The recreation of Peter Bryant’s Ti22 MkII Can-Am car will make its public debut at next month’s Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, during the April 7 Historic Motor Sports Association Can Am Challenge race. The original Peter Bryant-designed car was successfully raced in the Can Am by Jackie Oliver (above, Pete Biro photo courtesy of Bob Lee), and was one of the few cars capable of competing head to head with the dominant McLarens. It was destroyed in a crash during an SCCA race at Riverside in 1973. The new car is an exact “nut and bolt” recreation of the original car, built from original drawings and incorporating some original era parts and accurate reproductions.
The Ti 22 MkII will join 19 other Can-Am cars for their first appearance in Long Beach, the first time the unlimited era Can-Am cars will have raced on a street circuit. At Long Beach the MkII will be driven by Ilja Burkoff, an experienced historic racer and the lead fabricator for the Ti 22 MkII Project.
Peter Bryant’s 1969 Ti 22 MkI and 1970 Ti 22 MkII were the first road race cars to make extensive use of Titanium instead of steel in their construction, and featured innovative aerodynamic bodywork. Both cars briefly challenged McLaren in the Can-Am race series. The original 1966-1974 Can-Am was the greatest sports car racing in the world featuring unlimited horsepower and few rules, making 1970 Can-Am cars the world’s fastest road racing cars, faster even than F1.
The rights to the Ti 22 MKII were purchased by Bob Lee in 2013, along with most of the original design documents. For the past four years Lee and Burkoff have been busy with the recreation. “The task was challenging as we rebuilt the car from incomplete drawings and photos,” commented owner Lee. “The team had to learn how to machine, weld and hot-form Titanium building the parts needed for this production.”
Now the project ids finished and its track debut at Long Beach is an experience not to be missed.
