richiev88

My 3 yr old son loves this played through the stereo...loud

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBNh8LMShyE

MotorHead

I used to watch those cars every year in the 70's and believe it or not the most spectacular engine you will ever hear came from the Matra-Simca V12 which revved to 13,000RPM in the 70's, you could hear it going down the back straight from the other side of the track through a forest. Look up Matra-Simca sound from hell on Ytube

Like I said I watched them but the first minute of this clip is what I remember because you can actually hear it through trees, it was just unbelievable and something I'll never forget, sorry didn't want to but in with it but I couldn't help myself. This was the one I saw, never finished any good but a motor at 13,000 RPM 30-40 years ago nuts

The first minute is the sound I'll never forget !

RobbSalzmann

Holy Smokes those Can Am guys can drive!

richiev88

We had a bunch of the Can Ams run down here in the South Island in the summer classic speed festival we have every year.We impressive to see a feild of these fantastic old cars running together again.
One guy from Canada ( Jay Ester) had a M6B Mc Laren, had he put on quite a show! This guy is a good peddler, has been running a F5000 down here this season, drives it like he stole it!!
I'm totally inspired to build a exact replica of M6 or M8, but the local classic guys don't seem to be keen to let a replica run.....( even though many of the "origional" cars are totally rebuild, probably the serial tag the only origional item left......
Probably still a worthy project for personal gratification, and to scare the Sh*t out of drive ( and Passenger)

81pilot

That was awesome!

81pilot

WOW! He was blowin by those other guys. I assume they were in a lower class. Now I see why they went to paddle shifters, but he never grabbed the shifter unless he needed too, thay guy knows that track! he was hitting around 190 in the straights and then going straight into a turn, nice! Nice Video!

gkull

My favorite Can-Am's that I work on are the two Shadows.

Pictures from Laguna Seca

richiev88

Wow cool job, and you get paid for it ? Over here you would not get paid!
Do you know the of car in the video I posted, they claim 1019hp, at 1500lbs the a good power to weight ratio!
I love the shape of the the M6B Mclaren but M8 with a big block would be a beast, especially with todays tech in the engines

MotorHead

George, yeah the Shadows were cool but did you ever hear the Matra-Simca at full song ? Fricken ugly but when you hear it, it doesn't matter what it looks like

I've seen that M'Claren race a few times in the 70's, John Player Special Lotus and Showdows were right up there, by then end of the 70's nothing could touch the Lolas at least hear in Canada, they one 4-5 straight.

I don't know too much about those big block Can-Am cars but I was "told" they were 1000HP chevy big blocks, nice, they held the track record at Mosport years after they were gone

gkull

We have a Ferrari flat 12 cylinder F1 car at the shop and the V-12 gurney Eagle westlake F1 The boss maintained and raced the John Player Special F-1 up until it was sold. The later model F1 with the 18,000 rpm motors just hurt you to be next to them.

The Shadows are at another shop?

I wished that i had taken more pictures and movies in the last 10 years

redvetracr

me too, that way you might know the car didn`t say "Johnny Player Special"

gkull

Silly me Johnny Walker scotch and the lead mechanics name is Johnny

birdsmith

For the record, the Can-Am winners were as follows...
1966-Lola 1967-McLaren 1968-McLaren 1969-McLaren 1970-McLaren 1971-McLaren 1972-Porsche 1973-Porsche 1974-Shadow

