Chaparral 2A 1964

[RACECAR]

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While still campaigning the front engined cars, Jim Hall and Hap Sharp were in the midst of designing a replacement. Unlike their first racing car, this new project would be designed in-house and constructed in their own workshop at the Rattlesnake race track in Texas. It became clear from the beginning that a mid-engined layout would be necessary to keep up with the European competition. Hall's vast experience of racing a wide variety of racers gave him a very useful insight into chassis construction. He combined this knowledge to design a cutting edge race car. Most of the development work on the first Chaparral consisted of further strengthening the space frame chassis with cross braces to cope with the additional power. It was possible to design a strong frame from the ground up, but it would be overly complex and make quick repairs to the chassis or engine nearly impossible. A monocoque chassis would be more suitable, but no one had previously tried to construct a mid-engined car with this layout before.

For the construction of the chassis, Hall and Sharp called in the help of former airplane engineer Andy Green. In exchange for his help, Hall would finance Green's racing sailboat business. His vast experience with composite materials was vital as Hall chose fiberglass for the construction of the chassis. With the Exception of Colin Chapman with his lightweight Lotus Elite, no one had been brave enough to use 'plastic' as the main chassis material. Hall believed that a fiberglass structure would be easier to construct, repair and adapt over a similar aluminum monocoque and would also be strong enough to cope with powerful engines. Development at the Rattlesnake workshop went slowly because of Hall's busy Formula 1 schedule, but the first car was ready for the final races of the 1963 season. Inspired by Chevrolet's Monza GT concept car of 1962, Hall at first designed a closed body for the '2' (as the car was known) but for various reasons, that design was removed and replaced with a simpler Roadster body.

While the chassis was highly advanced, Hall gathered well proven parts to bolt onto it. A double wishbone suspension was used for the front while the rear had each corner consisting of trailing arms, a single top link and a reverse lower wishbone. Girling discs were fitted all around and provided efficient stopping power. The Chevrolet V8 was carried over from the front-engined Chaparrals but was equipped with four Weber Carburetors as well as higher compression heads. A Colotti 4 speed gearbox, well proven in the mid-engined Lotus and Cooper race cars, was selected. Barely completed, the Chaparral 2 debuted at the Riverside Grand Prix in October with Hall immediately impressing many by claiming pole position. However in the race, the lack of development and an electrical fire saw him retire from the lead after only four laps. There were two more outings for Chaparral that season with a third place finish as the best result and Hall would subsequently retire from Formula 1 to focus on developing the Chaparral 2 into a race winner.

After a winter off season where they would strenthen ties with General Motors with Hall receiving back door support in exchange for assisting the manufacturer's development team, Chaparral would show up in March to kick off the 1964 season campaign. The biggest changes were the smoothed out bodywork and the re-routed exhaust system now consisting of eight stacks pointed upwards through the rear bodywork. After a second place finish in the season's first race, Hall scored the 2's maiden victory in the next. This was a start of an impressive run in American road races, piling victory upon victory. While Hall recovered from a broken arm, Roger Penske added two victories to the team's tally in the important FIA sanctioned fall races at Laguna Seca and in the Nassau Speed Week. The car would continue this into 1965, including a victory at the 1965 12 Hours Of Sebring.


The addition of this car would add the very machine that began the home built cars of Jim Hall as well as started a innovative series of cars and variations for Chaparral, including cars like the 2D and the 2J.

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Engine: 4.0L Naturally Aspirated Chevy V8
Horsepower: 475 HP
Transmission: 2-Speed Automatic
Weight: 758 KG
Drivetrain: RWD

 

[JKgo]

...Uhm, a quick question.

What's the difference between this car, and the one in this suggestion?

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/threads/chaparral-2c-1963.303987/

 

[RACECAR]

...Uhm, a quick question.

What's the difference between this car, and the one in this suggestion?

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/threads/chaparral-2c-1963.303987/

This one is the original, improved race winning 2A from 1964. The one in that link is actually incorrect.

- There was only the Chaparral 2 in 1963, which was the first prototype.
- The 2C was actually a car with an adjustable spoiler that appeared in 1965 (So, the picture used is the incorrect one)

Soooo, that's the difference

 

[RACECAR]

Update:

Slight modification to the thread title as it turns out the info on the various versions of the Chaparral 2 (beyond the 2D and 2J) are abit muddled and mixed around. Sometimes I found some sites reffering to one car as the 2A, while others refer to the very same one as the 2C. From the one place I did manage to find that had solid info, it turns out This is the 2A.