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The CHeAPARRAL “sucker vette” story is about a group of engineers who
work for Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati, Ohio. This team challenged
themselves by putting to use many of the math, physics and other
scientific principles they've learned over their lifetimes to build a car
unlike any other car seen since, very likely, Jim Hall’s Chaparral 2J “sucker
car” from the 70’s. What an honor it was to meet Jim and see the original
2J! Who would have guessed that we would be interviewed by Jay Leno,
and featured on Jay's Garage! Check out the "Leno and Hall" tab.
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We refer to ourselves as a bunch of crazy engineers, but we're not really crazy. Well, maybe a little bit. Let's call it a mixture
of zaniness and genius. As Procter & Gamble engineers, in our spare time, we used those qualities to rebuild a 1986 Chevy
Corvette, entered it into a Florida race competition - and won everything.
Our objective going into this was to have fun, learn new things and sell the car and donate the money to charity.
The idea started when the engineers decided to compete in the Grassroots Motorsports Challenge in Gainesville, Florida in
October of 2007. The event includes a quarter-mile drag race, an autocross (obstacle course) competition and an appearance
judging contest.
The team of 11 engineers started racking their brains. We were limited to spending $2,007.
We purchased a 1986 Chevy Corvette that was found in a nearby barn for $1,400.
It had been rolled many times with extensive damage to the body and suspension system, but the engine and drivetrain were
intact.
The first task was to get it in shape, back on the road, get it inspected and take care of paperwork.
We modified the 5.7-liter V8 in the Corvette by adding twin turbochargers.
To get an edge in the autocross competition, we found a surplus Army intake blower from an M1 tank, powered with a 40-
horsepower engine from a snowmobile found on eBay.
We threw around several names for the team, eventually settling on "Cheaparral," in honor of
Texas legend Jim Hall, known for the vacuum-enhanced Chaparral 2J racing car from the 1970 Can Am racing series.
Fifty other teams entered, and Danny Popp, driving the rebuilt Corvette, won first place in the autocross event. The
Cheaparral team also captured concourse judging, the best engineered award, top-finishing team award and the 2007
Challenge Overall Champion award.
We don't plan to enter any more competitions. The car will be used for tours in this area.
We plan to use it on college campuses to help recruit students to go into engineering. People usually don't think of P&G
employees as engineers. We want students to see what we can do as engineers.
We were thrilled that the Cheaparral sold on e-Bay with 100% of the proceeds to benefit the United Way. We thank
everyone who helped make it the second most viewed (over 114,000 viewers) auction during its listing time! It was with mixed
feelings that we said "Good-Bye" and "Good Luck" to the happy new owner. We sure hope you have as much fun with it as we
did!
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