Rrdc evening with jim hall introduction by sam posey. Piloted by phil hill, the only american ever to win an f1 driver s title, managed to bring home a win at km nurburgring in 1966. Jim hall, al unser, indy 500 winner chaparral lola t500. While he is best known as a car constructor, he was one of the greatest american racing drivers of his generation, capturing consecutive united states road racing championships, two road america 500s, two watkins glen grands prix for sports cars, the 1965 canadian grand prix for sports cars, the 1965 pacific northwest grand prix, and scoring a massive upset at the 1965 12 hours of sebring over a contingent of fac. Who knows what the other drivers and team managers and pit chiefs. If you get to midland, texas, there is an entire wing of the petroleum museum there devoted to jim hall and chaparral. Founded in 1962 by american formula one racers hap sharp and jim hall, it was named after the roadrunner, a fastrunning ground cuckoo also known as a chaparral bird. Elementary knowledge about hall, chaparral and the 2h. Jim hall seen exiting the webster turn in his chaparral 2d. The petroleum museum in midland, texas, has an entire wing. Other drivers in the 1970 transam series were ed leslie, vic elford, and joe leonard. Throughout the 1960sand into the 1970s and the 1980sjim hall and his team at chaparral cars designed, built and raced legendary race cars that thrilled fans, amazed the competition and were considered the. We visited hall to see the amazing 2j and witness his first drive in it in 30 years.
Jim hall was a founder and charter member of the west texas region of the scca in the 1950s. Fifty years ago jim hall and his chaparral team dominated american road racing. Jim hall drives his new chaparral 2 during the 1963 l. I also delivered jims 1st formula 1 lotus to frank harrison in tenn,i think. Jim hall born july 23, 1935 in abilene, texas is a retired american racing driver, race car constructor, and team owner. Replicarz has recently been granted permission by jim hall to model all of the chaparral racing cars. The chaparral 2 boasted a new approach to frame design. He enrolled at the california institute of technology to study geology, but graduated as a mechanical engineer hall competed in his first race driving an austin healey at ft. Jan 23, 2017 jim hall s chaparral built some of the wildest and most creative race cars ever seen. During the 1963, 1964, and 1965 road race seasons, versions of the car notchedup 22 wins in 39 races against worldclass international competition. In 1962 jim hall, his other brother chuck and hap sharp formed chaparral. Jim was the designer, engineer, and driver behind the legendary chaparrals cars that literally changed the face of racing with their focus on aerodynamics. He designed and built his own vehicles the chaparral with his wife sandy and his co driver hap sharp.
The 19611965 formula 1 seasons were run under the 1500 cc rules. His groundbreaking series of chaparral road racing cars bristled with innovations, especially in aerodynamics. The first chaparral, a conventional front engined vehicle, was built by dick troutman and tom barnes in 1961. Profile for racing driver jim hall from united states. Despite the 427 chevy motor, the car was not competitive with the factory mclarens or even the faster lola t70s.
Btw, the webster turns would cease to exist after the 1966 race. Phill hill and jim hall work on their chaparral at daytona in the car failed to finish due to gearbox problems. The book was created with halls full participation. His innovations included elevated rear wings on vertical struts.
Jim hall drives the chaparral 2 in the early hours of the. Jim hall drives his chaparral 2g during the 1967 season. He made his formula one debut driving a lotus at riverside raceway in california in. Jim hall was a texan driver engineer in the sixties, founder of one of the most intriguing brands in motor racing history.
Dec 28, 2008 jim hall finished third in his chaparral with front brakes onlyin his last complete canam race. Apr 28, 2016 after roger penske went to amc in 1970, chevrolet called on jim halls race shop to build and race the new 1970 camaro in sccas trans am series. Chaparral canam collectibles jim hall models, apparel. While he is best known as a car constructor, he was one of the greatest american racing drivers of his generation, capturing consecutive united states road racing championships 1964, 1965, two road america 500s 1962, 1964, two watkins glen grands prix for sports cars. Averaging 10 seconds a lap faster than the ford gt40, the chaparrals were the fastest cars by a wide margin.
