Jim hall racing biography

Texas Legend, George Levy’s official biography of Jim Hall, was launched in fine style over the last weekend of June at the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum in Midland, Texas, long-time home of Chaparral Cars.

The sell-out event attracted Chaparral enthusiasts and a host of notable guests with Chaparral connections, including Johnny Rutherford (three-time Indy winner, in 1980 with the Chaparral 2K), Franz Weis (seasoned Chaparral mechanic, engine builder and fabricator), Herb Fishel (former GM motorsports chief) and Ed Welburn (one-time GM vice-president of design). Other significant names, all featured in the book, were Jim Hall’s wife Sandy and son Jim Hall II, plus team members Wesley Sweet, Rodney Rogers, Jere Barnes, Jay Miller and Paul Parker.

Jim and George signed copies of the book for the assembled guests. The feedback was universally positive: a number of people who picked up their books early in the weekend said that they began to leaf through and found themselves spend

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JIM HALL TELLS HIS STORY

“TEXAS LEGEND: Jim Hall and his Chaparrals,” by George Levy, with Jim Hall, is now available. Jim Hall tells his entire story – his life and his cars – for the first time to award-winning author George Levy in this authorized biography. 

One of the greatest drivers of his generation, Jim Hall is even better known as an innovator. From tiny Chaparral Cars in Midland, Texas, emerged a series of vehicles that changed the face of racing. His high-winged Chaparral 2E Can-Am car and 2F World Sportscar Championship contender may be the most influential race vehicles of the 20th century. Today, every Formula 1 car uses net downforce, driver-adjustable wings, composite chassis, side-mounted radiators, semi-automatic gearboxes and advanced telemetry to optimize vehicle performance — all things Chaparral pioneered in the mid-1960s. 

He talks about his relationship with Chevrolet, his partnership with Hap Sharp, and his battles with sanctionin

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Photo Credit: Pete Biro

by John Zimmerman

Few följare of sports car racing are unfamiliar with the accomplishments that have earned Jim ingång his place in the Motorsports ingång of Fame. Although Hall's success was based in a methodical approach, the steps were often huge ones.

In training for the family oil business, he studied geology at Cal Tech., but switched to mechanical engineering after a plane crash claimed the lives of his parents and sister. James Ellis Hall was born in Abilene, Texas in 1935. He began racing in partnership with his brother, Dick, through whom he met fellow Hall of Famer Carroll Shelby. This relationship also brought him into contact with Hap Sharp, who would become his partner in Chaparral.

After racing a string of high-powered imported and domestic sports cars, Hall commissioned Troutman and Barnes to build the first Chaparral to his design. With this front-engined, aluminum-bodied Chevrolet-powered special, he won both the June Sprints and the R