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The Chaparral 2J '70 is a race car produced by Chaparral. It first appeared in Gran Turismo 4 and has been featured in all subsequent mainline games except Gran Turismo Sport.

The car appears to be the #66 driven by Vic Elford, who finished 15th place overall in the 1970 Can-Am season. The car's fan technology was banned at the end of the season for unfair technological advantages, following protests from the McLaren team.

Description[]

"Nicknamed "The Vacuum Cleaner", this car took the motoring world by surprise and became an icon in racing history."

The 2J may well be the most innovative, wildest racing machine ever created. The car, characterized by its big boxy rear end, entered the 1970 SCCA Can-Am racing series in North America, as the first machine in the series to feature active ground effects... in the form of a giant vacuum.

The Can-Am series was quite unusual as, at the time, there was no rule to limit the amount of horsepower for its race cars. Chaparral boss, Texas oil magnate Jim Hall, pulled a wild card from his sleeve when he created a race car that utilized two engines: one was a 690 HP powerplant to power the car and the other, an air-cooled snowmobile engine that powered a pair of large fans to suck the air flowing underneath the car out, thus making it "stick" to the road surface. The area between the sides of the bodywork and the ground were sealed by floating pieces of high-strength Lexan. Nicknamed "The Vacuum Cleaner", the Chaparral 2J astounded race fans and the other Can-Am drivers alike.

Aside from its odd looks, the 2J often took pole position by several seconds over heavy competition that included the previously-dominant McLaren M8D... that is, when it was running. The 2J experienced many mechanical problems in its maiden season, making every race it entered a thrilling event.

Before the start of the 1971 season, the SCCA banned the use of engines used for other than powering the car itself, and the Chaparral 2J was banished from motorsports forever.

Legend Cars[]

Have you ever considered who had the most influence over modern racing car technology? For me, that would be either Colin Chapman or Jim Hall. Chapman, of course, was a founder of Lotus. But do you know Jim Hall? Not only is he the founder of Chaparral Cars, but he is also a Formula 1 driver and a brilliant engineer. The most innovative of all the Chaparral cars was this 1970 2J, or 'sucker' car. It featured two fans at the rear of the chassis, which were part of a suction system that produced downforce. Other innovations included an adjustable spoiler and a two-pedal semi-automatic transmission. All in all, it's one of the most outlandish and imaginative race cars ever produced. The 2J was undoubtedly Chaparral's greatest achievement, and lives on in motorsport legend to this day.

Café (GT7)[]

Jeremy[]

Ah, you're not likely to forget a car like this! It's the Chaparral 2J, which was built for the 1970 Can-Am series. On its rear you'll find... Two fans powered by a single-cylinder 274 cc engine. These fans expel air from under the body to generate downforce... Making it look as if the car is being sucked right to the ground. For this reason, it is sometimes referred to as the 'fan car'. Able to take corners at high speeds that defy all logic... The Chaparral 2J set incredible lap times in all four of the races it competed in! In fact, it even took pole position. But it wasn't the most reliable machine... And before it could run a full race, the FIA changed the rules on aerodynamics... Putting the 'fan car' out of competition. One can only imagine what this car could have achieved, had it been given time to develop!

Ed Welburn[]

I'm a big fan of all things Chaparral. The Chaparral 2J was the most innovative of the company's projects. It's undoubtedly the most radical race car of the legendary CanAm series. Its wedge-shaped nose, squared-off body and rear twin fans... Instantly made you curious about what mysteries lay beneath its skin. Design-wise, it's more 'lab experiment' than 'race car'. But the Chaparral 2J could outperform just about everything. That's why it was eventually banned from racing, because of its incredible technical advantages. Personally, I would have created a body that was more in keeping with the front-end design. At the very least, I would have painted the centre section white.

Acquisition[]

Game Purchase location Credits Other methods
Gran Turismo 4 Chaparral Dealership[1] 1,200,000 ---
Gran Turismo PSP Chaparral Dealership 1,500,000 ---
Gran Turismo 5 Used Car Dealership Approx. 15,000,000 ---
Gran Turismo 6 Chaparral Dealership 4,500,000[2] ---
Gran Turismo 7 Legend Cars 2,500,000[3] Complete the The Sun Also Rises set of missions with all Golds.

Pictures[]

Trivia[]

  • Unusually for a race car, this car has a 3-speed automatic transmission, developed in-house by Chaparral.
  • The original idea of ground effect pioneered on this car was later used, with much more successful results in F1, with the Lotus 78 and the Brabham BT46B (the latter of which had a large turbine on the back). The fans used on the 2J and BT46B also influenced the fans installed on the Red Bull's X-series cars.
  • In GT4, nitrous can't be applied on this car.
  • In GT6, although this car's interior is marked as Detailed, this car has neither gallery view nor working gauges. This was later included for GT7 where it has functional gauges and gear, along with a fully-modeled interior.
  • The Chaparral 2J was revealed for GT7 in a trailer talking about the many ways to play GT7, where it's seen with other historic race cars on Monza.
  • Unlike its real-life counterpart, the 2J has trouble maintaining grip, even when using Racing Soft tires, often having bouts of spinning out (with assists disabled) whereas its real-life counterpart always maintain its grip on the track.

Notes[]

  1. Purchaseable in NTSC-U and PAL regions only
  2. 15,000,000 in version 1.00.
  3. Price as of March 2024.
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