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How many Can Am Kits Were There?


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I came across the busted remains of an old Can Am model that my father built back in the 60s sometime. I'm pretty sure it was a modified slot car body that the manufacturer put out as a curbside. Whatever it was I remember he had built a chassis and engine and hinged the rear deck. I was hoping to restore it, but there were only a few pieces remaining. 

It started me wondering how many different kits were made of the cars that raced in his class and he other road racing classes. This is all by memory so I have no pictures at this time.  The only ones I could come up with were the AMT Elva-McLaren, an unknown Lola T70 and I think there were some other Lola's too. I think Monogram or Amt put out some Scarabs and there were Fujimi's GT 40s and the old J-Car and GT40 MKIV. There have been some Chaparrals by Monogram and Porsches by various companies. 

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There are dozens of kits if you include all scales.  The GT40 and decedents didn't run in the Can-Am series. Don't believe the Scarabs did either at least not at the sharp end of the grid.  I suspect you are interested in Sports Car racing kits in general in lieu of the Can-Am series specifically.

The Canadian-American Challenge Cup or Can-Am, was an SCCA/CASC sports car racing series from 1966 to 1987.

Year Driver Team Car
1966 United Kingdom John Surtees United Kingdom Team Surtees Lola T70-Chevrolet
1967 New Zealand Bruce McLaren United Kingdom Bruce McLaren Motor Racing McLaren M6A-Chevrolet
1968 New Zealand Denny Hulme United Kingdom Bruce McLaren Motor Racing McLaren M8A-Chevrolet
1969 New Zealand Bruce McLaren United Kingdom Bruce McLaren Motor Racing McLaren M8B-Chevrolet
1970 New Zealand Denny Hulme United Kingdom Bruce McLaren Motor Racing McLaren M8D-Chevrolet
1971 United States Peter Revson United Kingdom Bruce McLaren Motor Racing McLaren M8F-Chevrolet
1972 United States George Follmer United States Penske Racing Porsche 917/10
1973 United States Mark Donohue United States Penske Racing Porsche 917/30KL
1974 United Kingdom Jackie Oliver United Kingdom Shadow Racing Cars Shadow DN4A-Chevrolet
1975-6 No series
1977 France Patrick Tambay United States Haas-Hall Racing Lola T333CS-Chevrolet
1978 Australia Alan Jones United States Haas-Hall Racing Lola T333CS-Chevrolet
1979 Belgium Jacky Ickx United States Carl Haas Racing Lola T333CS-Chevrolet
1980 France Patrick Tambay United States Carl Haas Racing Lola T530-Chevrolet
1981 Australia Geoff Brabham Belgium Team VDS Lola T530-Chevrolet / VDS 001-Chevrolet
1982 United States Al Unser Jr. United States Galles Racing Frissbee GR3-Chevrolet
1983 Canada Jacques Villeneuve Sr. Canada Canadian Tire Frissbee GR3-Chevrolet
1984 Republic of Ireland Michael Roe United States Norwood/Walker VDS 002-Chevrolet / VDS 004-Chevrolet
1985 United States Rick Miaskiewicz United States Mosquito Autosport Frissbee GR3-Chevrolet
1986 Canada Horst Kroll Canada Kroll Racing Frissbee KR3-Chevrolet
1987 United States Bill Tempero United States Texas American Racing Team March 85C-Chevrolet
Edited by afx
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Was A.J. Foyt's Hussein (the King, not the dictator) racer Can-Am or pre-Can-Am? There was a slot car but I'm not sure there was a static model. Either way I always thought it was a good looking car. 

     Right You Are Bil on Both Counts Noce Looking and it ran in the USRRC, Not the CanAm

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The field widens considerably if you include the USRRC, which precluded the Can-Am series, then ran concurrently for a bit. Then there's the FIA endurance series (Daytona, Sebring, LeMans, etc.) and Nassau, which was basically a "run what you brung" event - and I guess one could go on.

Basically my favorite era of racing!

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The field widens considerably if you include the USRRC, which precluded the Can-Am series, then ran concurrently for a bit. Then there's the FIA endurance series (Daytona, Sebring, LeMans, etc.) and Nassau, which was basically a "run what you brung" event - and I guess one could go on.

Basically my favorite era of racing!

To that you can add the Interserie which used a bunch of Group 7/Can Am cars, Porsche 917 and Lolas.

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Was A.J. Foyt's Hussein (the King, not the dictator) racer Can-Am or pre-Can-Am? There was a slot car but I'm not sure there was a static model. Either way I always thought it was a good looking car. 

It was also offered as a static kit.

29623741_1_x.jpghussein-am-car-kit-25-amt-unbuilt_1_d625

This is Foyt at Nassau in '64.

foytnassaucj0vi-vi.jpg

Edited by afx
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 The GT40 and decedents didn't run in the Can-Am series.

  

 

Kar Kraft used a standard Mark IV chassis tub in the construction of the Ford G7A Can Am car. While technically not a GT-40 (this term is properly applied to the Eric Broadley-designed cars), most car guys know them as "GT-40 Mark IV's". This was in Ford's period of trying to bring all aspects of their racing program "in-house" rather than trusting outside shops wit their "Top Secret Hardware". There were two bodywork configurations of the car, the first very Chaparral-like with the high wing, and the next more McLaren-ish. Attractive as it was, no version, with any of numerous powertrain combos tried, was able to make it a reliable or competitive racer. The Calliope 427 was fraught with casting porosity issues and complexity issues beyond belief. They should have put 428 cranks into 427 Side-Oilers for 447 cubes and called it a day. Incredibly sad. The car was later converted back to a Mark IV coupe and still exists today. I saw it race in anger in the Can Am at the Hawk Challenge at Road America in 2015. Scratchbuilt upper body panels on IMC's or Union's Mark IV could yield a replica      

 

 

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