Porsche KILLED the Can-Am! Or did it? ... 

Thanks to everyone for the amazing comments and support! I am going to try and get you one history video a month among the other garage content which I will try to get out weekly. So happy you are enjoying these geeky dives into automotive history! Don't forget to like, subscribe and tell your friends!

42 minutes never went by so fast. your passion and enthusiasm is infectious. I hope you chose to do more of these even if the views don't roll in as they should. even if its just for you to keep record of the history for yourself that you then share with the world. Thanks so much for this history lesson.

I was at Watkins Glenn for the 1973 CanAm race weekend. Donohue raced the 911 in the 6 hours on Saturday, actually met him in the pits on a rainy Saturday afternoon, I was 15 years old, he actually had time and spoke to me. Best memory was Sunday, beautiful sunny day. Donohue kept on stretching out his lead on the RC cola Porsche till it was the length of the entire straight. Accelerating towards our vantage point all you could hear was the turbos sucking in huge amounts of air then a big bang as he shifted gears just past us. I remember it like it was yesterday. Great video, Thank you

Another fantastic video! The best automotive storyteller on RU-vid!

I was at Mid-Ohio the years of the 917-10 & 917-30. Standing halfway down the long straight, about where the kink is, the noise was exquisite!

Hi John. I am from Brasil, and I became interested in race cars when I was kid, in the late 60's. We didn't have much info here back then, other than an occasional newspaper or magazine article and/or photo. In 1972 I went to Interlagos race track to see Copa Brasil (Brazil'sd Coup), open to all kinds of sports cars. There was a 917/10 scheduled to race the day I went there, but it had engine problems and didn't show up... I had to settle for a dispute between a McLaren M6D and a 917K... :-) Anyway, your videos bring me back terrific memories, and fill the gaps on information on the cars and their history. Thanks a lot for that.

I'm lucky to be a Porsche fan that works for a transport company responsible of transporting the Porsche museum cars. And what a joy that is... 😊😊

My favorite story regarding the 917 happened at Mosport in 1973. The McLarens decided to abandon the series, leaving it fairly open for the Porsches. Mark Donohue was in the factory 917-30, and there were a few 917-10s, most notably Jody Scheckter. Donohue started on pole with Scheckter beside him. At the start, the two of them simply disappeared into the distance to the point where they caught some backmarkers towards the end of the 4th lap (on a 2.5 mile circuit). Donohue and Scheckter collided with something, and Donohue got the worst of it.

I attended many Can-Am races at Road America in the 60's. Wonderful memories. Looking back, I can't believe I was able to watch such amazing drivers back in the day.

Just found your page after seeing you on VinWikee. John my father was the Porsche/Audi dealer in Macon, GA from 1969-1987, so of course from the age of 6 in 1969 until my late teens I pretty much attended every race at Road Atlanta and Daytona 24hr and Sebring. I was there when Donohue wrecked at Road Atlanta, although Donohue was not terribly hurt there was a track guy that was killed from the debris in that wreck.My dad would not let us sit at the end of the back straight after that or on the dirt spot just after the bridge where many a car would become airborne. I liked Donohue but my guy was Perfect Peter aka Peter Gregg and then dad moved to Nissan, and I became not just a Brumos fan , but Fitzy and Paul Newman fan my dad’s best friend worked for Jim Fitzgerald’s pit crew during those years. Road Atlanta in those days was the Wild West, fans would throw frisbee’s on the track in between races. They had bathtub races, barstool races. It was insane. It’s good to see someone talk about some of the old days of Porsche. Looking forward to watching more of your videos. Thanks for persevering this for the future.

the old footage of the pits is beyond amazing

Always great content from John! You should do a podcast!

I was at Mid-Ohio in 1972 and seen the 917/30 run. It was blindingly fast, but it sounded like a vacuum cleaner. In an age of 512 Ferraris and Tipo 33 Alfa Romeos, I hated it. I'm impressed you have a shot of it after it was wrecked. Esports? Bring the noise.

