The Jim Hall "vacuum cleaner" Chaparral was outlawed, not because of the
suction (ground effect) that occurred, but for a safety reason. (Note:
another major benefit of the 'vacuum cleaner' was that by blowing the air
out the back of the car it effectively nullified the ability to slipstream
the car).
The reason the car was ruled out was because rocks, pebbles and track debris
would be sucked up and blown out the back of the car, creating a hazard for
cars following.
Jim Hall was quite the innovator/inventor back then: automatic transmission,
effective use of wings and spoilers, etc. T'was always fun to watch him. He
was a competitor to be taken very, VERY seriously!!
Carl
----- Original Message -----
From: "Wood, Barry" <barry.wood@lmco.com>
Subject: RE: Early Downforce
> I believe that the engines Hall used were snowmobile engines which I would
> not consider as small.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tom Crain [mailto:tomcrain@gulftel.com]
> Subject: Early Downforce
>
>
> It was only a short blip in racing history, disallowed by a rules change =
> but Jim Hall's "Vacuum Cleaner" Chapparalls used a small engine driven =
> fan together with flexible skirting to suck his cars down to the track. =
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