Once upon a time, Can Am was the fastest racing series on the planet.
The series was at the forefront of motorsports innovation in the late 1960s and early 1970s – even more so than Formula 1. In fact, when Can Am visited Ontario, Canada’s Mosport circuit a month after the 1967 F1Â Canadian Grand Prix, the Chevrolet-powered McLaren Can Am car of Denny Hulme was 1.6s clear of the pole time that F1 had set. The Chevy-powered Chaparral 2E Can Am also changed racing forever with its high-mounted rear wing and marked the first-ever appearance of such aerodynamic appendages in a competition setting.
Can Am cars were extremely fast, then. That’s why it’s surprising for us to see the 1967 Camaro SS Trans Am in the video above racing with them so easily. The video was taken from inside racer Oliver Bryant’s cockpit as he wheeled the hairy chested Camaro around Sebring during the recent Sebring Classic 12 Hours and shows him passing Lola T70s, a McLaren M1B and other quick machinery. We get the feeling Bryant’s Camaro is quite a bit faster than it was when it raced in period back in 1967. That, or the drivers of the priceless Can Ams are letting the charging Camaro by to protect their ass(ets).
We could watch and listen to Bryant wheel this Camaro all day. The sound of a Small Block V8 in race-spec at full chat laid over footage of heel toe downshifts and high-speed opposite lock moments is what we live for. The fact that it was taken at Sebring, one of Americas most historic race tracks, makes it that much better.
Check out the video embedded above. If you’re a Camaro, Trans Am or Can Am fan, or just love the sound of V8s, you definitely won’t want to miss it.
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The good old days!