Thunder in the Glen, the Bruce and Denny Show... unfortunately the 1200HP Panzer was destined to be sanctioned and there went the NO RULES philosophy that started the series in the beginning
The ground would vibrate as well as my insides on the outside of turn 1 at Mid-Ohio, truly thunder at the start of a CanAm race. The Mac’s were virtually unbeatable with Bruce Mclaren and Denny Hulme. Orange monsters they were. A good friend of mine(whom now has 4 Indy 500 rings) started his race mechanic career with Mclaren. He said they had all aluminum 500 cuin Chevys, fuel injected making 750hp and 750 ftlbs of torque, transmitting that power to the ground thru 24” wide tires, the biggest tires ever made for road racing.
The factory turbo Porsche that killed the series had 1200hp if I remember correctly. Maybe it was that for qualifying and they turned to boost down to 1000 hp. It had a magnesium welded space frame that weighed all of 105 lbs of so and required a pressure test between races to check for cracks. When everybody surmised they could never compete with a factory effort the series just died a bad death. They say now the energy crisis of 73 or 74(?) contributed to the series cancellation.
I anyone is interested in seeing more of the Chaparrals just go to the Petroleum Museum website in Midland, Tx and they have a complete wing all dedicated to Jim Hall and his Chaparrals. Really nice display and lots of photos and information.
Thunder in the Glen, the Bruce and Denny Show... unfortunately the 1200HP Panzer was destined to be sanctioned and there went the NO RULES philosophy that started the series in the beginning