You and Ed are the best storytellers bar none, that is a gift. I really enjoy your stories as you have a deep knowledge of car racing history, I can only imagine the great time you had working for Canepa. Don't stop bringing these stories to us as we enjoy them as much as you do. Keep up the good work. By the way, I saw your video with the Jaguar and the 911s, great also.

I loved the Can-Am series. Mark Donohue was a childhood hero of mine. Great video and I look forward to more. Thank you.

I absolutely love listening to every single one of your stories. If you could ever come out with an audiobook or a podcast type thing that literally has every nerd out any bitty thing that you know about cars because the way you talk about them is amazing I would literally buy everything that you put out. Your stories and storytelling abilities are beyond and I thoroughly enjoy every bit then I'm able to find.

I was at Watkins Glen in both '72 & '73 and it was AMAZING to see those cars run. The excitement was CRAZY! I love the passion in all your stories, keep it up.

John Ficarra's most epic stories: 1970 Daytona Porsche win, 1965 Ferrari win at Le Mans, the Whittington Brother's 1979 Le Mans win (all at VINWiki) and now this one about CanAm. Every single one of them MUST WATCH for gearheads. And John, what about some stories about the Chaparral cars?

One of my favorite parts of a historic race weekend is the Cam am cars. McClaren, Shadow. Porche , Chappell. Amazing cars. Big block roar , massive tires. A gear head paradise.

I could listen to you speak for hours, John - just wonderful 👍

This is simply a historical gift to racing R&D fanatics. No other way of putting it. A million thanks, John!! I share your enthusiasm

John your passion is infectious and I find myself scrambling to watch your videos as soon as I see a new one drop! Sitting here with this big, stupid grin on my face as I listen to the sage speed testimony you bestow upon us. LOL

Thank you for an amazing video on my all-time favorite race car. I have fond memories of Mid-Ohio in the 70s and, you are an excellent historian and storyteller.

The best automotive storyteller on YT. For instance, the Whittington video and the 917K vids are all time classics.

More, more, more please. I'm not sure if I actually blinked during this show because it was so rivetingly interesting. Thank you so much John or as I now think of you Professor Ficarra. Can't wait for more telling from someone who instinctively knows and understands that Geek doesn't make you a bad person. Quite the reverse in fact.

I remember this era well as a worker with SCCA at Road America. These Can Am cars were awesome, never to be equaled again.. but close..was the C Class cars at Lemans in the 80's.

Great story yet again. The time flew by and wanting more.

This was a great historical program about the fantastic Porsche 917, etc. I raced a smaller Porsche at that time on the same tracks, in California, so I had a chance to see how fast these cars could go, especially with Mark driving. The only thing that could have made this video better would have been letting us hear the cars at the end, instead of the duck-sounding quack quack music. But, I still enjoyed this video immensely.

John, You have introduced me to vintage racing history and I'm hooked. Love these stories!!

I remember catch bits of this racing a child on Wide World of Sports and it drove my love of fast cars on canyon roads. Thanks for the history, keep them coming

Oh I got my geek on, I've been waiting for this one! The 917 in all of its variants is my favorite racing vehicle ever made!

Didn’t even notice the video was 40+ minutes long until I noticed my lunch was cold since I was paying attention and not eating. thanks Ficarra for the cold lunch 😂 Great work man!

I must be a geek, lol. Great video! I spent five years as a station guide at the Revs Institute in Naples, FL, so appreciate the Porsche history lesson! Miss being able to stand right next to the 917s, and the 908. Always pointed out the lack of foot room to guests, and they would be suitably shocked, and amazed. More educational videos would be awesome, John!

Color Vintage Can-Am film after was appreciated.

Great content. Please keep them coming!

Love love love listening to you speak about automotive history!

Great video as always. Would love to see a video about the 73 RSR.

