Can-Am operated under the FIA Group 7 category, which was essentially Formula Libre for sports cars. As long as a car had two seats, enclosed wheels, and met basic safety standards, it was permitted. Turbocharging and supercharging were allowed, and aerodynamic devices were largely unrestricted. The series was initially sponsored by Johnson Wax and opened each season with races in Canada and the United States, giving rise to the Can (Canada) and Am (America) abbreviation. Prize and appearance money was generous by the standards of the era, attracting the leading drivers and constructors of the day.
The first Can-Am championship in 1966 was won by John Surtees in a Lola T70, but McLaren quickly became the defining force. Beginning in 1967, the McLaren works team — driven by Bruce McLaren and Denny Hulme — dominated so thoroughly that the period became known as the "Bruce and Denny show." McLaren won five consecutive championships from 1967 through 1971, building a succession of cars from the M6A through the M8 series, all powered by Chevrolet big-block V8 engines. The team's signature papaya orange color became one of the most recognizable liveries in racing. Bruce McLaren was killed in a testing accident at Goodwood on June 2, 1970, but the team continued to compete.
McLaren's dominance ended when Porsche arrived with turbocharged machinery. The 917/10K introduced in 1972, prepared by Roger Penske and driven primarily by Mark Donohue and George Follmer, produced around 900 horsepower and won six of nine races that season. Porsche then introduced the 917/30 — nicknamed the Turbopanzer — for 1973. With a 5.4-litre turbocharged flat-12 producing up to 1,580 horsepower in qualifying trim, the car won six of eight races. Donohue later drove the 917/30 to a closed-course world speed record of 221 mph average at Talladega Superspeedway in 1975.
Can-Am also served as the proving ground for Jim Hall's Chaparral cars. The 2E introduced the first high-mounted racing wing in 1966, while the 2J of 1970 used twin fan-driven suction panels to create ground effect — a concept that later appeared in Formula One in the Brabham BT46B of 1978.
Can-Am cars were among the first racing machinery to use aerodynamic wings as primary downforce devices, demonstrate effective turbocharging at scale, and employ aerospace materials including titanium in chassis and suspension components. Other notable constructors included Lola, BRM, and Shadow, with the Shadow team ultimately dominating the final seasons of the original series after Porsche's withdrawal.
The original series collapsed after 1974 due to spiraling costs, the impact of the 1973 oil crisis, and dwindling entries following Porsche's departure. The single-seater Formula 5000 series absorbed much of the talent.
A revised Can-Am returned in 1977, initially based on closed-wheel versions of Formula 5000 cars. This second incarnation attracted drivers including Al Holbert, Alan Jones, and Al Unser Jr. early in their careers, and a two-litre class was added to broaden the field. The revived series peaked in the early 1980s but faded as CART Indycar and IMSA's GTP championship grew in stature. The Can-Am name was formally retired from the SCCA in 1987.
The original Can-Am field amounted to a roster of the era's finest drivers: Mario Andretti, Dan Gurney, Phil Hill, Jackie Stewart, Jacky Ickx, Peter Revson, Parnelli Jones, George Follmer, and John Surtees all competed. Mark Donohue's two seasons with Penske-Porsche in 1972–1973 remain among the most dominant individual performances in any sportscar series.
Can-Am occupies a unique place in motorsport history as a series that deliberately chose spectacle and freedom over regulation. Its cars remain popular in historic racing, and the series is credited with accelerating the adoption of aerodynamic wings, turbocharging, and composite materials across motorsport as a whole. The McLaren and Porsche years represent two contrasting models of dominance — one built on engineering refinement, the other on outright power — that together defined the limits of what an "anything goes" formula could produce.