Chaparral 2C Version 1
Chaparral 2C
By Ye Olde Editor
In the Fall of 1965, Chaparral unveiled the
latest evolution of their dominating 2A design, called the 2C.
It looked similar to the 2A, except it was
shorter and narrower, which gave it a 13 sq ft frontal area
compared to the 2A’s 14 sq ft. Underneath,
was all new. In the interest of saving weight, the fiberglass
chassis was abandoned in favor of an aluminum
monocoque. All together the car was 100 pounds lighter
than the 2A. The operating flipper of the
last 2A was retained. The car was only raced 4 times, winning
in it’s first outing at Kent, Washington.
The next race was at Riverside, but a suspension piece pulled out
of the monocoque on the pace lap, and the
car was withdrawn. For the final 2 races in Nassau, a different
intake system was utilized, based around some
experimental Rochester fuel injection units,
supplied in secrecy by GM.
I’ve always been surprised that no one ever
came out with either a 2A or 2C with an operating wing.
Apparently there was an injection molded version
by LS in Japan, and I think that AutoHobbies had a vac body,
but none of these are very available.
I’ve been wanting to do a 2C by cutting the
top off of a Monogram Chaparral 2D. But I figured that there was a
better chance of me getting it done if I used
something that was a little closer to being done! Fortunately, both
Electric Dreams and Tom Anderson have the
Auto Hobbies / Veco winged 2A bodies available. I’ve been working
on an article that you may actually see in
2004 or so, on various ways of making the wing work. In the meantime,
I’ve taken the Model Cars Magazine plans for
the 2C, and made some additions / corrections that show the details
of both configurations that were raced.