I loved every minute .... brilliantly researched. As an English enthusiast of The can-Am series I used to have to rely on Motorsport magazine for news and views. It seems to me that the real reason Can-Am folded was the cost and availability of competitive machinery. Mclaren made production cars through Trojan and Lola would sell to anyone. The availability of Aluminium Big Block Chevvy engines was good after 1970 so it was a series you could enter competitively without spending a massive fortune. Porsche was different. It had "Friends of the factory" like Vasek Polak and Brumos. Also the 917s were much more expensive and needed very expert maintenance if they were to stay reliable. Can-Am became a private Porsche party and if you weren't invited you couldn't compete. That's what I thought but the McLaren M20 wasn't far behind and on slower tracks was probably a tad faster but reliability had suffered with ever larger bores and strokes. The Chevvy HATED turbocharging. I thought the second iteration Can-Am, based on F5000 was a great and competitive series with plenty of different production chassis to choose from and a plethora of great drivers.

Saw the 917/30 at Goodwood what a car enormous tyres the thing just looks crazy love all the can am cars what a time it must have been 💪🏻🏁

John, you're one of the best storytellers by far. I know I can walk into any one of your videos without absolutely no clue as to what the nitty gritty details of the subject matter is, and you perfectly guide me through the topic and make it enjoyable, entertaining, informative, easy to follow, and so on. It's a talent I can tell you have worked hard to master. So far, there has been nothing I dislike about your content. I like that nothing feels/is scripted or that there aren't a bunch of silly skits making things cringy. I am just happy to see you putting out content. Of my few suggestions is just to keep putting put content. I know it's very time-consuming, but even videos of you guys working in the shop and speeding up the work parts and then stopping a bit for content or explanations would be very enjoyable. Also, don't be afraid to retell some of your Vinwiki videos and provide more detail or walk around some of the cars featured in those stories. Do you still have the black Ferrari 308 that God loves so much? Don't be afraid to dive into your past car stories or to show us a current lineup of what's in your garage and/or more of Wing Nut Manor. Do you still have the Lambo you traded up for? I love the history lessons and being the history buff that you are I think a fun challenge would be to pick a past driver and a recent driver and to compare them a bit. For example: Ken Block died this year. We all know who he was and what genere of racing he helped influence and helped to change certain aspects/ interests into what they are today/ left his mark on the sport during his career. I do not know if rally is very important to you but what driver from the past that you consider important helped change a racing sport into something that we still know today/ or left such a significant mark on the sport?

The only bad thing about the Can-Am Championship was that it ended. And I was there at Mid-Ohio for the last REAL Can-Am race in 1974.

A very well done passionate video with lots at actual facts, no BS, also start selling that T-Shirt.

Hello John: There is a 917 PA at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart. The flat 16 is longest car engine I have ever seen. I made a rough measurement of the engine by stretching my right arm out, so that it formed a straight line with my shoulders. The distance from my left shoulder to the tips of my right hand fingers was about the same length as the engine. I have broad shoulders and long arms. Thank you very, very much for this video.

Great stuff! I was a guest at a BMW car club holiday dinner a few years ago where the dinner speaker was a Big 3 engineer who, as a kid, saw a 917 race and was hooked. He knew he'd never be able to afford one, so he built his own! Had help from the factory with advice, plans, specs, etc., down to the last exacting Porsche detail. Keep the stories coming.

I love the passionate, and knowledgeable, storytelling.

Great video! The vintage footage at the end got me reliving my childhood of building and racing 1/24 scale CamAm slot cars. Thank you

Jusy want to thank you for this wonderful video! ❤What a ride! You are a fantastic storyteller and I’ve never had 40 minutes fly by so fast😂

