Editing Chris Amon (section)

==Racing career==
{{refimprove section|date=August 2016}}

===1960s===

====1963====
For the [[1963 Formula One season]] the Parnell team were using the year old [[Lola Cars|Lola]] [[Lola Mk4|Mk4A]], powered by 1962 specification [[Coventry Climax|Climax]] [[V8 engine]]s. Amon was teamed with the very experienced [[Maurice Trintignant]] for the first race of the season at [[1963 Monaco Grand Prix|Monaco]] and his Grand Prix career started with what was to become typical bad luck: Trintignant's Climax developed a misfire, so he took over Amon's car.

At the [[1963 Belgian Grand Prix]], Amon was partnered by [[Lucien Bianchi]] and started ahead of him from 15th position. After nine laps, however, an oil fire ended his race. He continued to experience mechanical problems at the [[1963 Dutch Grand Prix|Dutch]], [[1963 Mexican Grand Prix|Mexican]] and [[1963 German Grand Prix|German]] Grands Prix; and after an accident in practice for the [[1963 Italian Grand Prix|Italian Grand Prix]] left him hanging out of his car's cockpit with three broken ribs, he missed both the Italian and [[1963 United States Grand Prix|United States]] rounds.

Amon usually qualified in the midfield and generally outpaced his teammates, who included his good friend [[Mike Hailwood]]. His best results of the year were seventh at the [[1963 French Grand Prix|French]] and [[1963 British Grand Prix|British]] Grands Prix. During this time, however, Amon's social life was attracting as much attention as his driving. He was a member of the Ditton Road Flyers, the social set named after the road in London where Amon shared an apartment with American [[Peter Revson]], Hailwood and [[Tony Maggs]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/april-2014/98/all-work-no-playboy|title=All work no playboy|date=2014-10-09|access-date=2016-08-03}}</ref>

Parnell was nonetheless impressed with Amon's results in what was regarded as less-than-competitive machinery and promoted him to team leader. Parnell died from [[peritonitis]] in January 1964 and his son [[Tim Parnell|Tim]] took over the team.

====1964====
In a series of four pre-season races in Britain and Italy, Amon recorded three fifth places at [[Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit|Snetterton]], [[Silverstone Circuit|Silverstone]] and [[1964 Syracuse Grand Prix|Syracuse]]. He failed to qualify for the first F1 race of the season, the [[1964 Monaco Grand Prix|Monaco GP]], but at the next race, the [[1964 Dutch Grand Prix|Dutch GP]], he scored his first World Championship points. The rest of his season, however, was blighted by mechanical problems.

====1965====
Parnell was offered [[BRM]] engines for 1965, but only if it ran [[Richard Attwood]] as its regular driver. Reluctantly, Parnell agreed and Attwood took Amon's place. Spotting an opportunity, Bruce McLaren quickly signed Amon for his new [[McLaren]] team, but when no second McLaren F1 car materialised, Amon could only drive in sports car races.

At the [[1965 French Grand Prix|French GP]] Amon rejoined Parnell to stand in for an injured Attwood. Amon also competed in a Formula Two race in Stuttgart and won.<ref>{{cite news|title=Chris Amon Takes Formula Two Race|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0ZMtAAAAIBAJ&pg=7258,3417210&dq=chris+amon&hl=en|newspaper=The Montreal Gazette|date=19 July 1965|page=24}}</ref> He returned to Germany for the [[1965 German Grand Prix|German GP]] as second Parnell driver, but mechanical failure again forced an early retirement. His last drive before Attwood's return, a non-championship race in [[Autodromo di Pergusa|Enna]], [[Sicily]], also ended in retirement.

====1966====
During 1966 Amon continued to race for McLaren in [[Can-Am]]. He was intended to drive the second McLaren M2B but difficulties with engine supply meant that the team never made the intended expansion to two cars. ([[James Garner]]'s character Pete Aron's helmet and car livery in the film ''[[Grand Prix (1966 film)|Grand Prix]]'' were modelled on Amon driving a McLaren, which caused the movie makers to have to encourage other cars to be painted in the 'Yamura' colours and other drivers (Bruce McLaren included) to wear Amon-style helmets.)

