9 replies to this topic

[mariner]

A Jim Hall interview I haven't seen before, over an hour and really good. 

 

I never realised he startedd his racing in Albuquerque not Texas.

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=Z0rXyMwFMUI

[sabrejet]

But when is the book due out? I think it was supposed to be last year and now it seems to have disappeared totally from Amazon's future publications...

 

(Jim Hall: Chaparral, Texas and the Invention of Modern Racing by George Levy)

Edited by sabrejet, 18 June 2020 - 11:02.

[2F-001]

I watched that again just a few days ago - some interesting stuff about his earlier days.

If you are interested, there is more in van Valkenburgh's book Fourteen years of raucous silence and (particularly) in Pete Lyon's multi-part series in Vintage Motorsport.

 

As you might imagine (from my avatar and log in name) that I've for a long, long time been an admirer, fascinated by Hall and the cars, and have a considerable collection of books and articles covering the marque. But my one real disappointment in the whole Chaparral story is the seeming reluctance (for example, in that interview) to publically credit John Barnard for the 2K. Yes, I know he was a paid supplier/contractor but it seems so unnecessary. Or am I being unfair? (I believe that Barnard's story has always been that such recognition was a - possibly unwritten - condition of the contract.)

[2F-001]

The proposed Levy book was mentioned recently in another thread; I've given up waiting for it, to be honest!

(Although I was expecting, without - I admit - any hard evidence, something of a hagiography. Just a gut feeling.)

 

 

(Edited for mis-typing.)

Edited by 2F-001, 18 June 2020 - 16:54.

[sabrejet]

Well there I was, eagerly awaiting the "October 2021" release of Texas Legend: Jim Hall and his Chaparrals by George Levy, and I see it's been put back again, this time to 31 March 2022!!

 

Anyone know just what is going on?

[Richard Jenkins]

George is still working on it, it will happen. Trying to get more source material last I heard.
I've helped George with some Spence material so I know it's motoring along in some form.

[kayemod]

But my one real disappointment in the whole Chaparral story is the seeming reluctance (for example, in that interview) to publically credit John Barnard for the 2K. Yes, I know he was a paid supplier/contractor but it seems so unnecessary. Or am I being unfair? (I believe that Barnard's story has always been that such recognition was a - possibly unwritten - condition of the contract.)

 

Yes, John was pretty sick about that apparently. Not sure if full designer credit for the 2K was actually written into the contract, but in his excellent biography The Perfect Car, I haven't dug out my copy to check, but I got the impression that it was, and it was also something that the two men shook hands on. JB is still sore about it, he certainly has no doubt that was their agreement.

 

Not the way to do business.

[sabrejet]

In terms of the wider Chaparral story, discussing credit for the 2K is a bit like quibbling over who decorated Leonardo da Vinci's bathroom.

[2F-001]

I disagree: creating a car which, fresh out of the box, dominated (albeit not winning) the Indy 500, then dominated the whole of the season the following year, is rather a big deal. Away from the ‘specialist enthusiast audience’ (for example, TNF) it might possibly be one of the most famous cars ever to bear that badge. It's not like Barnard wrote a footnote to Chaparral's history.

Edited by 2F-001, 01 October 2021 - 19:01.

[Bikr7549]

And here is a recent article about him, from Autoweek.

 

https://www.autoweek...all-chaparrals/