During the 1960's in the United States, there were many forms of racing. There were drag races, stock cars, midget cars, and the crown jewel of motorsport, the Indy 500. Unlike Europe, race teams had cheap access to large & powerful engines. The Canadian-American Challenge Cup or Can-Am, grew out of taking a big-block Chevy and plopping it on a tube-frame chassis. This 'gearhead' approach to prototype sports car road racing grew from the amature races organized by the sanctioning body, the SCCA. It yielded a series that was uniquely American. Its 'rugged individualist' spirit was a refreshing change from the calculated European teams.
It started out as a high-paying championship that pulled in drivers from other disciplines such as F1, USAC, and Trans-Am series. It evolved into what had the fastest, most powerful cars in racing history.
While it was great fun to have as few rules as possible, the down side is that one car would dominate the whole season. First it was Bruce McLaren and Denny Hulme, then it went to the Porsche 917/10, then to Mark Donohue's 917/30. The winner of the races was all but predetermined, so there was little to cheer about. Can-Am folded in 1974.
I could go on and on repeating the Can-Am stories done over the years. And since I was five years old when I saw my last Can-Am race, I can probably say I have nothing origial to add. But I do distinctly remember the UOP Shadow cars being loud and black.
The thing to do is buy Pete Lyons book simply called "Can-Am".
Quality diecast Can-Am cars were unavailable until 1999. Best of Italy put out a few Lola T70's, and then Minichamps followed up with the famous 917/30. There are actually quite a few "period" diecast cars from Solido and Mercury which vary in quality. Be aware that the standards are nowhere near a modern manufacturer's, and you are buying for the "historical relevance" and not the detail.
For a while everyone was jumping on the 1:43 Can-Am bandwagon, and Spanish slot-car giant Fly put out some impressive Lola T-70 Spyder boxed verisons. GMP (Georgia Marketing and Productions) also made versions of the Lola T-70 and Mclaren M8A & M8B. This seemed great at first but eventually GMP pulled out and have since cancelled the Mclaren M8D series. Part of their failure was a matter of poor timing, as the Minichamps Versions of the same cars were released almost simultaneously
John Surtees ran a works Lola T70 and helped develop the T70MkII .
The Penske Donohue car is a special from Ste. Jovite 1966, the first-ever Can-Am Race. Mark was classified dead last after a steering fire? I mean really, how does a steering mechanism catch fire? Must have been a bad day, as he even had to tack on a 1 to make his car number 16.
Incidentally, Ste. Jovite returned to somewhat competitive racing when it hosted a Grand-Am event in 2002.
United States Road Racing Championship 1966 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| Bridgehampton | |||||
| 17 | Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport George Wintersteen  | 12 | Eagle's Race | 2004 |  |
| Watkins Glen | |||||
| 5 | Lola T70 Spider 'Bardahl' Jerry Grant | 8 | Best | 9262 |  |
Canadian-American Challenge Cup 1966 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| Ste. Jovite (Round 1) | |||||
| 1 | Lola T70 Spider John Surtees  | 3 | Best | 9633 |  |
| GMP | 12402a | ||||
| DNF | Lola T70 Spider 'Sunoco' Mark Donohue  | 16 | Best | 9214 |  |
| Best Wild About Wheels Edition | WAW001 | ||||
| GMP ('Penske Racing' Box set) | 12401 | ||||
| Bridgehampton (Round 2) | |||||
| 1 | Lola T70 Spider Dan Gurney | 30 | Best | 9189 |  |
| GMP | 12403 |  | |||
| Spark | S1147 |  | |||
| Fly | FLY 04 | ||||
| 7 | Lola T70 Spider Jerry Grant | 8 | GMP | 12404 |  |
| Laguna Seca (Round 4) | |||||
| 10 | Lola T70 Spider Hugh Dibley | 53 | Best | 9512 |  |
| Riverside (Round 5) | |||||
| 1 | Lola T70 Spider John Surtees | 7 | Best | 9176 |  |
| Spark | S1137 |  | |||
| GMP | 12402b | ||||
| Fly | FLY 01 | ||||
| DNF | Lola T70 Spider Jackie Stewart | 43 | Best | 9246 |  |
| DNF | Lola T70 Spider Parnelli Jones | 98 | Best | 9179 |  |
| Las Vegas | |||||
| 1 | Lola T70 Spider John Surtees | 7 | GMP ('Team Surtees' Box Set) | 12402 | |
| Test | |||||
| Lola T70 Spider John Surtees | Test | GMP ('Team Surtees' Box Set) | 12402 | ||
Nassau Speed Weeks 1966 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| Nassau Trophy | |||||
| 1 | Lola T70 Spider 'Pepsi' Mark Donohue | 7 S+5.0 | Best | 9454 |  |
| Best Special Edition | WAW003 | ||||
| DNF | Lola T70 Spider A. J Foyt | 83 S+5.0 | Best | 9292 |  |
Lothar Motschenbacher (no relation to Engelbert Humperdink or Rumpelstiltskin) had eneough talent to almost win more races than anyone else amost won. Even Sam Posey.