However, an opportunity arose to drive for the [[Cooper Car Company|Cooper]] F1 team after [[Richie Ginther]] left them for [[Honda Racing F1|Honda]]. Amon drove for Cooper at the [[1966 French Grand Prix|French GP]] and was scheduled to drive for them for the rest of the season, until the more successful [[John Surtees]] left [[Scuderia Ferrari]] to join Cooper and Amon found himself dropped.

Amon made one other F1 appearance during the year, driving a Brabham BT11 powered by an old 2-litre BRM engine at the [[1966 Italian Grand Prix|Italian GP]] under the banner of "Chris Amon Racing". He failed to qualify.

Amon did however, score his biggest success to date when he partnered Bruce McLaren in a 7-litre [[Ford GT40]] Mark II and [[Ken Miles]] to Ford's dead-heat "photo-finish" after Miles was instructed to slow down despite leading at the [[1966 24 Hours of Le Mans|Le Mans 24-hour race]],<ref>{{cite news|title=New Zealanders Win Wild-Finish LeMans|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6sRYAAAAIBAJ&pg=3014,1737396&dq=chris+amon&hl=en|newspaper=The Spokesman-Review|date=20 June 1966|page=7}}</ref> spearheading a formation finish.<ref name=gp /> He subsequently received an invitation to meet [[Enzo Ferrari]] at the Ferrari home in [[Maranello]], where he signed to race for Ferrari in 1967 alongside [[Lorenzo Bandini]], [[Mike Parkes]] and [[Ludovico Scarfiotti]].<ref name=":1" />

====1967====
Amon's first year with Ferrari did not begin auspiciously. En route to [[Brands Hatch]] for the pre-season Formula One [[1967 Race of Champions|Race of Champions]], he crashed his road car and, following race practice, had to withdraw. Tragedy then struck the Ferrari team when Bandini died following a crash during the [[1967 Monaco Grand Prix]], [[Mike Parkes]] broke both his legs at the [[1967 Belgian Grand Prix|Belgian Grand Prix]] and, in the aftermath, [[Ludovico Scarfiotti]] went into temporary retirement. Amon, therefore, became Ferrari's only driver for the rest of the season, until joined by [[Jonathan Williams (racing driver)|Jonathan Williams]] for the final race in [[1967 Mexican Grand Prix|Mexico]]. Amon scored his first podium in his first official outing for the Scuderia in Monaco and at the end of 1967 had achieved four third places finishing fifth in the Drivers' Championship, in what was going to be the most successful season of his career.

Amon's Ferrari contract also included sports car racing and he began 1967 by winning the [[24 Hours of Daytona|Daytona 24 Hours]]<ref>{{cite news|title=Ferraris Roar To 1–2–3 Sweep|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5w5ZAAAAIBAJ&pg=4857,3540454&dq=chris+amon&hl=en|newspaper=The St. Petersburg Times|date=6 February 1967}}</ref> and [[1000km Monza]] events with Bandini in the 4-litre [[Ferrari 330-P4]].<ref name=":1" /> He finished the year partnering [[Jackie Stewart]] to a second place at the [[1000 km Brands Hatch|BOAC 500]], thereby clinching the manufacturer's world championship for Ferrari by one point over [[Porsche in motorsport|Porsche]].

====1968====
[[File:Grand Prix 68 Zandvoort .Chris Amon (Ferrari), Bestanddeelnr 921-4611.jpg|thumb|Amon driving for Ferrari in the 1968 Dutch Grand Prix]]
1968 was the year [[aerodynamics]] first played a significant role in F1 car design and Amon worked with engineer [[Mauro Forghieri]] to place [[aerofoil]]s on the [[Ferrari 312]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Roebuck|first1=Nigel|author-link=Nigel Roebuck|title=Legends|website=[[Motor Sport (magazine)|Motor Sport]] magazine archive|date=October 1998|page=18|url=http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/october-1998/18/legends|access-date=9 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809222259/http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/october-1998/18/legends|archive-date=9 August 2016}}</ref>

