Your Chance to Drive a Famous Chaparral Racer—In Gran Turismo 6
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The 2X VGT (center) is Chevrolet's virtual grand touring car of the future, and will be a download for GT6. 
GM
GM 
The 1970 Chaparrall 2J had a second engine that sucked the air underneath the car to give it grip. GM
GM 
The 1963 Chaparrall 2 ran on a mid-mounted Chevy engine, with a body design inspired by the aerospace industry. GM
GM 
The 1966 Chaparrall 2E had a huge rear wing that gave it grip at speed, a design adopted by Formula One years later. GM
GM 
The 2X VGT will be available for download following the LA Auto Show. GM
GM SIMILAR GALLERIES
On our short list of absolutely bonkers cars we’d like to drive, but likely never will, the Chaparral racers would be near the top. Throughout the 1960s, the small American racing team showed off technological prowess and a “why the hell not?” attitude that gave us some of history’s most advanced and bonkers vehicles.
Now, we finally get to drive a Chaparral creation—kind of. Chevrolet is releasing the Chaparral 2X VGT concept, which will be available…on Gran Turismo 6, the videogame. We don’t know much about the new ride, beyond its center-mounted headlights and the funky body, which is set low, within huge raised tires. We do expect something out there, appropriate to the Chaparrall name. The 2X VGT is Chevy’s entry into a project called Vision Gran Turismo, where auto makers build virtual grand tourers: two doors, a big engine, and whatever each brand thinks will be the future of automobiles.
When the brand was racing, Chevrolet lent its parts and engineers to the team, which explains why it decided to resurrect the brand for the 15th anniversary of the Gran Turismo franchise. GM’s design branch handled the architecture, and we were pleased to learn that Jim Hall, Chaparral’s founder and designer, now in his late 70s, gave his input.
Hall, a Texas oil tycoon, founded the company in 1962 along with Hal Sharp, who did the driving. Up until their last days of racing in 1970, Hall and his team of engineers were pioneers. Their mid-engine vehicles were among the first to use body kits for aerodynamic efficiency, and the 1966 2E was the first car to use a rear wing to harness downforce for grip. Two years later, Formula One teams followed suit. They’ve been doing it ever since.
We like Chaparral best for the 1970 2J. It looked like a rolling cigarette pack and had a snowmobile engine stuffed inside that sucked the ground underneath to keep it glued to the track. With 650 horsepower, it dominated Can-Am races so much, it was banned just four races into the 1970 season.
Don’t expect to see a suction engine in the 2X VGT, but we hope Chevrolet preserves some of the craziness we associate with the racing team and Hall’s touch. We’re psyched to finally, if virtually, get behind the wheel of something with the Chaparral name on it.