United States Road Racing Championship 1967 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| Las Vegas | |||||
| DNS | Lola T70 Spider Charlie Kolb | 12 O2L | Best | 9344 |  |
Canadian-American Challenge Cup 1967 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| 1 | McLaren M6A Bruce McLaren  | 4 | Spark | S1110 |  |
9 | Lola T70 Spider | 52 | Fly | FLY 03 | |
| Laguna Seca | |||||
| DNF | Lola T70 Spider Peter Revson | 52 | Best | 9177 |  |
| Fly | FLY 02 | ||||
| DNF | Lola T70 Spider Lothar Motschenbacher | 11 | Best | 9226 |  |
| Riverside | |||||
| 6 | Lola T70 Spider George Follmer | 16 | Best | 9237 |  |
| DNF | Lola T70 Spider Dan Gurney | 38 | GMP | 12405 |  |
In the late 1960's there were several top-level sports prototype races in Japan, the most important being the annual "Japan GP" for world championship cars. Both Nissan and Toyota had full factory teams for these races. In 1968 and 1969, there were also true Group 7 races that attracted several American Can-Am teams.
These races are very poorly documented, and neither a complete entry nor results list exists.
United States Road Racing Championship 1968 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| Mexico City | |||||
| 1 | McLaren M6B Moises Solana  | 99 | Spark | S1113 |  |
Canadian-American Challenge Cup 1968 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| Presentation | |||||
| Ferrari 612 Can-Am (Aluminum Presentation Version) | Red Line | RL190 |  | ||
| Regular Season | |||||
| 1 | McLaren M8A Denny Hulme | 5 | Minichamps | 430 684305 |  |
| GMP | 12422 |  | |||
| 2 | McLaren M8A Bruce McLaren | 4 | Minichamps | 430 684304 |  |
| GMP | 12421 |  | |||
| 3 | McLaren M6B Chevrolet Mark Donohue | 6 | Spark | S1111 |  |
| Las Vegas (Round 6) | |||||
| DNF | McLaren M6B Lothar Motschenbacher | 11 | Spark | S1112 |  |
| DNF | Ferrari 612 Can-Am Chris Amon | 23 | Red Line | RL150 |  |
| Japan Can-Am Fuji 200 (Non-Championship Race) | |||||
| 1 | McLaren M6B Peter Revson | 52 | Spark | S1114 | |
The structure of the series changes greatly in 1969. The USRRC races were absorbed into the Can-Am series, which expanded the schedule.
Bruce rocked all in '69. The NART team ran a one-off race of the 3-litre 312P and did well against far more powerful cars.
Canadian-American Challenge Cup 1969 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| 1 | McLaren M8B Chevrolet Bruce McLaren | 4 | Minichamps | 530 694304 |  |
| GMP | 12424 |  | |||
| Solido 100 Series | 176 |  | |||
| 2 | McLaren M8B Denny Hulme | 5 | Minichamps | 530 694305 |  |
| GMP | 12425 |  | |||
| 11 | McLaren M8B Dan Gurney | 1 | GMP | 12423 |  |
| Brigehampton | |||||
| 5 | Ferrari 312 Pedro Rodriguez | 12 | Best | 9180 | |
| Edmonton | |||||
| 1 | Chaparral 2H (High Wing) John Surtees | 7 P | Minichamps | 436 691497 |  |
| Laguna Seca | |||||
| 1 | Chaparral 2H John Surtees | 7 | Minichamps | 436 691407 |  |
| Riverside | |||||
| 1 | Porsche 908 Tony Dean | 8 | Best | 9201 |  |
| Japan Can-Am Fuji 200 (Non-Championship Race) | |||||
| 1 | Toyota 7 Minoru Kawai  | 8 | Ebbro | 43713 | |
| N/C | Toyota 7 ??? | 6 | Ebbro | 43711 | |
| N/C | Toyota 7 ??? | 7 | Ebbro | 43712 |  |
Even though the Japan GP was cancelled, the Toyota team upgraded the Model 7 car to twin-turbo power. The plan was for a full assault on the Can-Am series. However, these cars would never race as a series of freak testing crashes took the lives of two drivers. The cars listed here were from a promotional demo run at Fuji.
