OVERVIEW
1970 Chevrolet Camaro Trans-Am
Chaparral #1
At the end of the 1969 Trans-Am season Rodger Penske announced that he would be switching from the Chevrolet Camaro to the AMC Javelin for the 1970 championship.
Chevy turned to long time partner, Jim Hall’s Chaparral Cars of Midland, TX, to take over the factory entry for the Camaro. Chaparral had been the key in Chevrolet’s Can-Am or Group 7 operations for years, creating some of the most innovative racecars ever seen.
Hall built three new chassis for the 1970 season for himself and Ed Leslie. Vic Elford. Joe Leonard would also drive for the team that season. #1 is one of the three team cars built, and the only one known to still exist.
The team was very competitive finishing in the top ten every race and taking one victory at Watkins Glenn with Vic Elford at the wheel. Jim Hall finished sixth in the final championship standings.
This is the only Chaparral Trans-Am car that Jim Hall ever drove, and would be the last racecar he would officially race in his long career.
Chaparral #1 has been meticulously restored to period correct perfection by Trans-Am expert, Mark Mountanos. It retains all of ingenuity that Hall and his team put into modifying the car for Trans-Am.
Some of the brilliant innovations that were integral to this car include a gronked rear end, in which negative camber was built into the rear axle tubes. When Chevrolet’s John DeLorean insisted there be no hood scoop on the car, Hall, with a little help from the legendary Smokey Yunick, created an underhood fiberglass plenum to ram the air into the carburetor. And of course the front suspension and brakes might not be something you could buy directly from a Chevrolet dealer.
#1 has run successfully at the Rolex Monterey Motorsport Reunion and Wine Country Classic. It is in race ready condition.
1970 Trans-Am Race Record
Lime Rock - Jim Hall, 4th
Bryar - Jim Hall, 4th
Bridgehampton - Jim Hall, 4th
Road America - Jim Hall, 4th
Watkins Glen - Vic Elford, 1st
Kent - Vic Elford, 5th
Engine:
Chevrolet 302 c.i. V-8, 440 hp, single 4-barrel carb, wet sump
Transmission: Richmond T-10 4-speed
Differential: GM 12-Bolt, with oil cooler
Brakes: Hurst Airheart 4-wheel disc
Shocks: Koni
Exhaust: 3 1/2" with crossover pipe
Wheels: Minilite 8x15 front and rear
Tires: 6.00 x 15 front, 7.00 x 15 rear
Pole, Mid-Ohio - Ed Leslie