In January 1968 Amon had returned home to New Zealand and Australia to compete in the [[1968 Tasman Series]] which was used by many of the top Formula One drivers as a warm up series to the World Championship. For the 1968 series Ferrari decided to use the 2.4 engines with a new [[Dino 166 F2]] chassis rather than a downsized 3-litre V12. Using the 246T Amon won the first two rounds of the Tasman Series, including the [[1968 New Zealand Grand Prix]], before narrowly losing the series to the [[Lotus 49|Lotus]]-[[Cosworth DFV|Ford]] of [[Jim Clark]]. The [[Dino 246 Tasmania]] was better handling than Clark's Lotus 49T which was still wingless and a difficult proposition. Impressed by Amon's driving in the NZ rounds, Ferrari dispatched a new four-valve version of the 2.4 V6 for the Australian rounds and this gave another 15&nbsp;hp,<ref>E. Young. ''Forza Amon''. Harper Collins NZ, Auckland (2003) p209-10</ref> but with lesser reliability which, combined with the fact Clark was the best driver in the world at the time, cost Amon the series, although in the final round at Sandown Park he duelled wheel to wheel with Clark before being pipped at the line.<ref>E. Young. ''Forza Amon'' (2003) p205-10 & M. Hughes. Remembering Chris Among
,Motorsport 3-8-2016</ref>

After the first race of the F1 season in [[1968 South African Grand Prix|South Africa]], Amon achieved [[pole position]]s in three of the following four races (at the [[1968 Spanish Grand Prix|Spanish]], [[1968 Belgian Grand Prix|Belgian]] and [[1968 Dutch Grand Prix|Dutch]] Grands Prix) but ever-present mechanical problems meant he secured only a single Championship point from them. Throughout the rest of the season he never qualified lower than fifth place and nearly scored victories at the [[1968 British Grand Prix|British]] and [[1968 Canadian Grand Prix|Canadian]] rounds and he suffered a 100&nbsp;mph crash in [[1968 Italian Grand Prix|Italy]] which demolished his car.<ref>{{cite news|title=Amon continues Circuit mastery|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9aUtAAAAIBAJ&pg=5581,4757414&dq=chris+amon&hl=en|newspaper=The Montreal Gazette|date=21 September 1968|page=27}}</ref> In Britain, he duelled to the line with [[Jo Siffert]]'s [[Lotus 49|Lotus 49B]] and in Canada he dominated the race despite a malfunctioning [[clutch]]. Seventeen laps from the finish, however, his car's [[transmission (mechanics)|transmission]] failed and a distraught Amon had to be consoled by [[Jacky Ickx]]. From at least ten promising starts that season he was only able to finish five races and score ten Championship points. His best finish was second place to Siffert's Lotus-Cosworth at the [[1968 British Grand Prix|British Grand Prix]].

Outside F1, Amon was runner-up in the [[Formula Two]] race at [[Zolder]], Belgium, testing the [[Dino 166 F2]]. He also came third in that year's [[BRDC International Trophy]].