More of these race stories pls Mr. Ficarra! History! All of it! My dad... OK, this is gonna be a long story because I have no one to share it with that would appreciate it. Dad died. He didn't even make 70. Closest person I've ever been with. Told me about Chaparral racing when I was in high school. But this was pre internet, so his stories where from memory of what he read 30 year prior at the time. Maybe 25. More years than I was old at the time. The core was that they mounted a rear wing that connected to the unsprung part of a suspension. So the wing would be for down-force, not compressing the suspension. Now he got a lot of the details right and wrong which made it very hard to research in libraries at the time. He remembered the 2 engines thing. As he told it, 3L total cc was the rules, so 500cc for the vacuum engine, and 2.5L for the wheel driving engine. And he thought this was F1. Which led me to the BT46 of course, but it wasn't a split engine, nor was Chaparral connected with it. Only once I saw your stories could I make the connection. He was thinking of canam, though we're in south africa, there probably was articles in popular mechanics or other motoring mags here that covered that. He also thought Chaparral were 2 brothers with the last name Chaparral, which again made research impossible. But man, to just learn about all this, and actually put the puzzle together is so nice. I just want to call him, and tell him to watch these story videos, and that I found his story etc etc. To get to the cheesy part. He had a rear spoiler fitted to his E34 520i, and had a Chaparral sticker made up for either side. He later had a E34 540i without the spoiler, but that 520i will remain in my mind as the Chaparral car, though the spoiler did nothing, and if it did, it compressed the suspension....

Thank you so much. A real trip down memory lane. My dad took me to all the races in Edmonton from 1968-1973. They we awesome and everyone was so approachable back then. I still have autographs from Jackie Stewart, Dennis Hulme, Peter Reason and a couple of others. I remember standing right outside the Penske garage as they were swapping spark plugs and one of the mechanics just gave me a handful of them. Certainly not like F1 where everyone is so standoffish... it would be easier to get into Area 51. I remember Stewart and McLaren were such gentlemen, especially compared to todays F1 drivers. Fantastic.

Pre-spec Indy 500 and Can-Am were the most exciting races when I was growing up. I bought every magazine I could to read about those cars.

John, I counted at least three times you teased us with a promise to do another video on topics you mentioned. Gonna have to hold you to your word. Can’t wait for more content.

Outstanding video, John. Keep it up and don't change a thing.

Every time you said "That's a whole nother video", that's the stuff we want to know about. I remember reading about some of this in the 80's in car magazines. I'd really like to know more about the Shadow team. This is a great era of Porsche. Great content as usual. Thank you.

Thank you so much for all the information about those very special cars of CanAm. I always knew the Porsches were faster than anything on the track but did not know why. I was at Mid-Ohio in 72 and 73. Wow! what great memories. I also stumbled into a rented garage in Westerville, Ohio, that was temporary home to the Shadow racing team. It was very cool to go into their shop and interact with them while they were prepping the car for Mid-Ohio. The footage at the end of your video is amazing. Thanks again.

Thanks for the most enriching technical history of the Porsche 9 ten, and 930.

My dad & I always went to Mid Ohio, we sat in the keyhole most of the time, and the CanAm was definitely the highlight of the year. Mark Donahue was my favorite driver. I remember everything you talked about. Chapparels, UOP Shadow.

Dope. I really like these longer videos about historic racing. More please.

I watched Mark Donahue race the 917-30 coming out of the “cork screw” at Laguna Seca. It was a racing event I will never forget. He was just weaving through traffic, there was no competition. The Porsche was very quiet compared to the other cars and the acceleration was cartoon fast.

Dear Mr Ficarra, you have the best edutainment channel on youtube! When you release a video its a happy day Thank you for sharing your amazing storys! 🍻

Fantastic story teller John, just wanted to say, I'll watch whatever you put out, especially the 928 stuff, Rj in Oz

I was walking through the pits at Road America during the June Sprints with my family in the late 90. My Mom and Dad, my brother and my then future ex-wife were all there. It was my wife’s first time really at any race. Definitely the first time with my family. As they started up the Can-Am cars we all reveled in the noise and our eyes and noses ran from the heavy exhaust hanging in the air. It was great to get to see those cars out in the track and experience their rawness!

John, great to hear another story from you! I miss the days of hearing your great stories over sushi in Scott's Valley! I look forward to your next 928 update.

Love the overabundance of knowledge and passion Mr. Ficarra brings

I had the pleasure of seeing the 917-30 at the Mark Donohue Reunion at Road America in 2010, and it is even more amazing in person. At that event the original transporter was even present.

CanAm was the GOAT racing series, thanks for the flashback to a land before rule books when monsters roamed the racetrack.

