Anybody here ever drive a F5000 car?
I wish. At their time they were almost as fast as then current F1 cars. Far less expensive and far more reliable.Also just as likely o get you killed. GTS Bruce
I heard a Pro who used to drive them back in 70s was offered to race one at vintage race. Had stickier tires, same weak suspension parts, minimal safety gear, huge HP. He passed on the offer LOL
Friend of mine owned and vintage raced Brian Redman's F5000 (Lola T332 HU0037). Can find it here... Lola CW
I drove a center seat Can-Am car, which is about the same thing. Interesting series. Some early F5000 cars started out as F1, and Indycars. And some of the center seat Can-Am cars were F5000 and Indycars with small block Chevys + added fenders. And there were a couple that ran the Cosworth DFV F1 motor. Add the under 2 liter Hart, and you have an interesting mix of cars all running together. IIRC, the Cosworth was not beating the Chevys.
Good old-school technology. Not complicated. Tube frame with riveted aluminum panels. Big horsepower motor. Basic ground effects. Handles predictably. CW
Looks like the best placing for an F1 engined car was 7th in this race. Some familiar names. This is a great site for info on the old races. Riverside, 3 Oct 1982 « Single-seater Can-Am « OldRacingCars.com
The Lola T332 is a wonderful car to drive. Other cars, like the McRae GM-1, are pretty nice to drive, too. My favorite early car is the Surtees, the TS-8 drives really well.
They were loud and impressive while they lasted. F5000 at Road Atlanta in 1975 featured Mario Andretti, Al Unser Sr, Brian Redman, and Jackie Oliver, to name a few. Later evolved into the "new" CanAm - Al Unser Jr at Laguna Seca in 1982. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
2015 Monterey Motorsports Reunion had a large F5000 field: Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
One of our clients (25 years ago) had Bobby Rahal's Lola in our shop for a while. Neat, old-school piece, would have been quite an experience to drive, but never got the chance. Don't know if Rahal, or our client added it inside the cockpit, but there was a script that read "What Lola Wants, Lola Gets".
Audio is terrible but you can hear the car lose traction off EVERY corner under acceleration. Beast! https://youtu.be/Tk7ph9bAojU
When I was racing in Formula Ford, Formula Renault in the UK 1987-89 during test days there would be a mixed bag of cars and many times there would be one or two F5000's including one well known chap whose name I can't recall, they sounded wonderful. In the twistiest bits we would actually be more agile, they were like a bus in comparison but in fast curves or straights you had to keep an eye on your mirrors MS
I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Questor Grand Prix, 1971. I haven't forgotten. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_Questor_Grand_Prix the questor grand prix videos - Bing video
What does it take to run one of the F5000 cars these days. Whats the real maintanance. Could one run say 5 days between any heavy work?
Hah! When the width of the rear wheel (16") is LARGER than the diameter (15"), there's not much more you can do...
I used to have one. Just about rebuilt it from scratch. Ran it at Road America, Watkins Glen, Willow springs. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Very cool. I looked pretty seriously at a McKee that had a low HP small block. What power were you using and how did the car hold up once your rebuilt it. They looked very fragile to me.
What year was the McKee? Any history on it, like who had it previously' if it ran pro, etc.? I didn't know there 5 litre big blocks. If so, was the car designed around it? I never got to any FA/F5000 or new CanAm races and just have never been up close to any of the cars. 'Hadn't given it a thought but now that it comes up, a new mission is on the agenda....
F5000 and the center seat (new) Can-Am were small blocks. The original Can-Am series cars were big blocks. Center seat Can-Am are literally F5000 cars with added bodywork. Big block Can-Am cars at Long Beach: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et7CJMjT-Pc Funny how current Indycars are starting to look like the old center seat Can-Am, with all the new added bodywork.
