McLaren Cars

The Cars

Denis Hulme

Peter Revson

'Don't take that extra risk' Bruce McLaren's commentary on racing.

In the beginning, 1966, it was Chaparral, Lola, Porsche, and McLaren. Founded in 1966 by Burce Mclaren, McLaren Cars entered Can-Am racing for two reasons: The first was the prize money; The second was the prize money. Throughout their reign the Mclarens won more Can-Am races and sold more cars to other teams than any other constructor.

Bruce McLaren started his own car company so that he could build and race his own car in Formula 1. But the money was so good in Can-Am that he went after that series also. The money McLaren Cars earns from winning Can-Am races and selling Can-Am cars greatly eased his efforts in building and winning Formula 1 races and the Formula 1 Constructor's cup.

In 1966 McLaren Cars wasn't all that successful in Can-Am but they learned from the experience and corrected the problems. In 1967 they dominated Can-Am. Same thing in 1968. Again in 1969. Four-peat in 1970. And in 1971 someone other than Denis Hulme or Bruce McLaren won the Can-Am championship. Only thing was it was Peter Revson driving for McLaren Cars.

Porsche got their act together in 1972 by turning over the factory cars to Penscke Racing and that was that for McLaren Cars and the Can-Am championship. At the end of the 1972 Can-Am series McLaren Cars quit Can-Am and from that point forward concentrated on Formula 1.

I'm a firm believer that McLaren is where it is today because of the success they had in Can-Am. To view the history of McLaren Racing in the Can-Am series go to the McLaren web site and click on History and then Can-Am. This site now uses frames and we can't give you the exact web address.

Because of the redesign of the McLaren website this quote is no longer available. So here is part of what was said about "McLaren's Aluminium Sidings." They stated:

The steamroller success of McLaren in CanAm sports car racing was largely financing the troubled Formula One programme in 1966 and 1967, and Bruce McLaren and team director Teddy Mayer were earnestly door-stepping large corporations in the United States trying to encourage a commercial association with the team's ongoing success.

Here is a site dedicated to Bruce McLaren. This site also has plently of information on the McLaren Can-Am cars, racing history of McLaren at Can-Am, and magazine articles from the period.

This site is dedicated to Denis Hulme. In 1992 he suffered a fatal heart attack while at the wheel of a BMW M3 during the Bathurst 1000 in Australia. He was 56. Read a special tribute to Denny Hulme on the tenth anniversary of his death.

More Photos of the McLarens Great Racing Cars.

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