is a club and sanctioning body supporting Road racing, rally, and Autocross in the United States Sports car racing is a form of circuit Auto racing with Automobiles that have two seats and enclosed wheels
Contents |
History
Can-Am started out as a race series for Group 7 sports racers with two races in Canada (Can) and four races in the United States of America (Am). The series was initially sponsored by Johnson Wax. S C Johnson ( S C Johnson & Son Inc) previously known as S C Johnson Wax (and earlier Johnson Wax) is a global manufacturer of household The Series used the FIA Group 7 category with unrestricted engine capacity.
The Group 7 category was essentially a formule libre for sports cars; the regulations were minimal and permitted unlimited engine sizes (and allowed turbocharging and supercharging), virtually unrestricted aerodynamics, and were as close as any major international racing series ever got to anything goes. A turbocharger, or turbo, is an air Compressor used for forced-induction of an Internal combustion engine. A supercharger is an air compressor used for Forced induction of an Internal combustion engine. As long as the car had two seats and bodywork enclosing the wheels, and met basic safety standards, it was legal. Group 7 had arisen as a category for non-homologated sports car 'specials' in Europe and for a while in the 1960s Group 7 racing was popular in the United Kingdom as well as a class in hillclimb racing in Europe. Group 7 cars were designed more for short-distance sprints than for endurance racing. Endurance racing is a form of motorsport which is meant to test the durability of equipment and endurance of participants Some Group 7 cars were also built in Japan by Nissan and Toyota, but these did not compete outside their homeland (though some of the Can-Am competitors went over to race against them occasionally). (pronounced) is a Multinational corporation headquartered in Japan, and is currently the world's largest Automaker.
SCCA sports car racing was becoming more popular with European constructors and drivers, and the United States Road Racing Championship for large-capacity sports racers eventually gave rise to the Group 7 Can-Am series. The United States Road Racing Championship (USRRC was one of two Sports car racing series There was good prize and appearance money and plenty of trade backing; the series was lucrative for its competitors but resulted, by its end, in truly outrageous cars with well over 1000 horsepower (750 kW) (some teams claimed 1500 hp in qualifying trim), wings, active downforce generation, very light weight and unheard of speeds. Similar Group 7 cars ran in the European Interserie series, but this was much lower-key than the Can-Am. Interserie is the name of a European -based motorsport series started in 1970 that allows for a wide variety of racing cars from various eras and series to compete with less limited
On-track, the series was initially dominated by Lola, followed by a period in which it became known as the 'Bruce and Denny Show', the works McLaren team dominating until the Porsche 917 was perfected and became almost unbeatable. Lola Racing Cars (also Lola Cars International) is a Racing car Engineering company founded in 1961 by Eric Broadley and based in Huntingdon Early life As an eleven year old McLaren contracted a disease in his hip which left his left leg shorter than the right Denis Clive "Denny" Hulme OBE ( 18 June 1936 &ndash 4 October 1992) was a New Zealand car racer the 1967 McLaren, founded in 1963 by New Zealander Bruce McLaren (1937&ndash1970 is a Formula One team based in Woking, Surrey, UK The Porsche 917 is a racecar that gave Porsche its first overall wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1970 and 1971. After Porsche's withdrawal, Shadow dominated the last season before Can-Am faded away to be replaced by Formula 5000. Porsche SE or Porsche ( German, ˈpɔɹʃə is a German manufacturer of automobiles which is majority-owned by the Porsche and Piëch Formula 5000 (or F5000) was an auto-racing formula that ran different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982 Racing was rarely close - one marque was usually dominant - but the noise and spectacle of the cars made the series highly popular.
