For Sale: 1961 Chaparral 1 Prototype
Images by Darin Schnabel, courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
This ex-Jim Hall Chaparral 1 prototype is the first of Jim Hall and Hap Sharp’s innovative American sports race cars. It’ll head to auction at RM Sotheby’s’ August Monterey sale.
Born out of a meeting between Jim Hall and Scarab builders Troutman & Barnes, the Chaparral 1 is the first of the iconic and innovative Chaparral race cars.
The sports racer has a Chevrolet OHV V8 block up front. The black began its life at 283 cubic inch and was bored out to 318 cubic inch by Art Oehrli of Traco Engineering to produce around 400 bhp. Aluminium pannier tanks on each side of the car hold the fuel and distribute weight. Chuck Pelly, who designed several Scarabs for Lance Reventlow, was responsible for the body.
001 was first tested by Jim Hall in an SCCA race at Riverside in mid-1961. He got the car off to a hot start by putting in a lap just two seconds shy of the record held by Dan Gurney in a Lotus 19. Its race debut came just a few weeks later at the SCCA National, Laguna Seca. Hall was on track for a win until a valve rocker broke and put him behind Chuck Sargent in a Birdcage Maserati for a second-place finish.
In October Hall ran in the Los Angeles Times Grand Prix at Riverside, where he was up against the likes of Jack Brabham, Stirling Moss, Bruce McLaren and Dan Gurney. He qualified the Chaparral 1 Prototype on the second row and brought it home third overall.
Next up was the San Francisco Examiner Pacific Grand Prix. Hall finished 7th overall in the first of two heats, but the Chaparral’s Chev failed in the second heat and ended his run. Technical gremlins would return during the Tourist Trophy in Nassau, when a misfire and bottoming suspension dropped him out of the lead and an engine blow-up dropped him out of the race.
001 was joined by the 002 car, which would be driven by Dick Rathmann, early in 1962 for the Daytona 3 Hours. Hall enjoyed a great battle with Phil Hill over second place, but would ultimately finish third with Dan Gurney first in his Lotus 19.
The car would then enter the Sebring 12-Hour alongside the newly-delivered 003 Chaparral. Hall drove the 003 car with Chuck Daigh, but the car dropped out with a broken steering knuckle three quarters through the race. At that point Hall jumped back into 001 as a co-driver and saw it finish 6th overall and first in its C/Modified class.
001 enjoyed three successful seasons in its period career, finishing it up with the 1963 12 Hours of Sebring. Today, some five and a half decades on, it’s still finding great success in historic motorsport.
Chaparral 1 Prototype 001 is sold from the Jack Boxstrom collection, and is a wonderful example from an iconic marque in America’s sports racing history. It’s in good, original condition, still features its original chassis, bodywork and fuel tanks and is sold with a complete history file from new.
It will head to auction at RM Sotheby’s’ Monterey sale on Friday, August 19 and RM estimate its value at between $900,000 and $1,400,000. For more details, head to their official website here.
Images by Darin Schnabel, courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