Excellent presentation sir. My sweetie and I were nearly run over by Bruce Canepa driving the monstrous 917-30 in the pits at Lime Rock during Rennsport #1, a noble way to meet our demise! Also saw some guy named Penske doing a few easy laps in it, I do not blame him. Liked and subbed. Thank you sir!

Awesome video. As a child of the 70's I always wondered what ever happened to the CanAm series Now I know. I remember the cars from the AFX slot car tracks, a kid could race those exotic sports cars

I love the Mid-Ohio home movies...that was my home track! I started sitting in the esses in 1976 watching the ISMA successors and ended with ALMS in the late 2000's when I moved away. Your video brought back some great memories of my own.

Started going to Laguna Seca in 1966 as a 12 yr old kid. Saw the Can Am and Trans Am (Cobras, Mustang 350GTs Camaros) for the following several years. Got to see the Mclarens ( Bruce Mclaren and Dennis Hulme)and the Chapparal (highwing 2e and the vacuum car)Still have the original posters and programs (and lots of very amateur photos) from back then.You had me stolling down memory lane....Thank you

Dude, great stories around my favorite race car of all time. I came to be "aware" of race cars by watching the 917/10 Land M car when I was just a young boy. Still, to me, the most beautiful race car I've ever seen.

Wow what a fantastic parade of engineering and I’m sure staggering experience for those participating and spectating! Love the historical content, gonna go find some Can-Am content to watch.

I grew up at Watkins Glen and my father was the track "Doc"....You tell the best stories of Can Am and and F1.....It's a shame they couldn't keep it going...Now it's a NACAR track. Ahhhh the good old days !!!

Got to see Can-Am at Riverside in '70, 71 & 72. The sound of the Porsche Flat-12 was like nothing else. Fun & crazy times.

AMAZING video could watch this 100 times and it wouldn't get old. Thank you so much for doing this. My 12 year old son who was a go kart racing champion on asphalt and dirt and I in 2016 were blessed to be a part of Jim Bartel's Can-Am Shadow Team at Road Americas 50th Year Can-Am reunion also in 2020 Road America for the Shadow 50th year reunion. He flew us up from Florida. We were given the honor and privilege to pick up George Follmer and his beautiful girlfriend Bobbi at Milwaukee airport and take them back to our beautiful resort hotel and also take them to and from the track all week. My son was 19 then and also shared the driving duties. I promised myself I wouldn't hound George with my couple of million questions and after spending some time with him forgot I was with a great racing champion but just a very cool couple that was so fun to hang around with and have several dinners and lunches. Unfortunately the attendance was pretty low because of the Covid 19 but was a little racing and the most incredible thing was when Jim Bartel asked George if he'd mind running some parade laps in the Shadow DN4 1-A chassis which ironically wasn't the one he ran in 1974 but was the same chassis Jackie Oliver won the 1974 Championship in. Jackie was planned on being there but due to Covid couldn't leave his country. So many other cars were being stalled and restarted because the drivers were having difficulties but George think was around 84 years old maybe a few years older I forget but he climbed right in that Shadow and fired it up and ran right out like he did in 1974 we were all amazed at how well he drove that car without one stall. He got out after the parade lap and said he hadn't been in one of them I think he said 25 years. He took my son aside and talked to him about racing and gave him so much advice on what to do to pursue his career. Just an amazing man all around not just a great driver. We all drove to the airport after a week of such fun and got to hang out another hour and it was like saying good bye to family members, we actually cried saying good-bye to them. Thank you again for the video, I will of course subscribe and like and hope my comment wasn't too terribly long I could have gone on for hours with the things we did and the laughter we had . Wanted to also say and I'm sure you probably already know, Mr Penske took the Cam 2 917-30 to Daytona to run it but severe over heating think blew an engine or hurt it badly and that's what prompted them to install the inter coolers for the Talladega try. Danny and Jude Stephen

Excellent history lesson though. Enjoyed the part of the video where John expresses his enthusiasm for the subject.

Amazing video John! Loved every minute of it. Those were the days......

I've heard the woosh at Monterey. It sounded like a giant vacuum cleaner, and that thing was very well glued to the track with plenty of tire. - That was a fantastic presentation with lots of juicy details all in one place.

