18 replies to this topic

[desmo]

McLaren did a road coupe in the early 70s (I believe) based on a Can-Am racer. Anyone remember the name of it?

[Ray Bell]

I don't think it had a specific name, and I don't think it was in the seventies, but rather the late sixties.
It was written up in Motor Sport, Jenkinson (I think) commenting that the obvious noise of the straight cut gears was outstanding because the usual open exhausts of the race-car were now muffled.
It was simply a M6 or M8 with a coupe body and a few rudimentary finishing touches. It was never produced in series for sale, as far as I know.

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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[Roger Clark]

It was an M6 and Bruce McLaen's pet project. Nobody else was intereseted and forgot it when he was killed

[desmo]

Found it, M6GT.



This is a replica. Couldn't find a picture of the real thing.

[Ray Bell]

They ran out of money before they could buy the carburettors?
wouldn't it be luvverly?

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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[desmo]

Ray, it's the aircleaner for the monster 4bbl carb. Lucas mechanical FI wasn't designed for happy street motoring, although the trumpets would have looked nice, no doubt.

Here's an image of the real thing:



Four were built in '69.

[Duane]

Anybody remember Hardcastle & McCormick?
That was the type of cat, probably a replica, used by 'Skid Mark' himself.

[Ray Bell]

Desmo - That's what I'm referring to... the junky air cleaner on top of a 4-barrell.
Have you never heard of a TR6?
They had the same injection that was used on the best racing Chevys those days, the Lucas mechanical stuff developed in the 1.5-litre F1 era.
A friend of mine acquainted me with it when he was building up the ultimate V12 E-type - went to a lot of trouble making trumpets and had two sets of the TR6 equipment. He was aiming for a 600rpm idle, instant low down response and 450hp when he got serious. He would have got it, too, if he hadn't taken so long and let his death get in the way!
Barry will verify - his name was Kevin Carrad, and he worked for the Tax office!

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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[Cociani]

Anybody know if any firms still make kit cars of this Mac? If so how much do they cost?

[desmo]

Here's the contact info for the firm that made the red M6GT replica in this thread:

In North America Contact

Tornado Sports Cars USA
186 Hall Avenue Meriden, CT 06450
203-639-8710 Fax 203-630-2780
info@tornado-ts40.com

In Europe Contact

Tornado Sports Cars
Unit 25, Meadow Mills Industrial Estate,
Dixon Street
Kidderminster, Worcestershire
England DY10 1HH
01562 820372
E-mail post@tornado.fsbusiness.co.uk

[Cociani]

Thank you Desmo.

[MattSmith]

Was for sale. A snip at £69000

Wasn't Bruce Mclaren supposed to have used this car for daily use?

[Ray Bell]

I'm certain that the original, which Bruce used for a time for some personal transport, looked nothing like the one in the advertisement. We have something more like that further back in this thread. This may have been a motor show exercise or styling exercise - perhaps on the original chassis.

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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[desmo]

The Ikenga was not a McLaren but a show car built on a 1962 McLaren chassis powered by the venerable aluminum Buick-Rover 3.5 liter V-8 and was designed by multi-talented black fashion photographer and whiz kid David Gittens. The car had many advanced technical features. The name of the car was derived from the mythology of the Ibo peole of eastern Nigeria.

Mr. Gittens notably also designed a rotary-wing aircraft, the 530Z, on display in the National Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C..

Also the original design didn't have those hideous headlights but beautifully integrated small high output units quite similar to what you see on some modern road cars.

Car & Driver did a very good feature of the man and the car about the time it was built if I remember correctly.



[This message has been edited by desmo (edited 03-25-2000).]

[Dennis David]

I never cease to be amazed at the expertise we have here in this Forum.

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Regards,

Dennis David
Yahoo = dennis_a_david

Life is racing, the rest is waiting

Grand Prix History
www.ddavid.com/formula1/

[Ray Bell]

Desmo is a wealth of pictures, isn't he?
But 1962 was a bit early for a McLaren chassis, the first of them coming in 1963/4, and the Traco engines were used in the M2 Can Am cars.
Bruce's Tasman cars were effectively McLarens, but carried a lot of Cooper baggage and the Cooper nameplates - the first of them being the cars he shared with Timmy Mayer in the 1964 series.
By the way, Desmo, I need a pic of the instrument panel of that model - any prospects? And a close up rear view of the BT11a Brabham 2.5.

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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[desmo]

Thanks Ray, '62 sounded too early to me too, but that is what the article said. I'm sure you're right. Did you mean instrument panel of the Cooper or Ikenga? I'll keep digging for a BT-11a rear close up. I posted a picture of Graham driving a BT 11a in the Tasman series that showed the back pretty well but the image was too large and messed up the thread so it deleted it.

[Ray Bell]

Just to explain, the story I am doing will be the last word as far as the 1965 AGP goes. To go with it, I have a friend who is going to paint a picture to head the article, and that picture will be Phil Hill's view of Bruce and Jack down Tannery Straight... I have a period photo for the background, the high hedge on the left, the trees etc on the right, but the detail of the rear of Jack's car, right in front, and of the steering wheel and instruments of that 1964 Tasman Cooper I want to get dead right. It's important here to note that the car Phil drove was Bruce's 1964 car, Bruce getting a slightly different new car for 65.
Apart from that, the only thing I still need is the tape recording of the commentary of the race... and I might be close to getting that, which would be better than a lap chart as far as the leaders go. I may yet get a lap chart from one of the journos that was there (mine was eaten by termites years ago).

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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[Huw Jenjin]

There are several M6GT replicas in New Zealand, and no doubt a mould somewhere.
An M6GT replica has run in the last four Targa NZ road rallies, but totally disintegrated in the last one, after a high speed accident on the first stage..........