One of the sub-themes of the recent Goodwood Festival of Speed was 'Ferocity & Finesse', celebrating the great sports cars raced during the 1972 season on both sides of the Atlantic. Today we take a look at two Can-Am racers that represented the 'Ferocity' part of the theme.
The most successful of these was the McLaren M20 Chevrolet. Raced by the works team, it was the only car that could match the Porsche 'Turbo Panzer'. Denny Hulme scored two victories that season and Scooter Patrick won the last ever Can-Am race in an M20 two years later. Our detailed article is illustrated by a 24-shot gallery of two of three examples built. The chassis shown in action at Goodwood was used by Hulme to score the McLaren team's final Can-Am win after dominating the series the four previous seasons.
Growing in competitiveness during the 1972 Can-Am Challenge Cup was the Shadow team. They fielded the Mk III Chevrolet, which was a development of the Peter Bryant penned car used in 1971. Although the 'new' cars used the same tubs, the changes were significant enough to warrant a new type name. Our feature car was the first of three chassis built and accordingly was raced in both Mk II and Mk III guise. Today it is the only Shadow of this type in existence as the other two have been restored as a Mk II and a Mk III Turbo.

Enjoy the links:

1972 McLaren M20 Chevrolet - Images, Specifications and Information

1972 Shadow Mk III Chevrolet - Images, Specifications and Information