The energy crisis and the increased cost of competing in Can-Am meant that the series folded after the relatively lacklustre 1974 season; the single seater Formula 5000 series became the leading road-racing series in North America and many of the Can-Am drivers and teams continued to race in this. An energy crisis is any great bottleneck (or price Rise) in the supply of energy resources to an economy. Formula 5000 (or F5000) was an auto-racing formula that ran different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982 F5000's reign lasted for only two years, with a second generation of Can-Am following. This was a fundamentally different series based initially on converted Formula 5000 cars with closed-wheel bodies. Formula 5000 (or F5000) was an auto-racing formula that ran different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982 There was also a 2L class based on Formula 2 chassis. Formula Two, abbreviated to F2, was a type of Formula racing. The second incarnation of Can-Am faded away as IMSA and CART racing became more popular in the early 1980s but remained active until 1987. Champ Car, was the name for a class and specification of cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades primarily for use in the Indianapolis
Can-Am remains a well-remembered form of racing due to its popularity at the time, the spectacular cars and the lineup of talented drivers. Can-Am cars remain popular in historic racing.
Notable drivers
Notable drivers in the original Can-Am series included virtually every acclaimed driver of the late 60s and early 70s. Denny Hulme, Bruce McLaren, Phil Hill, Mark Donohue, Jim Hall, Chris Amon, Dan Gurney, Peter Revson, Charlie Kemp, John Cannon, Masten Gregory, Roger McCluskey, John Surtees, Parnelli Jones, Mario Andretti, Jack Brabham, Pedro Rodríguez, Vic Elford, and Jackie Stewart all drove Can-Am cars at one time or another. Denis Clive "Denny" Hulme OBE ( 18 June 1936 &ndash 4 October 1992) was a New Zealand car racer the 1967 Early life As an eleven year old McLaren contracted a disease in his hip which left his left leg shorter than the right Philip Toll Hill Jr, ( April 20, 1927 &ndash August 28, 2008) was a United States automobile racer and the only American-born Mark Neary Donohue Jr ( March 18, 1937 - August 19, 1975) was an American Racecar driver known for his ability to set Jim Hall (born July 23, 1935 in Abilene Texas) is a former Racecar driver and constructor from the United States. Early life Chris Amon was born in Bulls, New Zealand as the only child of wealthy sheep-owner Ngaio Amon Daniel Sexton Gurney (born April 13, 1931) is an American racing driver race car constructor and team owner Peter Jeffrey Revlon (renamed Revson) ( February 27, 1939 - March 22, 1974 aged) was a racecar driver from United States Charlie Kemp is a British Actor who is best remembered for playing the popular young character Max King (Emmerdale on the ITV Soap opera John Cannon (born in London, UK on June 21, 1933 - died in New Mexico, USA on October 18, 1999 Masten Gregory ( February 29, 1932 – November 8, 1985) was a Racing driver from the United States. Motorcycle racing career Born in Tatsfield, Surrey, Surtees was the son of a south London motorcycle dealer Rufus Parnell "Parnelli" Jones (born August 12, 1933 in Texarkana Arkansas) is a retired American racing driver and racecar owner Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an Italian American former racecar driver and one of the most successful Americans in the Sir John Arthur "Jack" Brabham, AO, OBE (born April 2 1926) is an Australian former racing driver who was Formula One Pedro Rodríguez ( 18 January 1940 &ndash 11 July 1971) was a Mexican Grand Prix motor racing driver Victor Henry Elford (born in London, June 10, 1935) is a former Sportscar racing, Rallying and Formula One driver from For other people of this name see Jackie Stewart (disambiguation.