====1969====
[[File:Amon, Ferrari 312P - 969-06-01.jpg|thumb|Amon in the 3.0L Ferrari 312P during the 1969 Nürburgring 1000 km.]]
Amon began 1969 with success driving the Dino engined [[Dino 246 Tasmania|246 Tasmania]] in the [[1969 Tasman Series|Tasman Series]] that included winning both the [[1969 New Zealand Grand Prix|New Zealand]] and [[1969 Australian Grand Prix|Australian]] Grands Prix.<ref>{{cite news|title=Chris Amon N.Z. Prix|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=iLZWAAAAIBAJ&pg=7045,1027915&dq=chris+amon&hl=en|newspaper=The Spokesman-Review|date=3 February 1969|page=12}}</ref> In straight fights, he beat new Gold Leaf Lotus team leader, Jochen Rindt, into second in the races at Pukekohe and Sandown.<ref>E. Young. ''Forza Amon''. Harper (2003) p225-7 & M. Hughes. "Remembering Chris Amon". ''[[Motor Sport (magazine)|Motor Sport]]'' 3-8-2016.</ref> He would ultimately win the seven race Tasman Series, probably the best of the seven-year 2.5-litre international formula series in this country and the nearest to World Championship level racing in New Zealand, with ferocious competition between Rindt, Graham Hill, Amon and Williams driver [[Piers Courage]]. It was actually much more serious racing than the McLaren dominated Can-Am series in the US in which the big sports cars required few gear changes and were essentially cruised to victory with little real competition, where the Tasman cars were essentially marginally lower power F1 cars, as difficult to drive as GP cars on unforgiving very dangerous narrow tracks.  Amon finished with four wins, two-thirds and one retirement, but in Formula One his poor luck continued. Despite six starts from top-six positions, he was only able to achieve a third-place at the [[1969 Dutch Grand Prix|Dutch GP]]. The ageing 312 was still quick at the start of the season and after the Lotus 49Bs of Rindt and Graham Hill crashed spectacularly after high wing failure in the opening laps at Barcelona, Amon dominated the Spanish GP until the almost inevitable engine breakage on lap 56, 40 seconds ahead of Stewart's Matra. At Monaco Amon ran second to Stewart for the first 17 laps losing a second a lap to Stewart,  but still gaining a second a lap on the third placed G. Hill who survived the race of attrition to win. Ferrari's F1 [[List of Ferrari engines#V12|V12 engine]] was too unreliable and although its replacement had proven very fast in testing, it had suffered many mechanical breakages. Amon had no reason to believe it would be any more dependable than the V12, so although the new engine was clearly more powerful, he decided to leave Ferrari for a [[Cosworth DFV]] powered team. He was more influenced by views of Jackie Stewart and Jochen Rindt, who believed it was essential to be Ford DFV-powered to be competitive.

In addition to Formula One, Amon also drove for Ferrari in the [[1969 International Championship for Makes]], partnering [[Pedro Rodríguez (racing driver)|Pedro Rodriguez]] to a fourth place in the BOAC 500 at Brands Hatch and coming second at the [[12 Hours of Sebring]], but retiring from the [[1000km Nürburgring]] and [[1000km Monza]] races, all in the [[Ferrari 312P]] sportscar. He also drove in a few Can-Am races. His last race for Ferrari would be the 1970 1000&nbsp;km Monza, where he finished as runner-up.

===1970s===

====1970====
For the [[1970 Formula One season]], Amon made what was to be the first of several moves to smaller, newer teams. [[March Engineering]] had been formed the previous year to build custom [[chassis]] for Formulas 2 and [[Formula 3|3]], but quickly moved into F1, designing and building the March 701. Amon and Siffert were signed as drivers,<ref name=":1" /> with [[United States Automobile Club|IndyCar]] driver Mario Andretti making an occasional appearance in a third car. March also sold their 701 chassis to [[Tyrrell Racing|Tyrrell]], where Jackie Stewart drove it to its first victory in that year's [[1970 Spanish Grand Prix|Spanish GP]]. <!--Source please: Although [[Max Mosley]], the 'M' in March's name, had wanted [[Jochen Rindt]] rather than Amon as a driver, Amon was led to believe that he was the 'A' in the team's name.?-->

Amon won the pre-season [[1970 BRDC International Trophy|Silverstone International Trophy]], but once the F1 season began he found himself prevented from converting good qualifying positions into good results. He qualified second behind Stewart's Tyrrell-March for the season-opening [[1970 South African Grand Prix|South African Grand Prix]] only for his own March to overheat within fourteen laps. Amon then qualified sixth for the [[1970 Spanish Grand Prix|Spanish Grand Prix]] only for his March's [[Ford-Cosworth DFV]] engine to expire within ten laps. He qualified and ran second in the [[1970 Monaco Grand Prix]] until his suspension failed twenty laps from the finish. This was the race where Amon refused to drive unless his entry number was changed from 18 – the number under which his then teammate Lorenzo Bandini had crashed and died in Monaco – to 28.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}}

