I have quite an interest in the Can Am series, look there were no rules apart from the fact that cars needed to have four wheels, engines were unlimited as was virtually eveything else, at one stage there was even a turbine car...
The cars themselves were called group 7 cars and basically the only stipulations were that the wheels had to be covered and there had to be 2 seats. Of course this anything goes policy lead to some epic monsters, cars pushing out over 1000 bhp and some 1500 bhp in qualifiying trim. Spectators flocked to the tracks in droves and with good commercial backing the series soon became immesely popular..
With this popularity and coverage the series attracted soem big names, the like of Bruce McLaren, Denny Hulme, Phil Hill, Mark Donhoue, John Surtees, Dan Gurney and every Ford fans greatest driver Parnelli Jones
Manfucturers involved in the series included McLaren, Lola(dominated the series for a while with cars like the T70), Porsche, Chapparal(unqiue cars with huge wings). Most of the McLarens and Lolas ran V8s, some pushing out in the region of 800 kW but all were put in the shade but a car called the Turbopaner- Porsche 917/30 which in quali trim had 1500 bhp..
Every year a few of these mighty Can Am race cars come to Killarney and hearing those V8's is nothing short of awesome but perhaps this year it was more special, as I knew more about them and could appreciated the history behind the cars..
Some pics to follow.
