Chaparral 2E 1966

[Deleted]

I have been rescanning some old slides and got some better shot that I took at the Can Am races at Laguna Seca in California in 1966 which was won by the Chaparral 2E designed by Jim Hall. A Chaparral driven by Phil Hill ran off and hid from the rest of the field and I think Hall finiahed second. The Chaparral set the standard for future cars of that type. It had a wing on the back controlled by the driver which added downforce to the car in corners. The radiators were mounted back by the engine and the pedal that controlled the wing also opened air vents in the nose of the car that added downforce in the front in the turns. Laguna Seca was the only race the Chaparral won that year because the aluminum 5.4 Litre Chevy engine didn't have the horsepower to keep up with cars with 6 and even 7 litre engines on the higher speed tracks with long straights.

Wayne

[colray]

Is it true this type of racing car with the wing over the rear wheels was named after the Chaparral Roadrunner bird?

[Deleted]

Don't know if that's the case or not. Chaparral won the Indy 500 in 1980, then sort of dropped out of the picture. The adjustable wing (adjustable from the cockpit) was banned in about 1968 because other builder were trying them and weren't careful and the spoilers were flying off cars at 200 mph--not a good thing for the guy following you. I read an article that claimed that all the ground force designs on todays racer have their roots in the Chaparral.

[photax]

Wayne, very impressive rear spoiler ! Thanks for showing us your pictures Never been to Laguna Seca, but I know the racetrack from a Playstation game , a very difficult to handle downhill s-bend at the end. Half a year ago I saw a Chaparral 2D model on the street near my home. What a car ! What a sound ! What happened to the company ?

MIK