History Jim Hall's Chaparrals-American Innovation

Damn, then that is my dream - to get me one of those.

 

I have driven that track. What a great place. Got killed by the yuppies that moved in well after the fact and complained about the noise. HELLO - THE TRACK WAS THERE WHEN YOU BOUGHT THAT HOUSE!!!!

 

Found some of my pics from Goodwood 2003, if you look closely Jim Hall is standing near the wing of the 2F in some of them...one shot has him standing next to a helmeted Phil Hill who demonstrated the 2F up the hillclimb...wild

 

The Chaparral II is everything a race car should be... Parts added and holes punched to wring out every bit of performance out of every part of the car.

 

More...some 2C and Chaparral 1 built by Troutman & Barnes, and some misc. 2D, E, F and G

 

This was one of the most beautiful cars ever built! I guess I should add IMO.
chuck

 

I can only imagine what it would have been like to be on that race team....... Ahhhhhh those incredible ideas.....

 

Yes, you are right. Although I also love the coupes.

 

My first 1/24 scale slot car was a Cox Chaparral 2D. It is long since gone, but I have replaced it. Now favorite Chaparral 2D slot car is the one made by Monogram. Why you ask?



Because Jim Hall signed it for me!!!



This was at the Chaparral reunion at Elkhart Lake a few years ago. Mr. Hall was a humble and gracious man that very patiently signed memoribilia for people. He has always been one of my "car" heroes and that day forever cemented his place on my list.

Marty

 

never too much Chaparral...even the ill-fated 2H. The H is generally overlooked however, for it's importance as a prototype for the standard sports car construction that was to come, and to some extent still exists in modern prototype class sports racers.

 

Look at that state of the art car on that junky trailer...right now the guy across the street has a three hundred thousand dollar two story nascar rig to haul his local SK modified.

 

more of the MAN

 

The '55 LeMans Mercedes had a Airbrakake but it didn't give any downforce.
( it killed downforce...)



There was a Porsche 550 Spyder with a high wing at Nurburg in '56 but it was not moveble, and it was attached to the chassis.
( so it put its load through the springs on to the suspension, the Caparral's put the downforce directly onto the uprights )



The first wing on a car was probably Fritz von Opel's 1928 Rak2 Rocket car.

 

Dang, is that an air brake because when deployed it will break right off the car? That sucker was either TOTALLY effective or TOTALLY dangerous.....to other drivers.

Good looking cars though!!

 

The airbrake TOTALLY worked! Other drivers hated it, distracting and blocked their view. And unfortunately it didn't stop Levegh from crashing and killing over 80 spectators at LeMans in '55

 

Gee, was the loss of rear wheel traction due to the lift from that wing implicated in the accident?

 

Ran over a much slower Austin Healy.

 

I read somewhere that they put one in a windtunnel, years later.

It almost yanked the rear wheels off the ground...

Leveigh's crash had nothing to do with that though.

Hawthorne in a Jaguar cut off a Austin Healey driver when he ran out of room trying to pass him and enter the pit at the same time.

Lance Macklin in the Healey swerved to miss him, right into the path of Leveigh in his Mercedes.

The Mercedes got airborne and landed in the main grandstand.

Mercedes pulled out off the race, and Hawthorne went on to win it....

http://www.ewilkins.com/wilko/lemans.htm

Because of this crash, motor racig was banned in several countries but with most of those the ban was lifted after a while.

In Switserland the ban is still in effect.

There was a senator in America that tried to get motor racing banned here as well.

He was using the LeMans Crash and Margaret Pritchard's fatal Crash ( in the Morgensen Spl that later became known as Old Yeller 1 ) as arguments for the ban.

 

The Swiss ban was finally lifted, after 50+ years I believe, and the senator was from Oregon. The Lemans crash has been debated and analyzed for many years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuKP-rNyiOQ

 

It was lifted?

I did not know that...

Cool...

 

IIRC for club racing and hillclimbs, but not pro racing.

 

Rootie, do you know the name of that Senator?

I've been trying to find it, but sofar I have not been able to find more Info...

 

Not right off hand, but there was a disscussion on another board recently, I'll see if I can find it. BTW it seems the Swiss will allow pro racing:

http://blogf1.co.uk/2007/06/07/news-round-up-pre-montreal/

 

Cool, thanks...

 

Neuberger

 

Thanks, man.

I appriciate it...

 

The debacle at LeMans wasn't the only reason there was a sentiment against racing in1955. In fact, that is why the AAA gave up sanctioning racing and USAC was formed. Vuky, McGrath, Manny Ayulo, Mike Nazurak, Larry Crockett and Jerry Hoyt were all killed on U.S. race tracks that year.

 

great Daytona 24 hr. pix, that's Jo Bonnier jumping in the second pic.

 

Cool cars although, being a Kiwi, I have a soft spot for the McLarens. Formula 5000 is under going a revival both here & in Aussie and they are getting up to 20 car fields. (Really awesome sounds)

 

A diagram from a CalTech analysis of a sheared bolt in a Chaparral 2E, perhaps G.