Amon's close second place from a third-place start at the [[1970 Belgian Grand Prix]] finally gave the March works team their first points finish. At that race, Amon set fastest lap at over 152 miles per hour, a lap record which still stands as of 2016, as it was the last race on the full-length [[Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps|Spa-Francorchamps]] circuit.<ref>{{cite web|last=Taylor|first=Simon|author-link=Simon Taylor (journalist)|title= Lunch with... Chris Amon|url=http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/june-2008/62/lunch-chris-amon|website= [[Motor Sport (magazine)|Motor Sport]] magazine archive|date=June 2008|page=62|access-date=27 August 2016}}</ref> However, after qualifying fourth for the next race, the [[1970 Dutch Grand Prix|Dutch Grand Prix]], his car's clutch broke after just one lap. Amon duplicated his Belgian result at the [[1970 French Grand Prix]],.<ref>{{cite news|title=Rindt wins French Grand Prix, tops world standing|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=KIwyAAAAIBAJ&pg=918,1281669&dq=chris+amon&hl=en|newspaper=The Montreal Gazette|date=5 June 1970|page=15}}</ref> After a disappointing performance in the [[1970 British Grand Prix|British GP]] at [[Brands Hatch]] where Amon finished fifth after being outqualified by tyro Ronnie Peterson in a private 701 on the same tyres, conflict with team boss Max Mosley over the non-delivery of three-quarters of Amon's expected pay for the season saw him provided with inferior DFVs and two backmarker 7th places in [[1970 Austrian Grand Prix|Austria]] and [[1970 Italian Grand Prix|Italy]], Amon finished the season strongly with strong drives to third at [[1970 Canadian Grand Prix|Mosport]], fifth at [[1970 United States Grand Prix|Watkins Glen]] and fourth in [[1970 Mexican Grand Prix|Mexico]]. At Watkins Glen in the USGP he was robbed of a probably certain victory, in the opinion of March designer Robin Herd, by a puncture.<ref>T. Simon. ''A Chequered Year'' (1971)</ref>

By the end of the year, disagreements with March co-founders Mosley and [[Robin Herd]] meant that Amon had decided to move to another relatively new team, [[Equipe Matra Sports|Matra]].

====1971====
[[File:Chris Amon, Bestanddeelnr 924-6566.jpg|thumb|right|Amon at the [[1970 Dutch Grand Prix]]]]
[[File:Matra MS120-02.jpg|thumb|right|Chris Amon's [[Matra MS120]] racing car, used in the [[1971 Argentine Grand Prix]]]]
In 1971, Amon, now driving for the Matra factory team, once again scored a pre-season victory, this time at the [[1971 Argentine Grand Prix|Argentine Grand Prix]]. Once the Formula One season had begun, he managed to convert a third-place start at the [[1971 Spanish Grand Prix|Spanish GP]] into a third-place podium finish and scored a couple of fifth places in the [[1971 South African Grand Prix|South African]] and [[1971 French Grand Prix|French]] GPs. Apart from these results, however, his run of poor F1 returns continued. He had a major accident at the Nürburgring and it sidelined him for the next race at the [[Red Bull Ring|Österreichring]]. At the [[1971 Italian Grand Prix|Italian GP]] he qualified in pole position and despite a poor start to the race looked as if he would capitalise on it – until the [[visor]] on his [[helmet]] became detached. Amon had to slow to avoid risking a major accident, thereby allowing other drivers to catch and overtake him. He finished the race in sixth place, scoring just one Championship point.

During the year Amon also competed in the non-championship [[Questor Grand Prix]] at the new [[Ontario Motor Speedway]], where he qualified second and, despite suffering a puncture during the race, managed to finish fourth.

In the Tasman Series Amon started from fourth at the Levin Circuit and in the race, he battled with [[David Oxton]] and [[John Cannon (racing driver)|John Cannon]] but managed to finish third. Amon's third race at Wigram Airfield starting fifth and spun at the start to drop him to the back of the field but managed to climb up to fifth.<ref>{{cite book |title=Formula 5000 in New Zealand & Australia: Race by Race |first=Wolfgang |last=Klopfer |publisher=Books on Demand GmbH |year=2005 |isbn=3833431016 |pages=42–53 }}</ref>

====1972====
In the [[1972 Formula One season]], Amon, again driving for Matra achieved a handful of points-scoring finishes, but only one podium appearance, at the [[1972 French Grand Prix|French GP]]. Here he achieved the fifth and final pole position of his career and was leading the race until a puncture forced him to [[Pit stop|pit]]. However, he climbed back through the field, breaking [[Charade Circuit|the circuit]]'s lap record to finish third.