Enjoyed your video ❤ I attended the 71,72 & 73 Can-Am @ Mosport. The most exciting races & cars I ever had the immense pleasure to watch !

JF, you are a great story teller. You should write screen plays around racers/races!

I think Jack Brabham is worthy of consideration when it comes to greatest racer/engineers. World Champion in a car he (and Ron Turanac) designed, built, developed and raced.

I watch mostly car oriented RU-vid, and you’re probably THE most engaging storyteller, but 25 minutes is about my upper limit. There are many reasons why that is, but it is

Love your videos - keep them going!

Awesome video. Don’t change a thing. Nobody is really telling these classic racing stories.

Absolutely brilliant Motorsport storytelling! Thanks so much 👍 Would be awesome to hear about the 80s-90s GTP racing some time. Cheers 🍻

Awesome, Awesome, Awesome historical race car video. Absolutely, the coolest I've seen yet. Thanks for creating it.

I wish I had seen this before I saw the 917-30 at Rennsport 2023! The background is fascinating. Great job.

Outstanding story telling! Everyone I've seen are but this one has a personal connection. I grew up in Wisconsin and went to the June Sprints and TransAm/CanAm at Road America every year in the 60's and 70's. So year after year the CanAm cars mostly were big thumping V8's and Mclaren dominating, but the excitement/anticipation ratcheted way up when Penske Porsche was coming. We were not dissapointed! Saturday morning was CanAm practice and we always sat in Turn 1 which comes after a long straightaway. We were accustomed to rate of acceleration (and sound) of the V8's so the sound of that boosted flat 12 was remarkable but it was discernably quicker coming towards 1 and braked later and then exploded going out of the turn. The whole crowd around us (and my dad and uncle) reacted with "whoa's & ooh's and there is a new king in town!". Its been 50 years but I remember it like it was yesterday. Amazing racecar. The only comparable car in that regard is the 1967 STP turbine car.

Growing up in the 80's and 90's I was fascinated with Can-Am cars. I had so many toy car examples of famous cars. The Hess gas stations would sell a Hess Truck toy every year and I always got one and I loved my hauler with a Can-Am car on the back.

John, you're the best! Always enjoy your stories!

They also had to have a space for an “FIA suitcase”. And I am not certain that 4 wheels were required in the spec. Really enjoyed this series.

These were some of the most badass looking racers ever! I had the toy cars from it and all. Great video JF!

John, Please continue this series. I really enjoy your Presentations - Thank you!

Great video, really enjoyed all the details! It was a fascinating story with some great visuals! Retro racing video from Mid-Ohio was great, wish it had racing sounds if available. The funky music was period correct, I would say.

I was absolutely crazy about the CAN AM series...I was racing Mid Ohio on weekend the CAM AM cars were running...It was the wild west back then...The joke in the pits was if you were to set your beer on the pit wall two laps of those cars would knock the carbonation out of the brew making an unpalatable flat beverage that we poured out on the tarmac!...True and accurate story...Great and very memorable times...

What an enjoyable video and story. I had Porsches in the late 60’s into the 70’s and was a big fan of the racing Porsches in endurance and CANAM series. I was at the Road Atlanta race and watch Folmer blow out the McLarens. Including saw first hand when Denny Hume’s car nose lifted in the straightaway and flipped backwards. Thank you for the great details.

Well done as usual. Cool to hear the history of the cars/people that I admired when I was a kid.

Wow! I am blown away! I was at Elkhart Lake yesterday with kids for the historic races with these cars! They are incredible at speed running the course. Ironically I also work for SC Johnson Wax who sponsored the series and I didn’t even know it…. Please more content like this. There is nothing like the drama of real sports!

long but great. no problem with this longer format when such a story is told!

Saw a couple of CanAm races at The Glen back in the early 70’s. Including the infamous Shadow Grudge Race between George Follmer and Jackie Oliver. Such power and speed 🏁

Thanks John, great as always and the Mid Ohio was the icing on the cake.