Posted on 05/10/2017 4:31:45 AM PDT by Loud Mime
On July 12, 1970, a white Chevrolet pickup truck towing a trailer pulled into the paddock at Watkins Glen International Raceway for the third Can-Am race of the season. A small crowd gathered to watch the team unload. The small white race car atop the trailer looked like nothing else: no wing, no velocity stacks, no scoops or side pods or wild cutaways or NACA ducts, hardly a curve of any kind. The rear wheels were encased in bodywork as flat and unadorned as a diner kitchen. "Like the box it came in," the crowd observed. They moved to the back of the car: two fans like jet engines, supported by three black Dagmar-shaped cones, looking more like a Star Wars escape pod than a road-going automobile.
(Excerpt) Read more at roadandtrack.com ...
Your take on the 2J’s looks is right spot on. I remember I had the same reaction at the time.
Lolas, Alfa T33’s, Pontiac SD’s, L88 Vettes...
It was a good time to have been alive.
Truly the wild west of road racing.
That documentary, “One” was great about early F1.
The only horrible thing was the annual carnage where so many great drivers lost their lives.
I also recommend “Gull Wing at Twilight” that is usually shown on some PBS stations from time to time which features the life of driver John Fitch as he prepared to run a modified MB Gull-Wing at the salt flats at 84 years old.
I remember looking at a Dodge Viper in a parking lot. Jim Hall had autographed the console cover.
The late 60s-early 70s were definitely the peak years for racing. Jimmy Carter/the oil embargo/rules changes took the fun out of the sport.
Is there anything more boring these days than a ‘follow the leader until he breaks’ F1 race? NASCAR can be a little better, but it certainly isn’t stock car racing any more.
I did see the Chaparral race at Road Atlanta.
very cool, indeed!
Is that the wee Scot at the wheel?
If you’re near the upper Midwest, the Brian Redman weekend at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wi is the place to be for vintage racing. Absolute blast of an experience at a fantastic venue.
At the Sebring races, I was cheering for the Porsches, but I have plenty of pix of ol' number 66. Getting to the Sebring track one midnight, I found a parking space next to a low-slung race car. When the sun came up, I saw it was number 66!
Yep.
I had one.
The rear wing moved. I don’t remember how.
I put those colored tires on it. I can’t remember what those were called either, but they sure grabbed the track.
I remember Dagmar!
“Yunick”
Smokey was a hoot! I was a big fan of his trickery!
The 6/7th scale Chevelle is probably a high-water mark in the genre’.
There were so many tricks that he pulled! Gas tanks, fuel lines, etc..
Glove box doors?
The guy was a wizard, not mention an engine building genius.
I’ve looked all over - it appears that car was at Pebble Beach, but nothing else about the driver.
Jim Clark, Jochen Rindt....favorites of mine killed....
what pizzed me off that the local company that resurfaced the track did such a pizz poor job that the 2J was picking up great big chunks of asphalt that stuck to the inside of the rear housing and forced it to retire now the Howmet Turbine car was a real node melter if you followed too close until they turned the exhaust up 45deg
Well, it kind of looks like him.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.