Can-Am Challenger
By Peter Bryant
The 1960s was a period of explosive change in motor sport. Professional, sponsor-driven racing was in its infancy, while new technologies and materials were revolutionizing the sport on an almost race-by-race basis. Despite all this change, and increased professionalism, the ’60s were still a period in motor-sport history when a bright individual, with good ideas, could still design and build a car that could become a winner. Such is the story of British mechanic-turned-designer Peter Bryant.
Having started his career as a lowly fabricator with Lotus in the late ’50s, Bryant steadily moved his way up to Formula One mechanic in the early ’60s, but soon found himself moving to America to work with Mickey Thompson on his Indy car program. Soon this would lead to work on various Can-Am teams that would ultimately lead to the chance of a lifetime, to build a Can-Am car of his own design. The result was the famed Ti22, Titanium Can-Am, which in 1969 made a huge sensation by being immediately competitive, right out of the box, with the mighty McLarens. Success with the Titanium cars caught the eye of racing maverick Don Nichols, who soon hired Bryant to design the Shadow Can-Am cars, which would ultimately dominate the final days of the Can-Am.
In Can-Am Challenger, Bryant tells his own story from growing up in postwar Britain to the final days of the Can-Am. While Bryant’s dry wit and insights into the ’60s racing scene are worth the read by itself, what really makes this book a treat is the many outrageous behind-the-scenes stories such as the time he was quarantined in Pakistan, with Graham Hill, John Surtees, and Innes Ireland on New Year’s Eve.
Available for US$49.95 (£34.99) directly from the publisher at www.bullpublishing.com