Jim hall left after one full season in formula 1 and returned to america and his chaparral sports cars. Chevrolet v8 behind the driver, creating the very first sports racer to employ a midengine layout and monocoque. Dec 09, 20 photos of five of jim halls famous chaparral race cars. The world championship drivers where are they now geraadpleegd op 27 april 2010. In 1962 jim hall, his other brother chuck and hap sharp formed chaparral cars, inc. After roger penske went to amc in 1970, chevrolet called on jim halls race shop to build and race the new 1970 camaro in sccas trans am series. Jim hall created the chaparral race team in the 1960s and went on to dominate sports car prototype racing including canam and endurance racing. Apr 24, 2012 at the 2012 long beach grand prix, the road racing drivers club paid tribute to jim hall 1963 monaco footage courtesy of steve earle. Hall would take the pole and was running away from the field when an electrical fire in the dash forced him to stop. Hall also competed in f1 as a driver and indy car racing as a constructor and team owner. The car finished sixth in the 1970 transam championship driver s standings, with jim hall as the driver. Lat photographic a short time into the race, halls flipperwing. Jun 23, 20 worked for jim at shelby sports cars and picked up hap sharps first race car,a 2 litre maserati at john fitchs dealership in new england.
Jun 12, 2001 and while there were many from texas, the most accessible became jim hall. It won the 1970 watkins glen transam race, giving team chaparral its first win. From racings earliest days, the men who designed and built these landbound rocket ships viewed the air that moved over, under, and around a car as ithauled toward 200 miles per hour as a nuisance with which they had to contend. A minor collision with another car only added to hall s misery. Jul 23, 2016 jim hall drives his new chaparral 2 during the 1963 l. Upload of the now dysfunct video interview series of the american inventors museum site with jim hall. Based on the example set by the soldout 118th scale chaparral 2k indy winner, the rest of the series should be a solid hit. The answer to all is in fact the groundbreaking sports cars and singleseaters of jim halls chaparral concern. Not only that, but hall was quite a driver himself. A total of five chaparral 1s were built, including the prototype which used an 88inch wheelbase and four production models stretched to 90 inches to give the driver more legroom. Jim was a genius without a doubt and a much better driver than he was given credit for. The first chaparral jim hall built in 1961 didnt carry the outrageous, oversized wing he would one day become famous for.
Hall was never one to dwell on what could have been, he looked at his time in formula 1 as a valuable experience but now it was time to get serious. Hall properly applied certain physics principles, like vertical aerodynamic force, to his cars that enabled chaparral to dominate the racing scene for a majority of the 1960s. Think about the development of race cars before jim hall. Jim hall finished third in his chaparralwith front brakes onlyin his last complete canam race. Jim hall was known for innovation, and that innovation started to show itself in the chaparral 2c, an upgraded version of the chaparral 2a that included a hydraulic rear spoiler that the driver could raise in the turns and lower for less drag in the straightaways. It is the 1970 chaparral camaro, and this is the only surviving example of the three that were built. Hall credits his success to his education stating that, the time i spent studying math, and doing things that i. Jim hall and his formula 1 season with the british racing partnership. Times grand prix held at riverside on oct 15, 1961. Hall and partner hap sharp won the sebring 12 hours in march aboard their chaparral 2chevy and went on to sweep the united states road racing championship, winning eight of nine races between them. Jim hall is a founding partner of chaparral cars, inc. See more ideas about race cars, sports car racing and racing. During the 1960s in the united states road racing championship, and later in the canam, his chaparral chevrolet cars were the most innovative cars in racing.
Worked for jim at shelby sports cars and picked up hap sharps first race car,a 2 litre maserati at john fitchs dealership in new england. Out of a small building in midland, texas, chaparral produced some of the most radical race cars the world had ever seen. Jim halls chaparral built some of the wildest and most creative race cars ever seen. His driving career had been long over, and the canam series long dead by 1978. The chaparral 2 was the first chaparral car designed by jim hall and hal sharp and the first built in midland. Hall backed the project and named the vehicle chaparral. This allowed for an integrated spoilerwing that was operated by the drivers left. Jim hall took delivery of the prototype officially, chassis 1001 and the third car built, chassis 1003, which will cross the stage in scottsdale next january. James ellis hall born july 23, 1935, in abilene, texas. His fame came as the owner and innovator of chaparral cars of midland, texas. Both chaparrals entered in the race were out after 35 laps. At the 2012 long beach grand prix, the road racing drivers club paid tribute to jim hall 1963 monaco footage courtesy of steve earle.
