Chaparral: Can-Am Racing Cars from Texas (Ludvigsen Library) [Paperback]

Karl Ludvigsen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 14, 2002 | Series: Ludvigsen Library

Few sports-racing cars have captured the imagination as did the Chaparrals. The menacing white machines from Texas oil country cut a swathe through American sports car racing in the 1960s, and even won at the Nurburgring and Brands Hatch. Created by Jim Hall and Hap Sharp -- and ultimately with the help of GM and Chevrolet -- the Chaparrals pioneered such innovations in racing as the wing for aerodynamic down force and the automatic transmission. Great photos from the author, Stanley Rosenthall, and Max Le Grand show the exotic Chaparrals at rest and in action. Photographs include the first front-engine cars, the 2, 2C, 2E and 2G sports-racers, the 2D and 2F endurance racecars, and the wildest of all, the 2H and 2J -- the first car to use a fan to generate suction down force. The book is a rare treat for fans of the exciting and popular Can-Am racing series.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Karl Ludvigsen has a distinguished record of accomplishment at senior levels throughout the worldwide motor industry. He has received wide recognition for his work as an editor, journalist, historian and author. Not only has he been employed at senior levels with Ford of Europe, Fiat North America, and General Motors, but he has also been involved in editorial roles with Motor Trend magazine, Auto Age, and Sports Car Illustrated and Car and Driver. Ludvigsen is in demand from the press of North America and Europe as a source of information on industry trends, and he is a frequent speaker at conferences. Currently, Ludvigsen acts as Chairman of Ludvigsen Associates Limited (a consulting company), Managing Director of Euromotor Reports Limited and Director of Ludvigsen Library Limited.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Iconografix (July 14, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1583880666
• ISBN-13: 978-1583880661
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #840,596 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Biographical Background
Karl Ludvigsen

In addition to his motor industry activities as an executive (with GM, Fiat and Ford) and head of a consulting company, Karl Ludvigsen has been active for over 50 years as an author and historian. As an author, co-author or editor he has some four dozen books to his credit. Needless to say, they are all about cars and the motor industry, Karl's life-long passion.
Since 1997 Ludvigsen has been drawing on the photographic resources of the Ludvigsen Library to write and illustrate books on the great racing drivers. His first title in this series was Stirling Moss ' Racing with the Maestro. He followed this with Jackie Stewart ' Triple-Crowned King of Speed and Juan Manuel Fangio ' Motor Racing's Grand Master. Fourth in this series for Haynes Publishing was Dan Gurney ' The Ultimate Racer and fifth was Alberto Ascari ' Ferrari's First Double Champion. Next came Bruce McLaren ' Life and Legend of Excellence and Emerson Fittipaldi ' Heart of a Racer.
Also in the field of motor sports Karl Ludvigsen has written about road racing in America, the cars of the Can-Am series, the AAR Eagle racing cars, the GT40 Fords and Prime Movers, the story of Britain's Ilmor Engineering. His introduction to At Speed, a book of Jesse Alexander's racing photography, won the Ken W. Purdy Award for Excellence in Automotive Journalism. Other motors-sports titles include Classic Grand Prix Cars, a history of the front-engined G.P. racer, and Classic Racing Engines, Karl's personal selection of 50 notable power units.
Four of Karl Ludvigsen's books concern the Chevrolet Corvette, one of them an industry best-seller. He has written three times about Mercedes-Benz, twice about its racing cars. His books on the latter subject have won the Montagu Trophy (once) and the Nicholas-Joseph Cugnot Award (twice), both recognising outstanding automotive historical writing. In 2001 he again received the Cugnot award from the Society of Automotive Historians for his book about the early years of the Volkswagen, Battle for the Beetle, a Robert Bentley publication.
Karl Ludvigsen's Porsche history, Excellence was Expected, is considered by many to be a model of the researching and writing of the history of an auto company. He has updated it twice in a three-volume format for Bentley Publishers for the new Millennium. He is the author of a series of monographs on great Maserati cars. His book BRM V16 for Veloce Publishing tells the story of one of the most controversial racing cars of all time. In The V12 Engine for Haynes he describes the creation and consequences of all the cars ever powered by the iconic vee-twelves.
In 1997 Ludvigsen researched and wrote the catalogue for a special exhibition of Ferrari technological innovations on the occasion of the company's 50th anniversary and contributed a major section to the company's official 50-year history. He has updated this for the company's 60th anniversary. Karl's understanding of the Ferrari world combined with his Library's holding of the Rodolfo Mailander photo archive to produce Ferrari by Mailander in 2005, a Dalton Watson publication. In 2006 with Dalton Watson Karl has published The Incredible Blitzen Benz, the story of six great record-breaking cars.
In co-operation with publisher Iconografix, Ludvigsen has established the Ludvigsen Library Series of 128-page books drawing on the holdings of the Ludvigsen Library. The series now numbers 19 titles, including books on Indy racing cars of 1911 to 1939, the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, the Indy Novis, Chevrolet's Corvair and Corvette, the Mercedes-Benz 300SL of 1952 and 1954-1964, the 300SLR of 1955, Porsche Spyders, Porsche 917, Jaguar XK120, XK140 and XK150, Land Rover Defender the Ferrari factory and American sports-racers: the Cunninghams, Chaparrals and Can-Am racing cars. More titles are in preparation.

Status: December 2006

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth getting if you've got Chaparral fever!, January 21, 2003

By 

Nicholas Gomez "www.bikervoodoo.com" (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Chaparral: Can-Am Racing Cars from Texas (Ludvigsen Library) (Paperback)

This is a basic black & white book, similar to those model guidebooks with some shots that show detail, and some info on the car, and Jim Hall.

Worth getting if you're really, really interested in Chaparrals, or mid engine racecars. I was hoping for some info on how they built these cars, but there is not much info on the actual manufacturing process. No blueprints or plans either, which is why I'm giving it only 4 stars.

I don't really regret buying it, but I was expecting more. (Expecting too much, perhaps).

Might be inspirational for those who are considering building their own mid engine racecar!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Book Chronicling the Chapparral Evolution, March 9, 2006

By 

Mark Parkins (Kansas City) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chaparral: Can-Am Racing Cars from Texas (Ludvigsen Library) (Paperback)

This is very much a picture book. Jim Hall's genius in areodynamic design is traced through each generation of Chapparral that he pioneered. Each iteration is well documented with photos of the many modifications. The author interjects a reasonable amount of descriptive narration, but the B&W photos of that era are what makes the book so enjoyable. This book is for anyone who knows CanAm racing history or has an interest in the cutting edge of race car design.