With the money he had made from motorsport, Amon decided to set up a racing engine firm with former BRM engineer Aubrey Woods. Amon Racing Engines supplied Formula 2 engines to a few drivers, but the company quickly became too expensive to run and was sold to March for a loss.

Matra decided to end their participation in Formula One at the end of 1972, so Amon found himself looking to return to March as a driver. The place, however, was given to [[Jean-Pierre Jarier]], purportedly for financial reasons.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}} Amon therefore signed for another recently formed F1 team, [[Tecno (motorsport)|Tecno]].

====1973====
Tecno had entered F1 the previous year, having developed a potentially powerful Flat 12 for F1. But their first year in F1 proved to be dismal so they jumped at the chance to sign Amon for the new season.<ref>E. Young. Forza Amon. A biography of Chris Amon. Harper Collins (2003) Auckland, p. 164-6.</ref> The testing of a new chassis designed by former Lotus and McLaren mechanic Allan McCall proved to be time-consuming. After its non-appearance for the Spanish GP, Amon and Tecno team manager David Yorke met with Enzo Ferrari to see if Amon could be released from his contract to develop the new Ferrari B3 for Ickx and Mezarrio, in a supposedly one off GP drive<ref>Young. Forza Amon, p169</ref> at Monaco. Yorke rejected the release, and Amon admits he would not have left Ferrari if offered the drive for a season.

[[File:Amon, Chris - BMW 3,5 CSL (1973-07-08 Sp).jpg|thumb|250px|Chris Amon won the 1973 Nürburgring 6-hour race, sharing a works BMW 3.0 CSL with [[Hans-Joachim Stuck]]]]
Unfortunately, the team went from bad to worse and wasn't able to field the [[Tecno (motorsport)|Tecno]] PA123/6 until the fifth GP of the season, the [[1973 Belgian Grand Prix|Belgian GP]]. Amon managed to finish in sixth position. At Monaco the car qualified a useful 12th and chassis felt good<ref>M. Clark. Chris Amon. A Celebration of Kiwi Icon. Celebrity Publishing-McLaren Trust, p74</ref> but Chris was unhappy with the car. He decided to concentrate on a still in-development Tecno chassis built by unproven designer Gordon Fowell. This was against the view of the Techno team and Sponsors Martini Rossi who required the car and driver to appear at races<ref>E. Young. Forza Amon. Harper Collins. Auckland (2003)p170</ref> While Amon commented at the time that it was "the best chassis I've ever sat in", it too proved virtually undriveable. Amon refused to drive the McCall designed Techno in the Swedish or German Gps<ref>E Young. Forza Amon. Harper Collins, pp 171–175</ref> and withdrew from the Austrian GP after qualifying. By the time of the [[1973 Austrian Grand Prix|Austrian GP]], four races from the end of the season, Amon's patience had run out and he left the team. He would later claim that the months he spent with the team "felt like ten [seasons]".

Tyrrell offered Amon a third car – the 005 – in which to drive the last two races of the season. After a mediocre first outing at the [[1973 Canadian Grand Prix|Canadian GP]], he and Jackie Stewart withdrew from the final race of the year, the [[1973 United States Grand Prix|United States GP]], following the death of their teammate [[François Cevert]] during qualifying.

====1974====
[[File:ChrisAmonAF101.jpg|thumb|right|Chris Amon seated in the [[Amon AF101]] at the NZ Festival of Motor Racing 2011]]
For the [[1974 Formula One season|1974 F1 season]], Amon revived [[Amon (Formula One team)|Chris Amon Racing]]. Gordon Fowell designed the car, the [[Amon AF101|AF101]], which featured a single central fuel tank, titanium [[torsion bar]]s and a forward driving position. Structurally, however, it proved to be weak and was not ready for an F1 appearance until the fourth race of the season, the [[1974 Spanish Grand Prix|Spanish GP]]. Amon was only able to qualify 23rd, thanks to [[disc brake|brake-disc]] vibration that only became worse with the tyres for the wet race that followed. Despite cautious driving, a [[brake shaft]] finally broke and Amon was forced to retire after 22 laps.

