Goodwood showed a sensational selection of mighty Can-Am racers last weekend at the 81st Members’ Meeting presented by Audrain Motorsport .
The Canadian-American Challenge Cup, most commonly known as Can-Am, was a sportscar racing series held initially, and most famously, from 1966-1974 for Group 7 cars. It garnered competition initially between Lola, McLaren and Chaparral, before taking the interest of Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and notably Porsche, before Shadow dominated the 1974 championship.
The racing was never particularly closely-fought; each season was characterised by the dominance of one team: Lola in ’66, McLaren from ’67-’71, Porsche in ’72 and ’73 and finally Shadow in ’74. But it was the cars themselves that delivered the spectacle.
Not only were they incredibly impressive to look at with their bombastic aerodynamic designs and enormous trumpets jutting out from the engine bays, they were, and remain, some of the most extraordinary cars to listen to. Generally powered by big-booming V8s from Chevrolet and Ford in the case of the Lolas and the McLarens, these Can-Am brutes are utterly exorbitant when it comes to noise.
As many as 20 of these cars, including machines from McLaren, Lola and Porsche and the largest collection of Shadow racers ever assembled, unleashed around the Goodwood Motor Circuit in what was a real weekend highlight. Here we add a few historic photos of the mighty Can-Am monsters.
The Members’ Meeting once again took place as the traditional season opener for the Goodwood motorsport season on the 13th/14th of April. The event delivered some of the most memorable moments ever and very soon we will cover some more highlights from other races.
Report by Simon Ostler for goodwood.com
