24h Le Mans
Though the Chaparrals entered at the 24 Hours of Le Mans never reached the checkered flag, one of the creations by Jim Hall's company won the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1965 with Hap Sharp and the millionaire Texan himself behind the wheel. Hall's son will take a few laps of the Sebring circuit with his father's Chaparral 2 before the start of the race this year.
Jim Hall II, Chaparral Cars founder's son, recalls: "That was an amazing race, and winning was very, very satisfying for the team. That race had a huge amount of rain. Dad brought in a consultant forecaster to tell him when it was going to hit. They ran flat-out until it hit and had a huge (seven-lap) lead, and then parked the car for a time because you couldn’t see anything. The water was so deep it came into the cockpit, so they were sitting in water for a fair amount of time. They felt very lucky to finish that race."
Jim Hall and Hap Sharp were not satisfied just crossing the finish line: they reached the highest step on the podium with a highly innovative car, thanks mainly to a fiberglass chassis and a transmission with which one could shift gears without using the clutch. These innovations were also a part of the Chapparal 2F - which took the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1967 with Phil Hill and Mike Spence - as was a giant rear spoiler.
The Hall family today possesses seven Chaparrals, which are exhibited in a museum in Midland, Texas as will be the Chaparral 2 that won 50 years ago during the week of the 12 Hours of Sebring. Jim Hall's son will slide behind the wheel on Friday and Saturday to run several laps as his father did in 1985 in celebration of the 20th anniversary of his victory!