The old, ORIGINAL Canadian-American Challenge Cup series was cancelled after the 1974 season...the name was re-used in another series twice but the formulae were for much smaller-displacement and therefore much less spectacular cars.
The car in the video is a McLaren M8F, essentially the same type car that McLaren used to win their last series in 1971 and the last in the M8 line.
As far as actual horsepower, McLarens were quoting about 750 HP from their 509 ci Chevys during the 1972 season which was their last, these quotes from Pete Lyons' books whom most Can-Am participants acknowledge as the universal expert on all things Can-Am. The turbo Porsches that took control of the series in 1972 were quoting numbers in excess of 1100 hp in qualifying, with the potential for even more(!), but 1000+ from a naturally-aspirated Chevy of ANY displacement is a little optimistic. McLaren did have some special qualifying 'bombs' of 568 inches built for the 1972 Riverside round that were rumored to have somewhere north of 800 HP, but again these were qualifying grenades that were only good for about 10 laps of full-out running.
At any rate, the Can-Am series of races was arguably the most thrilling, spectacular racing series ever concieved on this planet. Those cars easily bested F1 lap times at every common venue where they raced, and the series also boasted formula 1 talent. Any time I can make it to a vintage race where they're running nowadays I'm there. there is not a racing series in existence today that can even begin to compare to it-period.

gkull

This is a close number because of the technology of the day. I've worked on the McLarens over the years and most of them were raced with the aluminum blocks and displacements from the 468 - 490 ci range.

Our local McLaren was fitted with twin turbos and put out over 1200 hp to compete with the Porsche's. It was tested and raced in the TT version, but reliability and the end of the series doomed it before it was perfected



This is a true statement from back in the day. I owned a 509 injected that was closer to 1100 hp. But that is not even holding a candle to a modern prostock 498 ci that are rumored to have 1450 - 1490 hp today. it takes that much power to do the 210 mph 1/4 miles

69ttop502

Yea, let's string up Gkull because he didn't get the name right. Sheesh!

MotorHead

There I go making stuff again, it's getting f'ing rediculous around here, a guy can't say something without someone using Google to prove him wrong. The end of the 70's wasn't 1974, check to see what car won the revised Can Am series five years in a row after the break in 1975, that was what I was referring to when I say the end of the 70's I believe 70-74 would be the beginning of the 70's could be wrong though, don't have the books just went to races, no wonder I don't come here much anymore.

I was there I watched the races, I had a press pit pass with full access to the pits, drivers, crews, owners, and I used a top of the line Nikon camera because my friend who worked for a newspaper didn't like racing cars, jeesh. I saw Jackie Stewart win pole to pole F1 race at Mosport in his Elf Tyrrell and saw Graham Hill in one of his last races, seen Danny Ongais crash so many times it was a joke because he forgot he wasn't driving a dragster I could right a book on memory of all the races I've seen and all I get is someone quoting me and telling after googling it "for the record" here's a for the record for ya ( The Champ)

MotorHead

He's good at that, he's a big fan of Peter Klut, is that one t or 2

birdsmith

First of all, MotorHead, I didn't Google the information. Everything that I posted is true and can be substantiated by the best book on the subject authored by the guy who reported every one of the races for Road&Track back in the day. I happen to own every one of his books and he personally signed my copy. If you'd care to trade insults I've been to plenty of races myself where most of the people in the crowd were busier getting drunk than they were paying attention to what was going on on the track. I made the point that McLaren won five of the first six Can-Am series. I didn't make that up, it's true. After the series NAME was resurrected post-1974 the series was won by single-seat full-bodied adaptations of Lola T330 F5000 cars powered by 5-liter small-block Chevys. True, they won the series several years running, but they weren't REAL Can-Am cars. Hell, Carroll Shelby even commissioned the construction of a bunch of Dodge V6-powered spec racers and called then "Shelby Can-Ams"-they didn't fool anybody. I'm not some stupid sycophant neophyte; I spent the better part of a decade racing my own car. It doesn't hurt to read a book once in awhile-sometimes you can actually learn something.

vette427-sbc

That is one of my good friends driving the M8F in the OP... Very wicked car. It did have a dyno proven 1000+ hp. The motor was a 598 BBC. He recently sold it though.

richiev88

Car looked great in the video!. I would not doubt 1000hp out of 598cu with modern roller cam and good heads, we have local cars getting 800hp out of 540cu.
Great to see guys that own these fantastic old cars out there driving them as they were designed to be.....fantastic !
Shame he sold it