Pioneering Technology
Can-Am was the birth place and proving ground for (what was at the time) outrageous technology. Can-Am cars were among the first race cars to sport wings, effective turbocharging, ground-effect aerodynamics, and aerospace materials like titanium. A turbocharger, or turbo, is an air Compressor used for forced-induction of an Internal combustion engine. This led to the eventual downfall of the original series when costs got very much out of hand, but during its height Can-Am cars were at the cutting edge of racing technology and were frequently as fast as or even faster around laps of circuits used by both series than their contemporary Formula 1 cars. Noted constructors in the Can-Am Series included McLaren, Chaparral, Lola, BRM, Shadow and Porsche. McLaren, founded in 1963 by New Zealander Bruce McLaren (1937&ndash1970 is a Formula One team based in Woking, Surrey, UK Chaparral Cars was a United States Automotive company which built prototype race cars from the 1960s through the early 1980s Lola Racing Cars (also Lola Cars International) is a Racing car Engineering company founded in 1961 by Eric Broadley and based in Huntingdon "BRM" redirects here For other uses please see BRM (disambiguation. Shadow Racing Cars was a Formula One and Sports car racing team founded and initially based in the United States although later Formula One operations Porsche SE or Porsche ( German, ˈpɔɹʃə is a German manufacturer of automobiles which is majority-owned by the Porsche and Piëch
The manufacturers
McLaren cars were specially designed race cars. McLaren, founded in 1963 by New Zealander Bruce McLaren (1937&ndash1970 is a Formula One team based in Woking, Surrey, UK The Can-Am cars were developments of the sports cars which were introduced in 1964 for the North American sports car races. The development variants M1A and M1B were raced as factory cars in the 1966 with Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon as drivers. In 1967, specifically for the Can-Am series, the McLaren team introduced a new model, the M6. The McLaren M6 also introduced what was to become the trademark orange color for the team. The McLaren team was considered very "multi national" for the times and consisted of team owner and leader Bruce McLaren, fellow New Zealander Chris Amon and another "Kiwi" and the 1967 Formula One World Champion,Denny Hulme, Team Manager Teddy Mayer, Mechanics Tyler Alexander, Gary Knutson, Lee Muir, George Bolthoff, Gary Knutson, Frank Zimmerman, Tom Anderson and Haig Altoonian & (USA), Don Beresford & Alec Greaves(UK),Cary Taylor, Jimmy Stone, Chris Charles, Colin Beanland, Alan McCall and Alistair Caldwell(NZ). The M6 series were a full aluminum monocoque design with no uncommon features but, for the times, there was an uncommon attention to detail in preparation by the team members. The M6 series of cars were powered by smallblock Chevy engines built by Al Bartz Engines in Van Nuys, CA. , They were the model of reliability. This was followed in 1968 by the M8A, a new design based around the Chevy Mark IV "big block" engine as a stressed member of the chassis. "Big block" is the term used to describe the large displacement V8 engines that were developed in the USA during the 1950s and 1960s McLaren went "in house" with their engine shop in 1969. The M8B, M8C, M8D and M20C were developments of that aluminum monocoque chassis. McLaren so dominated the 1967-1971 seasons that Can-Am was often called the "Bruce and Denny Show" after the drivers who very often finished 1-2. In fact there waseven a 1-2-3 finish at the michigan International Speedway on September 28, 1969. McLaren 1st, Hulme 2nd, Gurney 3rd. Sadly, 9 months later, Bruce McLaren lost his life on June 2, 1970 at Goodwood when the rear bodywork of his prototype M8D detached during testing resulting in a totally uncontrollable car and a fatal highspeed crash. Goodwood Circuit is a historic venue for both 2- and 4-wheeled motorsport in the UK McLaren continued to succeed in Can-Am after Bruce's death with a number of other drivers, but the works Porsche effort with turbocharged flat-12 engines and a high development budget meant that they could not keep up with the 917. Porsche SE or Porsche ( German, ˈpɔɹʃə is a German manufacturer of automobiles which is majority-owned by the Porsche and Piëch Although private McLarens continued in the series, the works team withdrew to concentrate on Formula One (and USAC, for several years). Team McLaren went on to become a several time F1 champion and is still very much a part of F1.
