last update: July 13, currently 25 models and 1 watch in this collection
The Can-Am was a racing series in North America for group 7 cars. In Group 7 there and there were virtually no restrictions to the cars. It was a time in which great inventions were done on aerodynamics, (turbo)-engines and chassis constructions, the cars were faster than Formula One and attracted some of the best drivers in the world. Sometimes group 5 sportscars and group 6 prototypes also competed in the series. Its European counterpart was the Interserie. The Can-Am Porsches are in #028, here I focus on the other brands such as Lola, McLaren, March, Chaparral and more.
Lola T70
1966 and 1967 Can-Am, Lola T70 Chevrolet. The beautiful Lola T70 was a successful sports car in the second part of the 60’s . Penske Racing used it in 1966 for its driver Mark Donohue. Their first win was the USRRC race at the race track of Kent. Another win was achieved in Nassau in the same year. One of their main competitors was Dan Gurney in another T70 that was powered by a Ford engine.
- Kent 1966 #16 Mark Donohue (USA) – 1st | GMP 3 car collectors box 12401
- Nassau 1966 #7 Mark Donohue (USA) – 1st | GMP 3 car collectors box 12401
- Bridgehampton 1966 #30 Dan Gurney (USA) – 1st | GMP 12403
- Riverside 1967 #36 Dan Gurney (USA) – 1st | GMP 12405
McLaren
1968 Can-Am, McLaren M6B Chevrolet. Mark Donohue was very busy in 1968: Not only did he dominate the Trans-Am championship in his Camaro, he also drove the Can-Am series. Not with the new M8A that team McLaren used, but the older M6B. The works McLaren M8’s won the title of course, Donohue finished third in the championship and managed a victory at Bridgehampton.
- #6 Mark Donohue (USA) – 3rd | SPARK S1111
1968 Can-Am, McLaren M8A- Chevrolet. The works McLarens ruled Can-Am. In 1968 Hulme won 3 races and became champion in front of his countryman and teammate McLaren. In 1969 it would be the other way around.
- #4 Bruce McLaren (NZ) – 2nd championship | GMP 12421
- #5 Denny Hulme (NZ) – 1st championship | GMP 12422
1969 Can-Am, McLaren M8B – Chevrolet. The 1969 McLarens were equipped with big wings that stood high above the cars. Bruce McLaren won 6 races this year, beating his teammate Denny Hulme for the championship. Hulme won 5 races but retired in the last one.
- #4 Bruce McLaren (NZ) – 1st championship | GMP 12424
- #5 Denny Hulme (NZ) – 2nd championship | GMP 12425
1970 Can-Am, McLaren M8D – Chevrolet. The famous Can-Am series was dominated by these mighty Papaya colored McLaren-Chevrolets. Teamleader Bruce McLaren sadly died in a testing accident and was replaced by Dan Gurney. Gurney won the first two races but was replaced by Peter Gethin because Gurney was a too fast for first driver Hulme. Gethin won only 1 race while Hulme won 6 and took the title.
- #7 Road America Peter Gethin (AUS) – 1st | MINICHAMPS MC530 704397
- #49 Dan Gurney (USA) – 2 x 1st | MINICHAMPS MC530 704307
- Watch | OMOLOGATO Can-Am 1st edition
Can-Am in Japan
1968 Fuji, Toyota 7 415S. Japanese constructors showed much interest in sportscars, especially the prototypes in the Can-Am category. The first Toyota 7, this type 415S built by Yamaha, had a far too less powerful 3-liter V8, but is showed great reliability. Later Toyota 7’s were equipped with a stronger 5-liter V8, some even with a turbocharger.
1969 Fuji, Nissan R-392. Nissan developed this R-382 with V12 engine. The Nissan R-382’s dominated the Fuji GP in 1969, finishing first and second in front of 3 Toyota’s. The first Porsche 917 landed at 6th place only.
1970, Toyota 7 turbo 578A. Toyota already raced sportcars in 1967. The first 3-liter version of the Toyota 7 lacked power, the 5-liter version of the V8 was a big improvement. But for 1971 Toyota planned to enter the American Can-Am series with this double turbo version of the V8, developing over 800 bhp. But after two deadly accidents during testing, the project was cancelled.
- #34 Fuji 200 miles Shihomi Hosoya (J) – 6th | EBBRO 43879
- #21 Fuji GP Japan Motoharu Kurosawa (J) – 1st | EBBRO 43532
- Toyota 7 Suzuka test Minoru Kawai (J) – deadly accident | DEL PRADO blister unknown
Ferrari
1968 Can-Am Las Vegas, Ferrari 612M. The commercially interesting Can-Am series made Ferrari come to the USA. A new semi-monocoque chassis was developed and equipped with a 640 bhp V12 engine. About the same power as the McLarens from that time, but those were a lot lighter and more reliable. Chris Amon raced it once in 1968, in Las Vegas. He didn’t do one lap in the race, the injectors were polluted with dust from the desert. In 1969, the car was entered a few more times, but was never successful.
