What's In A Name?... [PIC]

Forever I wondered why these CanAm cars were called Chaparrals. If you've ever been in the desert Southwest, you realize why cowboys wore leather chaps. I knew 'chaparral' as the thorny, nasty twisted vegetation that could tear your skin to shreds. I just found out that "Chaparral" is also Spanish for the swift and smart roadrunner. It makes sense now. LOL

Produced between 1963 and 1970, Chaparral was founded in 1962 by Formula 1 drivers Hap Sharp and Jim Hall. They bought the first Chaparral car from builders Dick Troutman and Jim Barnes and, after that built their own, continually modifying their cars using data acquisition systems of GM research as well as research teams from Chevrolet and Firestone. All of their cars used a '2' followed by successive letters to distinguish their cars from the first (Chaparral 1) that they bought. Each variant had their strengths and weaknesses with perhaps their high points being this winged 2E and the 2J suction car. The final model, the 2K, was a ground effect Indy car that debuted in 1979 winning 6 races driven by Al Unser. The following year, driven by Johnny Rutherford, it was the Indy 500 winner as well as the CART championship. This winged 2E was a crowd favorite but only won one race at Laguna Seca. The car was powered by an aluminum 5.3 liter V8 with the idea of sacrificing power for reduced weight. Later variants would have cast iron big blocks like the 427 proving the adage "there's no substitute for displacement".