Chaparral racing cars from the 1960s all tend to look a bit funny, but boy were they effective. That certainly includes the 2E, the first racecar to use a high-mounted wing to generate downforce. The giant wing was adjustable on the fly, and those struts emerging from the bodywork were not chassis-mounted but instead attached to the rear hub carriers to apply downforce directly to the wheels.
Aerodynamic panels hidden beneath the bodywork at the front of the 2E operated in unison with the wing. The driver controlled the surfaces via a pedal that sat where the clutch would’ve been – the 2E had an automatic gearbox! In short, the 2E is a historical heavyweight when it comes to racing and American motorsports. The only existing example is displayed at the Petroleum Museum in Midland Texas and is basically priceless.
So, what are we seeing below? Well, that’s a model. A 1:1 scale model, but a display model nonetheless. And incredibly, it’s the work of just one man. It doesn’t run, it doesn’t drive, and it takes up entirely too much to display in any average person’s home, but it’s up for sale on Bring a Trailer and I want it.
Why build a full-size Chaparral replica? “I built it simply because I had the skill set and the time, I love this car, and I just wanted to be able to open the shop door and look at it,” says the seller. Respect.
Love can lead us to do crazy things and this might be one of them. The amount of detail and depth he’s put into this car is truly astonishing. During the pandemic, many of us picked up new hobbies. This guy built a classic Can-Am car.
The seller used computer-aided design and 3D printing to replicate some parts, including the wheels. The monocoque chasssis made of plywood, but the suspension is aluminum and steel. The car has real Wilwood brakes on it along with a handful of other actual car parts.
The builder even went to the Petroleum Museum in Texas to view the real Can-Am race car and ensure all the details were correctly replicated by the model. And those details are plentiful, as the front clamshell opens as it should and the rear decklid can be removed to reveal the replica engine.
The detail work continues in the cockpit Schroth Racing harnesses on the seats, a three-spoke steering wheel, and Smiths gauges. The shifter on the right side of the cockpit is non-functional of course, but it looks completely authentic, as do the switches in the center tunnel.
While the car appears to have a Chevrolet V8, it’s a replica too. It features four Webber-style carburetors, polished intake trumpets, and brass hardware to set the whole thing off. Surprisingly, the 2E model only weighs around 500 pounds, about a third of the actual racecar’s weight of 1,500 pounds or so.
The Chaparral 2E is one of the coolest race cars from its era. Motortrend once went as far as to call it “a guiding light in race car aerodynamics.” Clearly, it made a huge impression not just on the racing world but on this seller.
As of this writing, bidding stands at $5,001 over on Bring A Trailer. Admittedly, that’s a lot of cash for a model that doesn’t run or drive. I’d still love to have it just so I could coast down a hill while I make racing noises.
I – I just don’t know….I don’t get it. It seems a lot like one of those full-size girl friend dolls… It looks like the real thing, but you can’t do anything with it BUT look.
The 1960s were just amazing. Actually, the 1940s-1960s were great. The best cars, the best music, even the aircraft were so much nicer to look at. Of course, technology means today’s cars are faster, and aircraft are much safer…I get it.. but there was something special about those years.
I was just a kid, but I remember making scale models of the Chaparell cars. I looked at racing magazines, just to get the details right. Later, I had HO race cars thar were Chaparells. It was a great time to be a kid.
It’s actually a really nice full-scale model, in the same vein as some styling concept models meant to go out on the show circuit, or an accurate model for a historical display, or a “hero” prop in cinematography that’s meant to keep the illusion in close-up shots. This really is all about the art.
Stupendous.
People pay more than that for used Land Rovers and water-cooled Volkswagens.
This is the definition of a supercar. A genuinely neutered garage queen.
This came up as the closest thing to me on my occasional BAT searches. It took a sec for my brain to process everything…can’t be real….pedal car, no…a scale model, wait…1:1?
Clicking through the pictures, it really is gorgeous, but one has to wonder what the reserve is for the auction. I’m not sure how much they could recuperate.
It’s located on one of the gulf islands known for artists and eccentrics, so this definitely fits the bill.
It’s gorgeous!
I LOVED this car! I was a teen when it debuted. See the Cox sticker by the scoop? I had a Cox slot car of the Chaparral. The funny thing is how perceptions and tastes change over the years. I look at it now and… yeah it’s okay. But the front fenders seem bigger than they need to be.
I like it.
I support everyone’s right to do as they like with their vehicle (excepting creating a public menace), but the thought of fine machinery sealed in a display case makes me die a little inside. This is absolutely perfect for someone with the means to show off automotive art without depriving the world of the glorious noise it should rightly make.
Weird. Cool but weird. Next time I sell a car because I can’t get it running, I’m going to call it a “1:1 scale model”.
Jim Hall will sell you an actual 2E continuation series. It sure looks like fun
https://youtu.be/uk0Nw3vadps
Note the wing, from what I have heard, I’ve never actually driven one, the chaparral 2E expect you to use left foot braking so your left foot is either on the no downforce go fast pedal or on the brake pedal which releases the wing to its downward direction.
Are they still available? The site that I found in research is long since dead…
Racing noises a bit like a V10 F1 engine, rising in pitch to an earsplitting scream as the hill gets steeper and the realization dawns, the genuine Wilwood brakes are not connected to anything and neither is the steering wheel!
I thought I understood this because I’ve been to Midland. There’s, uh, there’s not a lot to do there. But the car is for sale from Canadia, so this dude traveled from Canadia down to middle-of-nowhere Texas to take measurements of a car to build something that doesn’t drive? I mean, whatever keeps you busy I guess.
I, too, have been to MoFN Texas to see Chaperralville in person. Ya gotta love some Jim Hall to make that journey. I do.
I mean… how much more work would it have really been to make a drivable version?
Probably quite a lot, to be fair.