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Chaparral Cars was a United States Automotive company which built cars in the 1960s . Chaparral was founded by Jim Hall , a Texas oil magnate with an impressive combination of skills in engineering and race car driving. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Chaparral's distinctive race cars experienced strong success in both American and European racing circuits. Despite winning the Indy 500 in 1980 , the Chaparrals left motor racing in 1982 . Chaparral cars also featured in the SCCA / CASC CanAm series in FIA Group 7.

Chaparral was the first GT builder to use aerodynamic aids, introducing a moving wing (controlled by a foot pedal) in the 2C.

The most famous Chaparral was the 2J. In addition to a powerful 700hp engine, the back of the 2J housed two large 17-inch fans driven by a 45hp snowmobile engine. The purpose of the fans was to 'suck' air from under the car and propel it out the back. This gave the car tremendous gripping power and enabled greater maneuverability at all speeds, which cannot be achieved by simpler aerodynamic devices such as diffusers and wings. Since it 'sucked' a fixed amount of air out from under the car at all speeds, downforce did not decrease at lower speeds. With other aerodynamic devices, downforce decreases as the car slows down or achieves too much of a slip angle, both of which were not problems for the 'sucker car'. It also had Ground Effect skirts to keep air from leaking out, a technology that would appear in Formula One several years later. The 2J ran for only one racing season in 1970 as its technology was quickly outlawed by the FIA .