Sean Malone
09-20-07, 04:11 PM
I ran across this in my innerweb perusing. I think it's interesting to see how and where old junk shows up.
In 1989 Shelby tried to bring back the Can-Am series, using the 3.3L V6 (not yet offered to the general public) as the powerplant in a special racing configuration making 255 HP. This was the same year that the Viper concept was showed to the public.
http://www.skywayweb.com/can-am.jpg
Originally the plan was to produce two versions of this race car, a 255 hp version and a ~500 hp model, the 255 hp version being the entry circuit. The cars were designed to be a cheap way for more people to enter auto racing. Since all the cars were identical, the winners were to be the people with the best talent, not the team with the biggest pockets. The engines had Shelby seals on them and could only be repaired by Shelby's shop, ensuring that all the engines are mechanically identical.
...
The circuit did not catch on for a combination of reasons. First, the car arrived in a pallet in pieces for about $35,000 (US). From there the car had to be put together and kept up, which was cost prohibitive for a lot of people due to the amount of man hours involved. This cost was not that unreasonable when compared to the cost of racing in any number of other racing circuits; cost alone did not doom the Can-Ams. Lack of a fan base or sponsors, and having only 76 cars in the circuit all hurt the circuit's ability to thrive. Lack of media coverage also helped do the circuit in.
...
The engine itself was not that far from a standard-production 3.3. The Shelby engine is only making about 50 hp more than the newest 3.3 factory engines from Chrysler. The Can-Am engine has a special Shelby Dodge upper intake manifold, a special Shelby Dodge throttle body, and a special version of the Mopar 3.3 PCM (which had this engine redlining at 6800 rpm).
Some aspects of the Shelby engine were later used in standard-production 3.3s. An example of this is the complex DIS ignition system used by the Shelby 3.3, which was later toned down for use in normal 3.3s. The Shelby DIS, like the current Chrysler version, uses 3 timing signals, one for each pair of cylinders. Unlike a normal 3.3, however, this computer system could fine tune the timing retard for each pair of cylinders individually. Thus a Shelby 3.3 could retard the timing for one pair of cylinders and not the others, where as a normal 3.3 will use the knock detector to change all 3 timing signals at the same time.
...
After the circuit dried up in the mid to late 1990s, 29 of these cars (complete) and much of the few remaining spare parts went down to South Africa to start a circuit down there - Vodacom Sports Prototypes (VSPs). This circuit more recently stripped these cars of their body and engines, and now uses a new South African-made body and the Nissan 3.5L V6 engine.
A couple of years ago, a guy emailed me saying he had about 20 complete unrestored (used) Can-Am Shelby-Dodge 3.3 engines for sale, some various Can-Am body and brake parts, etc. I was not sure if it was legitimate (it sounded almost too good) so I passed up the offer. Sadly I have recently found out about the circuit no longer using the Dodge engines (which are over a decade old by now and starting to get tired from racing use) and thus I believe the guy was for real while looking back at it. He did email me a picture (seen below) of a room full of his engines for sale. This suggests that the engines are still in existance, just sold to various collectors and car fans all over the world (most, it seems likely, in South Africa).
http://www.skywayweb.com/roomful.jpg
Link to full story (http://www.allpar.com/racing/shelby-dodge-canam.html)
In 1989 Shelby tried to bring back the Can-Am series, using the 3.3L V6 (not yet offered to the general public) as the powerplant in a special racing configuration making 255 HP. This was the same year that the Viper concept was showed to the public.
http://www.skywayweb.com/can-am.jpg
Originally the plan was to produce two versions of this race car, a 255 hp version and a ~500 hp model, the 255 hp version being the entry circuit. The cars were designed to be a cheap way for more people to enter auto racing. Since all the cars were identical, the winners were to be the people with the best talent, not the team with the biggest pockets. The engines had Shelby seals on them and could only be repaired by Shelby's shop, ensuring that all the engines are mechanically identical.
...
The circuit did not catch on for a combination of reasons. First, the car arrived in a pallet in pieces for about $35,000 (US). From there the car had to be put together and kept up, which was cost prohibitive for a lot of people due to the amount of man hours involved. This cost was not that unreasonable when compared to the cost of racing in any number of other racing circuits; cost alone did not doom the Can-Ams. Lack of a fan base or sponsors, and having only 76 cars in the circuit all hurt the circuit's ability to thrive. Lack of media coverage also helped do the circuit in.
...
The engine itself was not that far from a standard-production 3.3. The Shelby engine is only making about 50 hp more than the newest 3.3 factory engines from Chrysler. The Can-Am engine has a special Shelby Dodge upper intake manifold, a special Shelby Dodge throttle body, and a special version of the Mopar 3.3 PCM (which had this engine redlining at 6800 rpm).
Some aspects of the Shelby engine were later used in standard-production 3.3s. An example of this is the complex DIS ignition system used by the Shelby 3.3, which was later toned down for use in normal 3.3s. The Shelby DIS, like the current Chrysler version, uses 3 timing signals, one for each pair of cylinders. Unlike a normal 3.3, however, this computer system could fine tune the timing retard for each pair of cylinders individually. Thus a Shelby 3.3 could retard the timing for one pair of cylinders and not the others, where as a normal 3.3 will use the knock detector to change all 3 timing signals at the same time.
...
After the circuit dried up in the mid to late 1990s, 29 of these cars (complete) and much of the few remaining spare parts went down to South Africa to start a circuit down there - Vodacom Sports Prototypes (VSPs). This circuit more recently stripped these cars of their body and engines, and now uses a new South African-made body and the Nissan 3.5L V6 engine.
A couple of years ago, a guy emailed me saying he had about 20 complete unrestored (used) Can-Am Shelby-Dodge 3.3 engines for sale, some various Can-Am body and brake parts, etc. I was not sure if it was legitimate (it sounded almost too good) so I passed up the offer. Sadly I have recently found out about the circuit no longer using the Dodge engines (which are over a decade old by now and starting to get tired from racing use) and thus I believe the guy was for real while looking back at it. He did email me a picture (seen below) of a room full of his engines for sale. This suggests that the engines are still in existance, just sold to various collectors and car fans all over the world (most, it seems likely, in South Africa).
http://www.skywayweb.com/roomful.jpg
Link to full story (http://www.allpar.com/racing/shelby-dodge-canam.html)