Jim Hall's Chaparrals were very innovative, following his success in the United States Road Racing Championship (USRRC). Jim Hall (born July 23, 1935 in Abilene Texas) is a former Racecar driver and constructor from the United States. Chaparral Cars was a United States Automotive company which built prototype race cars from the 1960s through the early 1980s Jim Hall's 2 series Chaparrals (built and engineered with a high degree of covert support from Chevrolet's research and development division) were leaders in the application of aerodynamics to racecars culminating with the introduction of the 2E in 1966, the first of the high wing race cars. Chevrolet (ˌʃɛvroʊˈleɪ - French origin (also known as Chevy) is a Brand of Automobile, produced by General Motors (GM The 2E was a defining design, and the 2G was a development of that basic design. The FIA banned movable aerodynamic devices and Chaparral responded with the 2H 1969. The 2H broke new ground, seeking to reduce drag but didn't achieve much success. The 2J that followed was perhaps the ultimate example of what Group 7 rules could allow in a racing car. It was a twin-engined car, with the by-then usual big-block Chevrolet engine providing the driving force, and a tiny snowmobile engine powering a pair of fans at the back of the car. These fans, combined with the moveable Lexan 'skirts' around the bottom of the car created a vacuum underneath the car, effectively providing the same level of downforce as the huge wings of previous vehicles, without the drag. For similar products offered by other companies see Polycarbonates Lexan ( LEXAN) is a registered trademark for SABIC Innovative Although far too mechanically complex to survive in racing environments, the theory was sound, and would appear in Formula One a few years later, first in Colin Chapman's Lotus cars, and even more directly in the BT46B 'Fan Car' of 1978. Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman ( 19 May 1928 - 16 December 1982) was an influential British designer inventor and builder in the automotive 1950s Colin Chapman established Lotus Engineering Ltd in 1952 at Hornsey, UK. The Brabham BT46 was a Formula One Racing car, designed by Gordon Murray for the Brabham team owned by Bernie Ecclestone, for the
The Lola T-70, T-160, T-163, and T-260 were built for various customers and were generally either Chevy or Ford powered. Lola Racing Cars (also Lola Cars International) is a Racing car Engineering company founded in 1961 by Eric Broadley and based in Huntingdon Chevrolet (ˌʃɛvroʊˈleɪ - French origin (also known as Chevy) is a Brand of Automobile, produced by General Motors (GM Ford Motor Company is an American Multinational corporation and the world's fourth largest automaker based on Worldwide vehicle sales, following The Lola T-70 driven by John Surtees won the first Can Am championship. Motorcycle racing career Born in Tatsfield, Surrey, Surtees was the son of a south London motorcycle dealer Later Lolas adopted more radical aerodynamics and Jackie Stewart achieved some success at the wheel of a T260 but the car was never fully developed. For other people of this name see Jackie Stewart (disambiguation.
British-born mechanic and engineer Peter Bryant designed the Ti22 (occasionally known as the Autocoast after one of the team's major backers) as an American-built challenger to the British McLarens and Lolas. The car made extensive use of titanium in its chassis and suspension, and Bryant experimented with aerodynamics and with early use of carbon-fibre to reduce weight. Titanium (taɪˈteɪniəm is a Chemical element with the symbol Ti and Atomic number 22 Although the car was quick it did not achieve consistent success; problems with the team's funding saw Bryant move on to Don Nichols' UOP-sponsored Shadow team. UOP LLC, formerly known as Universal Oil Products, is a multi-national company developing and delivering technology to the Petroleum refining, gas processing Shadow Racing Cars was a Formula One and Sports car racing team founded and initially based in the United States although later Formula One operations The Shadow marque had made its debut with an astonishing car with tiny wheels and radiators mounted on top of the rear wing designed by Trevor Harris; this was unsuccessful, and more conventional cars designed by Bryant replaced them; Bryant was sidelined when Shadow moved into Formula One but after his departure turbocharged Shadow came to dominate as Porsche and McLaren faded from the scene.
