Can-Am History and Tidbits

Some interesting tidbits here...

Can-Am, officially the Canadian-American Challenge Cup was a series created in 1966, it was an evolution of the former United States Road Racing Championship.

The series was unique for two main reasons.

Firstly, the cars, Can-Am was designed for FIA Group 7 cars. Group 7 was essentially a Formula Libre class, designed for purpose built Racing "Specials" There were virtually no-rules for the group, virtually, being the key word. Cars were to be 2 seater and the wheels were to be enclosed by the body work, plus certain safety features were required. Aside from those, the engines, aerodynamics, and body shape were unrestricted. Thus, in the final years things got....insane.

Secondly, the diversity of the drivers, pretty much anyone who was anyone in the racing world at that time ran in the series at one point or another, the reason for this was the way the series was scheduled, unlike every other series in the Western World, which begins racing in late January, the Can-Am season started in September and ran through November. So the season kicked off just as the other major series were either finished or winding down.

The series, like most major American series at the time offered some significant prize payouts, which also helped bring in more drivers.


The 1971 series was unique as it was the last "competitive" season of Can-Am. Competitive being used loosely here, Can-Am was never really competitive in any way, with the exception of the inaugural season in 1966, and even then John Surtees won 3 of the 6 races. From 1967 onward the series was dominated by the McLaren Team of Bruce McLaren and Denny Hulme, earning the series the moniker of the "Bruce and Denny Show" Following McLaren's death at Goodwood while testing the M8D inn 1970, Dan Gurney and Peter Gethin raced in McLaren's place for the 1970 season and both won races. For 1971 McLaren kept Hulme and brought Peter Revson onboard, who continued the teams domination of the series.

Here's a few links to interesting CanAm articles.
http://www.a2zracer.com/page53.html
https://primotipo.com/2015/10/23/jackie-stewarts-1971-canam-lola-t260-chev/
http://www.lolaheritage.co.uk/history/3d/t260/t260.htm

Wait... the Shadow was white until Laguna Seca? I thought it was always black.

The full Watkins Glen race:

Take your seat. Buckle up. All OK with crew? Crank briefly to load cylinders. Wait just a bit. Hit it again . . . . BOOM!

Please note the cameraman's big flinch when she lights! LMAO!

Mosport race report.

The Can Am trophy was an interesting design

did they ever take it through a garage to see all the bits of car and tools fly away?

You have been warned these cars can flip over.

David Sabre wrote:

You have been warned these cars can flip over.

I'm praying we don't have an incident like the one in Jim Garner's racing documentary (go to 8:16).
Likely the biggest demo derby ever at Mont-Tremblant. 

Absolutely astounded that he walked away from that fireball.

Okay, the car is on fire, but look at everyone rushing right into the traffic...

https://pantheracingdivision.com/forum/forum/general-discussion/broadcaster-s-booth/1186-canam-racing-in-my-family
An interesting discovery whist chatting to a friend in Steam. Thought you guys might be interested. Could be a great contact for extra information for the mod.

Photos from 1971 Can-Am Round 2 



#101 Jackie Oliver



#1 Jackie Stewart (race winner)


#88 Hiroshi Kazato


#12 Bob Bondurant


#8 Chuck Parsons

Mont Tremblant race report.
Pole 1 min. 32.9 sec.
Fastest race lap 1 min. 33.6 sec.
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/august-1971/26/mont-tremblant-quebec-june-27th

Wonderfull photos Jason

Peter Revson and McLaren factory team at Road Atlanta, 1971









I think that's Revson in his civies, standing in front of the pole.

This "pipe", is it some kind of cooling device for his body?

Raul Jereb wrote:

This "pipe", is it some kind of cooling device for his body?

One thing Revson did not need help with:  being cool 

Jason White wrote:

One thing Revson did not need help with:  being cool 

I wouldn know...

But Id say that those pictures are cronologicaly wrong. You can see on the last one a mechanic preparing the exact same pipe, and most likely they tested with it later on...

Jason White wrote:

Peter Revson and McLaren factory team at Road Atlanta, 1971



I think that's Revson in his civies, standing in front of the pole.

You are correct. "Revson: The man that men wanted to be, and that women just wanted."

More 1971 Road Atlanta pics


Tony Adamowicz


Peter Revson


Jackie Stewart


Jackie Oliver