Following further work and testing, Amon returned for the [[1974 Monaco Grand Prix|Monaco GP]] and qualified twentieth, but, thanks to mechanical problems, he was unable to start the race. Further problems and illness meant Amon was not able to reappear with the F101 until the [[1974 Italian Grand Prix|Italian GP]], three races from the end of the season, but this time he was unable to qualify. That sealed the fate of both the car and Chris Amon Racing, leaving Amon to drive the season's last two races with the faltering BRM team. He would later reveal that he had turned down a chance to join the Brabham team earlier in the season.

====1975====
Amon contested the [[1975 Tasman Series|1975 F5000 Tasman series]] against only Australasian drivers. He qualified on the front row of three of the four New Zealand rounds and scored a victory at [[Teretonga Park|Teretonga]] in January 1975 in rainy conditions by 24.2 seconds. In the Australian rounds, the competition was always harder with more good cars and the locals on their own tracks. Amon had a frustrating series of races unable to pass, South Australian [[Johnnie Walker (racing driver)|Johnnie Walker]], in a superior [[Lola T332]] chassis with [[Repco]]-engineered V8. At [[Surfers Paradise International Raceway|Surfers Paradise]], running from the back of the grid he managed to eventually pass Walker by widening the braking zone in the only corner where overtaking was usually possible. Amon brushed the edge of the track on repeated laps, got extra grip and passed Walker to take the lead. He had been forced to miss most of the practice session, when Customs seized his car's gearbox. In the race, the brilliant effort went for nothing as the Chev engine blew.<ref>{{cite book|last=Klopher|first=Wolfgang|title=Formula 5000 in New Zealand & Australia: Race by Race|year=2005|publisher=Books on Demand GmbH|pages=148–156|isbn=3833431016}}</ref> At [[Oran Park Raceway|Oran Park]] and [[Adelaide International Raceway|Adelaide]] he followed Walker the whole way to 4th and 3rd unable to pass. In the final deciding race for the Tasman Series with Brown, Walker and Lawrence still in contention, Walker lost his T332 on the first lap and it demolished on wooden barriers surrounding [[Sandown Raceway|Sandown's]] car and horse racing tracks. Amon was never in contention and finished 4th. Amon intended to compete in F5000 in both Europe and the US in 1975 but started in only one round of both series, managing a pole in one Shellsport round in the UK and a 4th place overall at the Long Beach GP in a two heat race. He used different Talon F5000 cars for both races. Apart from these successes, Amon's racing career seemed once again to have stalled. Yet the speed he showed in qualifying for a couple of UK F5000 races encouraged Mo Nunn of the small Ensign team to give him a race driving the Ensign N175. Amon managed 7th in the non-championship [[1975 Swiss Grand Prix|Swiss GP]] at [[Dijon-Prenois|Dijon]], which led to two more drives for the team, finishing 12th in both the Austrian and Italian GPs. At Monza after a long pit stop he finally ran at competitive pace, running 4 laps down but keeping pace with the leading [[Ferrari 312T]] of [[Niki Lauda]] for a number of laps. Progressive evaluation of the possibilities of what was slowing the N175 led Amon to change the airbox alignment on the day of the Italian GP and this resulted in a 2-second gain (much like the change in air cooler position that lost and gained two seconds on Hunt's [[McLaren M23]] resolved by the 1976 French GP). Ironically Amon never raced the N175 again and the high airboxes had been banned by the time [[Ensign N176|N176]] ran at Jarama the following year, but the flash of testing and driving genius was enough to give Amon another chance. Although the results were unremarkable, he and Nunn worked well together, so Amon joined Ensign for the [[1976 Formula One season|1976 F1 season]].