1971 Can-Am Watkins Glen, Ferrari 712M. An early attempt with the 612P in 1968 was a disaster. In 1971 Ferrari tried again, now with an adapted 512M chassis that was equipped with a 750 bhp V12 engine. The car made a promising debut at Watkins Glen in 1971, but despite that Ferrari chose not to develop it further. The car was sold to NART that used in occasionally in 1972 and following years.
- #23 Chris Amon – DNS | M4-MODELS 37
- #50 Mario Andretti – 4th | M4-MODELS 46
Chaparral, BRM, March and more Lola
1969 Can-Am Laguna Seca, Chaparral 2H-Chevrolet. Chaparral’s Jim Hall is a brilliant designer who brought many new techniques into motorracing, such as the rear wing, use of fiberglass for the chassis and automatic gearboxes. This oversized wingcar drove only in qualifying of the Laguna Seca race of the Can-Am series in 1969 in the hands of John Surtees.
1970 Can-Am Road Atlanta, Chaparral 2J-Chevrolet. Chaparral brought many new techniques into motor racing. This car had Lexan skirts and a two-stroke Rotax support engine that sucked the air from underneath the car, creating a permanent ground effect at all speeds. It was the fastest car in the field, but never won due to reliability problems. Gordon Murray would use the same principle in 1978 for his Formula 1 Brabham.
- #7 John Surtees (GB) – DNS | MINICHAMPS MC436 691497
- #66 Vic Elford (GB) – DNF | MINICHAMPS MC436 701466
1970 Can-Am St. Jovite, BRM P154-Chevrolet. British Racing Motors built this impressive P154 for the 1970 Can-Am season. The car sure had potential, George Eaton qualified in the top 5 several times. Unfortunately his car was quite unreliable. A third place at St. Jovite was the best result of the season. The last 3 races of the season Pedro Rodriguez drove the car. For 1971 BRM put all their resources in their Formula 1 project and stopped racing the P154 at the end of the first season.
1970 Can-Am Laguna Seca, March 707-Chevrolet. New racing car manufacturer March started very enthusiastic. For the 1970 season they built all kinds of formula cars and also this group 7 car for Interserie and Can-Am. Helmut Kelleners took some wins in the European Interserie, but Chris Amon had to fight the dominant McLarens in the USA. He started only in 3 occassions, it was supposed to be a test for the 1971 season. Amon did well and finished in 5th and two times in 4th position. After that, the car returned to England and never raced again in Can-Am.
- #98 George Eaton (CAN) – 3rd | SPARK S1150
- #77 Chris Amon (NZ) – 4th | SPARK S1106
1971 Can-Am St. Jovite, Lola T260-Chevrolet. For 1971 Lola developed the T260 and experimented with the positions of the rear wing and an additional front wing. Ik was entered by Carl Hass Racing and driven by F1 world champion Jacky Stewart. They won 2 races, but in the championship were beaten by the mighty McLarens.
1971 Norisring, Lola T222-Chevrolet. The European version of the Can-Am was the Interserie. Swiss Jo Bonnier has raced Formula One, sportscars for Porsche and Ferrari and then raced mainly Lola’s in his own team. At the Norisring he finished third in this Lola T222 with Chevrolet engine.
- #1 Lola T260 Jackie Stewart – 1st | SPARK S1134
- #4 Lola T222 Jo Bonnier – 3rd | SPARK Raceland Specials RS1106
End of an era
1974 Can-Am championship, Shadow DN4-Chevrolet. After Porsche (because rules change) and McLaren (focus on F1) left Can-Am, in the the Shadows appeared to reign. Jackie Oliver won 4 out of 6 races and became champion in front of team mate George Follmer.
- #101 Shadow DN4 Jackie Oliver – 1st | SPARK S1120
1977 Can-Am Series, Lola T333CS-Chevrolet. The Can-Am series came to a stop after the 1974 season. It restarted in 1977 with more restricted rules, Basically the Can-Am adopted the Formula 5000 single seaters that raced until 1976. The Lola T333 was just a F5000 car with covered wheels. Patrick Tambay won 6 races in 1977 and took the first title for Carl Haas.
1978 Can-Am Series, Lola T333CS- Chevrolet. Al Holbert raced this Hogan owned car. Main competition came from the team of Carl Haas that took 4 titles in a row with famous drivers Patrick Tambay (1977 and 1980), Alan Jones (1978) and Jacky Ickx (1979).
- #1 Championship 1977 Patrick Tambay -1st | SPARK S1142
- #10 Laguna Seca 1978 Al Holbert – 1st | SPARK S1140
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