Jim hall is a retired american racing driver, race car constructor, and team owner. During the sixties, his name was synonymous with original thinking and advanced concepts. A minor collision with another car only added to halls misery. In 1962 jim hall and hap sharp formed chaparral cars, inc. Hall retired from running a race team at the end of 1996 after a career spanning 40 years. The chaparral 2 used a semimonocoque fiberglass chassis which positioned the. Coming soon are two of the most intriguing chaparral canam cars, the 2h and 2j in 118th scale. His legendary white chaparral cars, the pride of the usa, here and overseas, had come to a glorious end with the 2j sucker car and a camaro in transam in 1970. Those who want to read my short race report from long beach please go to motor sports website. Jim halls chaparral built some of the wildest and most creative race.
Apr 17, 2012 builder of the winged chaparral race cars, former indycar owner, renegade aerodynamicist, and allaround texas gentleman, jim hall, recalls the golden era of sportscar racing in an interview. The way it isappreciating jim hall and his chaparrals dean. Here, he powers around turn 6 toward a 3rd place finish in the 1961 l. Builder of the winged chaparral race cars, former indycar owner, renegade aerodynamicist, and allaround texas gentleman, jim hall, recalls the golden era of sportscar racing in an interview. Lat photographic a short time into the race, hall s flipperwing chaparral outbraked donohue for. Jim hall was a leading american sports car driver whose revolutionary chaparral sports cars made him internationally famous in the 1960s. Jul 7, 2016 jim hall drives his chaparral 2g during the 1967 season opening race at road america. Throughout the 1960sand into the 1970s and the 1980sjim hall and his team at chaparral cars designed, built and raced legendary race cars that thrilled fans, amazed the competition and were considered the most innovative cars of their time. Cars on display descriptions and photos of all the chaparral cars. His efforts, his fame, his successes captured so many of us. He and his team created an explosion of innovation and evolution.
May 3, 2017 jim hall born july 23, 1935 in abilene is a texas oilman who competed in formula one from 1960 to 1963. Chaparral cars outside of midland, texas became a sort of mecca for me. In fact, hall concedes he had little to do with that car, other than. Jim was the designer, engineer, and driver behind the legendary chaparrals cars that literally changed the face of racing with their focus on. Trans am series driver tommy drissi in his chaparral camaro. The way it isappreciating jim hall and his chaparrals. Founder of chaparral cars, racecar driver, engineer. Photos of five of jim halls famous chaparral race cars.
Jan 09, 2019 upload of the now dysfunct video interview series of the american inventors museum site with jim hall. We started building chaparral 2 in 1962, hall recalls. Jim halls chaparral 2d at sebring 1966 jim hall seen exit. Builder of the winged chaparral race cars, former indycar owner, renegade aerodynamicist, and allaround texas gentleman, jim hall, recalls the golden era of. Builder of the winged chaparral race cars, former indycar owner, renegade aerodynamicist, and allaround texas gentleman, jim hall, recalls. Jim halls chaparral 2d at sebring 1966 jim hall seen. The jim hall, al unser, indy 500 winner chaparral lola t500. Jim hall of chaparral cars american inventors interview. Pennzoil chaparral builder jim hall, left, has an alltexas look to his indianapolis racing effort, with johnny rutherford his driver in the 1980 season. Looking back at jim halls chaparral racing camaro by scott ross april 28, 2016 it carried the colors for chevrolet in the year that sccas transamerican challenge series featured no fewer than six factorybacked race teams, and was constructed in the same shops that turned out the chevypowered and engineered chaparrals that dominated u. Chaparral cars was a pioneering american automobile racing team and race car developer that engineered, built, and raced cars from 1963 through 1970. Jim hall on the front row of the grid, a locale he became quite akin to and fond of in 19641965 laguna seca in may 1965, chaparral 2a chev 1965 started fantastically for the boys from midland, texas with a mighty win over twelve hours at sebring against the best in the world from ferrari, ford, porsche and the rest jim hall and hap sharp took pole, fastest lap and the victory. The snooty diedinthetweedwool sports car set may have looked down on the standard powerglide in the 53 corvette as utterly unsuitable for the track, but maverick texan jim hall had the last laugh ten years later.
Jan 18, 2018 the jim hall, al unser, indy 500 winner chaparral lola t500. A year later, in 1962, hall and sharp founded chaparral cars, inc. Nov 27, 2015 jim hall drives the chaparral 2 in the early hours of the 1965 sebring 12 hour race. It was a most interesting period with consecutive champions phil hill a future chaparral driver, graham hill no family, jim clark, john surtees yet another future chaparral man and jim clark again. James ellis hall was born in abilene, texas, on july 23, 1935. After driving through a late afternoon rain storm that flooded the track, hall and sharp won by 4 laps.