Canadian-American Challenge Cup 1970 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| 1 | McLaren M8D Denny Hulme | 5 | Minichamps | 530 704305 |  |
| GMP (Unreleased) | 12427 | ||||
| 2 | McLaren M8B Lothar Motschenbacher  | 11 | GMP | 12426 |  |
| 3 | McLaren M8D Peter Gethin | 7 | Minichamps | 530 704397 |  |
| 7 | McLaren M8D Dan Gurney | 48 | Minichamps | 530 704307 |  |
| GMP (Unreleased) | 12428 | ||||
| 11 | March 707 'STP' Chris Amon  | 77 | Spark | S1106 |  |
| Solido 100 Series | 199 |  | |||
| 15 | McLaren M8B Oscar Koveleski | 54 | GMP | 12430 |  |
| Watkins Glen | |||||
| DNF | Chaparral 2J Jackie Stewart | 66 P | Minichamps | 436 701496 |  |
| Laguna Seca | |||||
| DNF | Chaparral 2J Vic Elford | 66 P | Minichamps | 436 701466 |  |
Canadian-American Challenge Cup 1971 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| 1 | McLaren M8F Peter Revson | 7 | Minichamps | 530 714307 |  |
| 2 | McLaren M8F Denny Hulme | 5 | Minichamps | 530 714305 |  |
| 5 | McLaren M8D Lothar Motschenbacher | 11 | GMP (Unreleased) | 12429 | |
| Ste. Jovite | |||||
| 1 | Lola T260 Jackie Stewart | 1 | Lola | S1134 |  |
| Watkins Glen | |||||
| 3 | Porsche 917/10 Jo Siffert  | 20 | Porsche | S1171 |  |
| Laguna Seca | |||||
| 2 | Lola T260 Jackie Stewart (Famous 'cow-catcher' front) | 1 | Lola | S1133 |  |
| DNF | Lola T222 Hiroshi Kazato | 88 | Lola | S1141 |  |
Canadian-American Challenge Cup 1972 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| 1 | Porsche 917/10 'L&M' George Follmer | 7 | Solido 100 Series | 18A |  |
| 4 | Porsche 917/10 'L&M' Mark Donohue | 6 | Solido Racing | 1944 |  |
| Watkins Glen | |||||
| 9 | Porsche 908/2 Tony Dean | 68 | Best | 9065 |  |
| Mosport | |||||
| 1 | McLaren M20 Denny Hulme | 5 | Spark | S1115 |  |
| Edmonton | |||||
| 1 | Porsche 917/10 'L&M' Mark Donahue | 6 | TSM-Model | TSM144346 |  |
| Riverside | |||||
| 1 | Porsche 917/10 'L&M' George Follmer | 7 | TSM-Model | TSM144347 |  |
After the McLaren factory team failed to win the championship in 1972, they left Can-Am and sold all three M20's to private teams.
Canadian-American Challenge Cup 1973 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| 1 | Porsche 917/30 'Sunoco' Mark Donohue | 6 | Minichamps | 436 736006 |  |
| Del Prado | ('World Racing Car Collection') |  | |||
| 13 | Porsche 917/10 'Air Canada' Hans Wiedmer | 4 | Verem (Edition Limit�e) | 608 |  |
| Mosport | |||||
| 1 | Porsche 917/10 'RC Cola' Charlie Kemp | 23 | Minichamps | 437 736523 |  |
| Mid-Ohio | |||||
| 3 | Porsche 917/10 Hurley Haywood | 59 | Minichamps | 437 736559 |  |
| Watkins Glen | |||||
| 2 | Mclaren M20 'Black Label' David Hobbs | 4 | Spark | S1117 |  |
| Laguna Seca | |||||
| 6 | Lola T260 'Thermo King' Bob Nagel | 17 | Spark | S1136 |  |
| Riverside | |||||
| DNS | Mclaren M20 Mario Andretti | 96 | Spark | S1118 |  |
Canadian-American Challenge Cup 1974 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| 1 | Shadow DN4 Jackie Oliver | 101 | Spark | S1120 |  |
| Watkins Glen | |||||
| 6 | Porsche 908 Flunder Dennis Aase | 16 | Best | 9270 |  |
In 1977 it re-emerged as part of the privateer Formula 5000 series. In a unique move, the cars were center-seat open-wheel chassis with bolt-on shells. There were some big names like Bobby Rahal and Jacques Villeneuve (Gilles brother, not son) who took part.