CAN-AM: The Speed Odyssey”
DVD
Narration by Sam Posey and Jim Hall
Review by Gregg Leary

Previously, I gave Robert Nevison’s “50 Years of Formula 1 On-Board” my highest rating…five out of five lug nuts. He’s done it again with “CAN-AM: The Speed Odyssey.” It’s another tour de force. What’s even better? You get more “bang for your buck.” “CAN AM” gives you a half hour more content than “50 Years of Formula 1,” which makes it an extraordinary value. The DVD jacket teases with the following text:

“The Speed Odyssey takes you on the wildest ride in road racing. 1966-1973 CAN AM Challenge Cup: the quintessential epic adventure in an era of change and discovery, where heroic drivers from Formula One and around the world battle in their brutally fast road racing machines on the daunting race tracks across North America.”

“A Road Racing Counter-Culture. The CAN AM rule book intentionally had few restrictions, a championship which created the fastest most powerful road racers. These radical race cars and their world renown innovations pushed the limits and sometimes beyond.”

What makes “CAN AM” so unique is that it is meticulously and seamlessly edited from original CAN AM motion picture archival footage…and melded to spectacular sound. Nostalgia never looked and sounded so good. Someone must have found the key to the vault. “Now all generations can experience this timeless road racing adventure, an odyssey of pure speed, fierce race competition, radical innovations and ground shaking sounds.”

Sam Posey narrates the bulk of the DVD and does so in his inimitable poetic style. Listening to Sam is like eavesdropping on your favorite uncle telling tales at Thanksgiving or Christmas. It is a delight.

“The open twisting road in a two-seater sports car with the top down. It’s the essence of driving. And the essence of sports car racing is the wide open track…competition and a quest for speed.” So Sam begins “CAN AM.”

Bruce McLaren gives an overview of Mosport in 1966 using a track map with in-car and aerial footage interspersed brilliantly. Bruce states, “We get wheelspin in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th gear…up to 140 miles per hour.” Are you kidding me?

Posey gives us the background on the CAN-AM Series.
“The sports racing cars are now called GROUP 7. It is a class of racing with virtually no restrictions on engines, chassis, or aerodynamics…a road racing counterculture with the freedom to innovate. A new series is created, Canadian American Challenge Cup or CAN-AM.”

Sam’s description of the famous “Corkscrew” at Laguna Seca defines what separates the men from the boys and the racers from the non-racers.

“At the top of the hill is an exhilarating sequence of turns called the Corkscrew. You enter with a hard left. Suddenly the road disappears below you, the car becomes unsteerable and in that moment you go hard on the gas flicking the car from left to right. Just as you’re sure to spin, the road comes back up under you, compressing the car into the pavement…giving you traction to blast on down the hill.” The combination of Posey’s poetry and the vintage footage is awesome.

How fast were the Can-Am machines? In 1967 Mosport hosted both Formula One and Can-Am races. Jim Clark set the Formula One pole. In similar conditions on the same track, five Can-Am drivers qualified faster than Clark’s F1 pole: Hulme, McLaren, Gurney, Spence and Surtees.

Footage of the 1968 Road America race run in the rain is frightening. Sam Posey says, “The spray blinds everybody except the leaders. You keep your foot down even though you can’t see ahead. The Can-Am cars have so much power that in the rain you can spin the rear wheels even above 150 MPH.” I guess that’s why I just write about racing.

John Cannon may be the master of understatement when he says, “I’ve got a feeling we might win.” He was talking about the 1968 race at Laguna Seca in the rain. His victory is one of the most implausible in motor racing. “Against all the odds, John Cannon is victorious at the wet Laguna Seca,” says Sam.

The 1968 Las Vegas Can-Am footage reminds me of the fictional race in Elvis Presley’s “Viva Las Vegas.”

Team McLaren wins all 11 races in 1969. Can you say “Dynasty?” Bruce McLaren wins the Can-Am title…and is unfortunately killed before the start of the 1970 season while testing in England.

Jackie Oliver’s airborne crash at St. Jovite in 1970 is remarkable…and more so in that he was able to walk away. (The footage looks like it must have been taken on a spectator’s Super 8 movie camera.) During the Can-Am days, runoff area was almost non-existent, hay bales, half buried tires and Armco barriers were still in use. Safety was NOT issue Number One.

The 1970 Watkins Glen race unveiled perhaps the most innovative car of all time…the Chaparral 2J “Sucker Car.”. It had two engines…a 700HP V-8 to power the car and a smaller engine to spin two exhaust fans mounted on the rear of the car. Jim Hall’s creation made full use of “ground effects.” The fans blew air from underneath…plastic skirts sealed the sides and the “ground effects” sucked the car to the track. Jackie Stewart qualified third and set fastest lap in the race. Such brilliant innovation was a trademark of the Can-Am series. (Unfortunately the car was banned the next year for using “moveable aerodynamic devices,”…the fan blades. Boo! Realistically, the 2J could have made all of the other Can-Am cars obsolete, so perhaps the rule was necessary.

In 1973 Porsche unveiled the most powerful road racing machine ever created…the 917-30. It produced 1500 HP in testing. It could launch from 0-200MPH in 10 seconds. Top speed was 250 MPH. In it Mark Donohue captured all 8 Poles in the Can-Am season and won 6 of the 8 races and the Championship.

“CAN-AM: The Speed Odyssey,” rates five of five lug nuts…my highest rating. The interviews with Jim Hall, Dan Gurney, Mark Donohue, Bruce McLaren, Peter Revson, Denny Hulme, George Follmer and others are priceless pieces of racing history. The archival footage is a nostalgic cinematic adventure down a high speed memory lane. As a bonus, how about a little pop quiz with answers provided by the DVD?

1. Where and when was the first Can-Am race held?

2. Who won the first Can-Am race? (Hint: He is the only person to have won the World Championship on two wheels and four.)

3. The two “H’s” finish 1,2 at Laguna Seca in 1966 in Chaparrals.
.
4. This Can-Am Champion’s nickname was “The Bear.”

5. The Can-Am Commissioner was called “the greatest driver never to win the World Championship.”

6. Who earned Porsche its first Can-Am win in 1970?

7. He was the first American Can-Am Champion in 1971.

ANSWERS

1. 1966 St. Jovite, Mt. Tremblant, Quebec
2. John Surtees
3. Phil Hill, Jim Hall
4. Denny Hulme
5. Stirling Moss
6. Tony Dean at Road Atlanta in 1970
7. Peter Revson