The Porsche 908 spyder was used in Can Am, but was underpowered (350 hp) and mainly used by underfunded teams. The Porsche 908 was a Racing car from Porsche, introduced from 1967 in the Porsche 906 / Porsche 907 / Porsche 910 series of models It did win the 1970 Road Atlanta race though when the more powerful cars fell out. Road Atlanta is a 254-mile (4088 km road course located in Braselton Georgia, USA, (Across the road from Lanier Raceway The 917PA, a spyder version of the 917K Le Mans car, was raced, but its normally aspirated flat-12 was underpowered (530 hp). The Porsche 917 is a racecar that gave Porsche its first overall wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1970 and 1971. A flat-12 is an Internal combustion engine in a flat configuration having 12 cylinders The flat-12 is wider (but significantly lower in height than In 1971 the 917/10 was introduced. This was still not turbocharged, but was lighter and had cleaner body work, and Jo Siffert managed to finish fourth in the championship. Joseph Siffert ( July 7, 1936 – October 24, 1971) was a Swiss Racing driver.
For 1972 the 917/10K with a turbo charged 900 horsepower 5 liter flat-12 was introduced. Prepared by Roger Penske and driven by Mark Donohue and George Follmer these cars won six of the nine races. Roger Penske (born February 20, 1937 in Shaker Heights Ohio) is the owner of the automobile racing team Penske Racing, the Penske In 1972 Porsche introduced an even more powerful car, the 917/30KL. Nicknamed the Turbopanzer this car was truly a monster. With 1100 horsepower (820 kW) on tap from a 5. 4 liter flat-12 and only weighing in at 1800 lb (816 kg) with better downforce this car won every race in the 1973 championship. The Porsche dominance was such that engine rules were changed to try to reduce the dominance of one marque by enforcing a fuel-consumption rule for 1974. This kind of alteration of rules to promote equality is not unknown in other forms of American motorsport. In 1975, after the demise of the category for which the car had been created, Mark Donohue drove this car to a closed course world speed record of 221 mph (356 km/h) at the Talladega Superspeedway (then called the Alabama International Motor Speedway). Talladega Superspeedway is a Motorsports complex located in Talladega Alabama United States It was capable of over 250 mph (402 km/h) on the straights.
These marques dominated the series for most of its existence; other vehicles occasionally appeared but were essentially making up the numbers. Well-established European manufacturers like Ferrari and BRM appeared at various times with little success, March tried to get a share of the lucrative market in 1970-1 but couldn't establish themselves, and Ford flitted across the scene with a number of unsuccessful cars based on the GT40 and its successors. Scuderia Ferrari is the name for the Gestione Sportiva the division of the Ferrari automobile company concerned with racing "BRM" redirects here For other uses please see BRM (disambiguation. March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from Britain. Ford Motor Company is an American Multinational corporation and the world's fourth largest automaker based on Worldwide vehicle sales, following Americam specialist marques like McKee and Caldwell competed, alongside real exotica like the astonishing four-engined Macs-It special.
Decline and revival
1974 was the last year for the original Can-Am championship. Spiraling costs, a recession in North America following the oil crisis, and dwindling support and interest led to the series being cancelled by the end of the 1974 season. The Can-Am name still held enough drawing power to lead SCCA to introduce a revised Can-Am series in 1977 based on a closed-wheel version of the rules of the recently canceled Formula A/5000 series. This grew steadily in status, particularly during the USAC/CART wars of the late 70s and early 80s, and attracted some top road-racing teams and drivers and a range of vehicles including specials based on rebodied single seaters (particularly Lola F5000s) and also bespoke cars from constructors like March as well as smaller manufacturers. To broaden the appeal of the series a 2L class was introduced for the last several years - cars often being derived from F2/Formula Atlantic. The series peaked in the early 80s but as the CART Indycar series and IMSA's GTP championship grew in stature it faded away and was gone by 1986. The International Motor Sports Association (generally referred to as IMSA) is an American Auto racing sanctioning body based in Braselton Georgia IMSA GT was a Sports car racing series organized by International Motor Sports Association.
