Can-Am Odyssey

[donskar]

Those truly were great days. We will not see them again.

[MadMatt]

Yeah I miss this craziness where danger and safety were not thought first. Not that I was alive when these cars raced, but still.

I'm not saying its good people got killed but it was back then a men sport, not just a real videogame for whining teenagers.

It was a real challenge man versus machine where things had to be invented, where someone in a farm could come up with a car that could win races. Nowadays you have to spend millions, have the latest cutting edge technology, be a 100 engineers team in order to win races.

[J.A.W.]

The way the thunder of those massive mills reverberated through your chest cavity..
- is something real visceral & I recall the feel vividly - as a kid spectating back in the day..
..& those machines ( & even the F 5000s, - if to a slightly lesser extent)..
.. are still the most inspiring to see run today as 'classics'.. & makes modern stuff appear too 'sanitised', IMO..

[MadMatt]

It is interesting to see that already back then there was a big gap between Europe and the USA. Europeans were much more advanced on the chassis side of things, while the Americans were more advanced on the engine side, but not for long, which then resulted in them being nowhere.

Today (45! years later) is still the same with most teams and things happening in Europe, while in the USA you have drag racing and nascar.

Some things never change, but I thank North America for having provided with one of the most spectacular championship ever!



Laguna Seca in 1973.

[J.A.W.]

McLaren was multi-national in those days..

Jim Hall's chassis ideas were well ahead of their time, too..

& it was brutal big block V8 NASCAR power which tamed Ferrari at Le Mans too.. ..so they banned it..

[MadMatt]

Yes and it adds credit to their success, I mean, to run F1 and CanAm programs at the same time back then was a real logistic challenge in itself!

I agree, Jim Hall was a genius, like Chapman, Neway, Murray. Check that car, just amazing:



But I think he was some sort of a one-man-team, with not much support as he was probably the only one with good knowledge in the States.

The Chaparral 2J at Watkins Glen in 1970.

[thegnome]

Strad,

Do you still have these videos? I'm getting a 404 error when clicking the links.

I'd love to get them if you still have them available.

Thanks.

[flynfrog]

He generally takes them down after a while. PM him and he will probably put ti back up.

[thegnome]

Thanks! Will do.

[Scorpaguy]

There was quite a bit of effort expended by F1 to not run the same tracks/configurations as CanAm to avoid comparison. However, I was alive for these races and seem to remember that with a bit of extrapolation....the CanAm cars were as quick or quicker than the F1 equipment at the time.

Great times...and the Chaparrals were true racing heart (sometimes genius).

[bdr529]

I think it's just these 3 tracks that they shared
just for comparison here's some lap times I could find CAN-AM/ F1

Mont-Tremblant
1970 Dan Gurney McLaren M8D pole time 1:33.000
1970 Jackie Stewart Tyrrell-Ford pole time 1:31.5

Watkins Glen
1972 Peter Revson McLaren M20 pole time 1:39.187
1972 Jackie Stewart Tyrrell-Ford pole time 1:40.481
1973 Mark Donohue Porsche 917/30 pole time 1:38.848
1973 Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford pole time 1:39.657

Mosport
1972 Mark Donohue Porsche 917/10 pole time 1:14.200
1972 Peter Revson McLaren-Ford pole time 1:13.6
1973 Mark Donohue Porsche 917/30 pole time 1:14.100
1973 Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford pole time 1:13.697

[Scorpaguy]

Interesting lap times indeed...thanks.

What would be more interesting would be to see a modern day CA car had they survived and continued R&D. It was strange how the series perished...not even finishing their final season. Open wheel is just a bit sexier I suppose.

[MadMatt]

The problem was not the appeal, the success of the series was immense, the crowd loved the cars. The issue is the dominance of selected manufacturers (first McLaren, then Porsche).

[strad]

all but 1966 are back online for a short time by request

[thegnome]

Thanks Strad!! Awesome videos!! =D>