====1976====
[[File:1976 British GP Amon Ensign.jpg|thumb|Amon driving for [[Ensign Racing|Ensign]] at the [[1976 British Grand Prix]].]]
Ensign's first race of the season was the [[1976 South African Grand Prix|South African GP]] where Amon qualified 18th and showed a revival of form, climbing to seventh place, in the old Ensign N174 and contesting sixth with Mario Andretti in the Parnelli Ford, in the last laps before a last minute refueling stop left him 14th. Thereafter results began to improve, with Amon qualifying 17th and finishing eighth in the [[1976 United States Grand Prix West|USA West GP]]; qualifying tenth and finishing fifth in the [[1976 Spanish Grand Prix|Spanish GP]]; and then qualifying eighth for the [[1976 Belgian Grand Prix|Belgian GP]]. More points then seemed likely from the race until his car lost a wheel 19 laps from the finish and Amon was lucky to escape unhurt from the ensuing accident. He then achieved a third-place grid position start for the [[1976 Swedish Grand Prix|Swedish GP]] using a Nicholson rebuilt Cosworth for the first time and in the race looked as if he would join Tyrrell drivers [[Jody Scheckter]] and [[Patrick Depailler]] on the podium, until [[suspension (vehicle)|suspension]] failure threw him from the track after 38 laps.

Amon had again been lucky to escape serious injury and decided to miss the next race, the [[1976 French Grand Prix|French GP]]. He returned for the [[1976 British Grand Prix|British GP]], qualifying in sixth and running fourth in the race when his Ford-Cosworth DFV engine developed a water leak. Rather than risk losing an engine, his team called him in to retire.

At the [[1976 German Grand Prix|German GP]] problems dogged his attempts to qualify well, but it was [[Niki Lauda]]'s crash during the second lap of the race that had a far greater impact. Amon refused to restart the race and Nunn fired him from the team. Amon declared his retirement from the sport and returned to New Zealand.

<blockquote>"''I'd seen too many people fried in racing cars at that stage. When you've driven past [[Lorenzo Bandini|Bandini]], [[Jo Schlesser|Schlesser]], [[Piers Courage|Courage]] and [[Roger Williamson|Williamson]], another shunt like that was simply too much. It was a personal decision...''"<br/>
(Amon, on his retirement in 1976)<ref name="On the Hot Seat">{{cite web | url=http://nzherald.co.nz/on-the-hot-seat/news/article.cfm?c_id=1504054&objectid=11648808 | title=Motorsport: On the Hot Seat – Chris Amon | work=[[The New Zealand Herald]] | date=1 June 2016 | access-date=28 June 2016}}</ref></blockquote>However, [[Walter Wolf (industrialist)|Walter Wolf]] contacted Amon and persuaded him to drive for his [[Wolf–Williams Racing|Wolf–Williams]] team in the [[North America]]n races near the end of the season. After recording some promising times in preparation for the [[1976 Canadian Grand Prix|Canadian GP]], however, Amon was involved in a heavy collision with another car during qualifying and once again was lucky to walk away unharmed. He then did not take part in either the Canadian or [[1976 United States Grand Prix|United States]] Grands Prix.

====1977====
Amon turned down an offer of a full-time F1 drive for 1977, but did attempt a return to Can-Am racing in 1977 with a Wolf-Dallara WD1. However, after only one race he quit, saying "I'm just not enjoying this anymore". His place was taken by the young and then unknown Canadian [[Gilles Villeneuve]], whom Amon would, later that year, recommend to Enzo Ferrari.

In the meantime, Amon returned once again to New Zealand, this time to retire from F1 motor racing for good.

===2000s===

;2003
[[File:AmonWalkerTarga2003.jpg|thumb|right|Chris Amon and Murray Walker, Dunlop Targa NZ 2003]]
Amon came out of retirement for a one-off appearance in the 2003 [[Targa New Zealand|Dunlop Targa New Zealand]] with motorsport commentator [[Murray Walker]] as his navigator.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nzmotorsport.co.nz/content/newsarticle.cfm?id=952|title=Australian Wins NZ's Biggest Rally – Motorsport News for New Zealand|last=Designs|first=Thomas Nicholson|website=www.nzmotorsport.co.nz|access-date=2016-08-03|archive-date=28 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160828010415/http://www.nzmotorsport.co.nz/content/newsarticle.cfm?id=952|url-status=dead}}</ref> The pair completed the week-long Auckland to Wellington Tarmac Rally in a [[Toyota Camry|Toyota Camry Sportivo]], the same car previously used by Walker and [[Colin Bond]] in Australia's [[Targa Tasmania]].