The name was once again revived in 1998, when the United States Road Racing Championship broke away from IMSA. The United States Road Racing Championship (USRRC was one of two Sports car racing series Their top prototype class was named Can-Am, but the series would fold before the end of 1999 before being replaced by the Grand American Road Racing Championship. The Rolex Sports Car Series is the premiere series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. The Can-Am name would not be retained in the new series.
Champions
| Year | Driver | Team | Car |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 |  John Surtees |
Team Surtees |
Lola T70-Chevrolet |
| 1967 |  Bruce McLaren |
Bruce McLaren Motor Racing |
McLaren M6A-Chevrolet |
| 1968 | Denny Hulme |
Bruce McLaren Motor Racing |
McLaren M8A-Chevrolet |
| 1969 | Bruce McLaren |
Bruce McLaren Motor Racing |
McLaren M8B-Chevrolet |
| 1970 | Denny Hulme |
Bruce McLaren Motor Racing |
McLaren M8D-Chevrolet |
| 1971 |  Peter Revson |
Bruce McLaren Motor Racing |
McLaren M8F-Chevrolet |
| 1972 | George Follmer |
Penske Racing |
Porsche 917/10 |
| 1973 | Mark Donohue |
Penske Racing |
Porsche 917/30KL |
| 1974 | Jackie Oliver |
Shadow Racing Cars |
Shadow DN4A-Chevrolet |
| 1975-6 | No series | ||
| 1977 |  Patrick Tambay |
Haas-Hall Racing |
Lola T333CS-Chevrolet |
| 1978 |  Alan Jones |
Haas-Hall Racing |
Lola T333CS-Chevrolet |
| 1979 | .svg/22px-Flag_of_Belgium_(civil).svg.png){kind=small} Jacky Ickx |
Carl Haas Racing |
Lola T333CS-Chevrolet |
| 1980 | Patrick Tambay |
Carl Haas Racing |
Lola T530-Chevrolet |
| 1981 | Geoff Brabham |
Team VDS |
Lola T530-Chevrolet / VDS 001-Chevrolet |
| 1982 | Al Unser Jr. |
Galles Racing |
Frissbee GR3-Chevrolet |
| 1983 |  Jacques Villeneuve |
Canadian Tire |
Frissbee GR3-Chevrolet |
| 1984 |  Michael Roe |
Don Walker |
VDS 002-Chevrolet / VDS 004-Chevrolet |
| 1985 | Rick Miaskiewicz |
Mosquito Autosport |
Frissbee GR3-Chevrolet |
| 1986 | Horst Kroll |
Kroll Racing |
Frissbee KR3-Chevrolet |
Under 2 Liter class champions
| Year | Driver | Team | Car |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Tim Evans |
Diversified Engineering Services |
Lola T290-Ford |
| 1980 | Gary Gove |
Pete Lovely VW |
Ralt RT2-Hart |
| 1981 | Jim Trueman |
TrueSports |
Ralt RT2-Hart |
| 1982 |  Bertil Roos |
Elite Racing |
Marquey CA82-Hart |
| 1983 | Bertil Roos |
Roos Racing School |
Scandia B3-Hart |
| 1984 | Kim Campbell |
Tom Mitchell Racing |
March 832-BMW |
| 1985 | Lou Sell |
Sell Racing |
March 832-BMW |
External links
- CanAm History site
- Can-Am History, by Michael Stucker
- Can-Am Results 1966-1986
- Birth of Can-Am Racing, by Leon Mandel
- Can-Am at Laguna Seca, Monterey, California, by John S. Krill
- Can-Am Circus by Stéphane Lebiez
- Bruce McLaren Trust Official site
- Racingsportscars.com's Can-Am photo archives
Bibliography
- Can-Am, Pete Lyons, Motorbooks International
- Can-Am Races 1966-1969, Brooklands Books
- Can-Am Races 1970-1974, Brooklands Books
- Can-Am Racing Cars 1966-1974, Brooklands Books
- Can-Am Challenger, Peter Bryant, David Bull
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