Jim Hall and Hap Sharp established Chaparral Cars in 1962. Hall initially purchased two Chaparral 1s from Dick Troutman and Tom Barnes to race. When Hall and Sharp began building their own cars, they asked Troutman and Barnes if they could continue to use the Chaparral name, resulting in all subsequent vehicles being designated as Chaparral 2s.
The first Chaparral 2-series cars were designed to compete in the United States Road Racing Championship and West Coast Pro Series, debuting in late 1963. Hall had significant assistance from GM, including engineering and technical support in the development of the car and its automatic transmission (this is evidenced by the similarity between the Chevy Corvette GS-II “research and development” model and the Chaparral 2A through 2C models). In 1965, a Chaparral 2 shocked the sports car world by winning the 12 Hours of Sebring) “in a pouring rainstorm, on one of the roughest tracks in North America.”
The Chaparral 2 developed into a highly competitive car in the Can-Am series in 1966 and 1967. The 1966 2E Can-Am car was a high point for the team, establishing a paradigm for virtually all racing cars built since. The 2E featured radiators moved to ducted pods on either side of the cockpit and a large pivoting variable-incidence wing. In 1966, Phil Hill drove the 2E to a win at Laguna Seca Raceway. The 2F, a 1967 development of the 2E, scored its only win at the BOAC 500 at Brands Hatch with Phil Hill and Mike Spence driving.
The 1968 season saw Jim Hall involved in a severe crash at the Stardust Grand Prix, effectively ending his driving career. Hall rear-ended the McLaren of Lothar Motschenbacher during the race. The 2J Can-Am “sucker car” was the first “ground-effect” car, featuring fans to create downforce, but was ultimately outlawed by the SCCA in 1970 after its 1970 season. Other teams argued that the fans constituted “movable aerodynamic devices” and that the car was too dominant. McLaren argued that if the 2J were not outlawed, the Can-Am series would be ruined.
Chaparral entered Indy car racing in 1978 with Al Unser Sr., winning the Indianapolis 500 that year. Al Unser also won the California 500 and the Schaefer 500, becoming the only driver to win the Triple Crown in a single season. In 1980, Johnny Rutherford won both the Indianapolis 500 and the CART championship driving for Chaparral. Rutherford also won five races that season, including the Datsun Twin 200 at Ontario Motor Speedway, the Red Roof Inn 150 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, the Norton 200 at Michigan International Speedway, and the Tony Bettenhausen 200 at the Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway. By 1982, the team was using a March 82C chassis.
Chaparral returned to Indy car racing in the 1991 CART season with John Andretti driving, achieving a victory in their debut at the Gold Coast IndyCar Grand Prix. In 1993, Teo Fabi drove for the team, and in 1995, Gil de Ferran won at Laguna Seca. De Ferran also won the Jim Trueman PPG IndyCar World Series Rookie of the Year Award. Hall closed the Indy car team after the 1996 season.
In total, Chaparral won 13 races and two championships in Indycar racing. The development of Chaparral cars chronicles key changes in race car design during the 1960s and 1970s, particularly in aerodynamics and tires. Jim Hall’s training as an engineer, and his access to engineering teams at Chevrolet and Firestone, were instrumental in changing race car aerodynamics and handling from an art to an empirical science.
A wing of the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum in Midland, Texas, was dedicated to the permanent display of Chaparral cars in 2005. The 2005 Monterey Historic Automobile Races honored Chaparrals as the featured marque. In 2009, Gil de Ferran painted his Acura ARX-02a to resemble a Chaparral in tribute to Jim Hall, for whose team he drove in his first two CART seasons, and to commemorate his final professional race.
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