29 replies to this topic

[karlcars]

One of my tasks (pleasures, actually) for this winter is the researching and writing of a book about Bruce McLaren for my Haynes series on great racing drivers. I am extremely pleased that we will be adding Bruce to this series, which so far includes Moss, Stewart, Fangio, Gurney and Ascari.

I would be very grateful for any unusual or personal anecdotes about Bruce. I have access to all the relevant books by and about Bruce, so what I am looking for is the more personal side. For example, last night at a dinner I sat next to a fellow whose mother was Bruce's mother's bridesmaid at her wedding! How's that for serendipity?!

Many thanks in advance for any thoughts. I really appreciate this access to so many interested fans and historians.

[Joe Fan]

Karl, I don't have any personal antedotes but I am sure that you have John Cooper's autobiography "The Grand Prix Carpetbaggers", "From the Cockpit" by Bruce himself as well as Doug Nye's "Cooper" book?

I will keep my eyes peeled for any quotes or magazine articles about McLaren for you in my research efforts.

[Milan Fistonic]

The Bruce McLaren Trust has recently released a CD that contains excerpts from the audio tapes that Bruce send home to his parents and family when he first went to Europe. They recorded his views, opinions, plans and feelings long before there was ever an inkling of his tremendous future success.
It also contains a series of McLaren family photos - most never seen by the general public - and information about the Bruce McLaren Trust.

The Trust's website is at http://www.bruce-mclaren.com

[Milan Fistonic]

A bit more info on the McLaren Trust CD. When the old reel-to-reel tapes were transferred to a digital format nine gigabytes of information was stored. Only a small part of this was used to produce the CD so it could be worth your while trying to get access to the rest of the stuff.

[karlcars]

Many thanks, Milan. I am aware of the Trust but haven't approached them yet. You've just made that a much higher priority!

Yes, Joe, I have these books, but thanks for the tip!

[Ray Bell]

You perhaps know of Bruce's close relationship with Frank Matich... when he was in Australia he had a lot to do with him and in 1965 used his workshop in Sydney. I know this because I rang to talk to Frank one day, Bruce answered and thought I was "Jack" somebody or other!
One day at Lakeside in 1964, Bruce commented on how well Joan (Matich) looked... Frank invited him to have a closer look, lifting her left arm and pulling the loose-fitting cotton shift's arm hole out a ways...
Bruce turned away from that...

[karlcars]

Thanks for the tip on Frank Matich, Ray. I will follow up on that. Much appreciated! Anyone else have any thoughts?

[karlcars]

Just a note on the fact that when I contacted the Trust they said they might have to check my credentials with McLaren International! Apparently the Trust and the present-day McLaren are strongly linked. I hope this isn't bad news for the historians among us.

[Ray Bell]

Karl, if you get past the guards, the dogs and the guns, please tell me if you can get to Tyler Alexander.... I really need to discuss Timmy Mayer with him for a story I have almost finished. Won't answer emails at all.[p][Edited by Ray Bell on 12-13-2000]

[Dennis David]

Karl, I expect an acknowledgement to those wonderful people at the Atlas F1 Nostalgia Forum in this book!;)

Any connection with the present crew is no less than a pact with the devil. This can only be bad news. Shame on them. That's why the Hysterical Motor Racing Society must stay independent. Oops there goes that Freudian slip again.

Mustn't forget to take my medicine...

[Don Capps]

I recall McLaren once lamenting in his column in Autosport about why is it that screws always seem to choose to fall off rather than tighten themselves tighter... I have no idea why I remember that column (of the many), but at one of the early Can-Am races in 1967 -- Bridgehampton -- I did manage (the miracle of press credentials) have a few moments with him. For some reason I mentioned that item and he laughed! He said his faith in that statement was stronger than ever.

I only spoke with McLaren a few times, but I was always impressed how he suffered our intrusions so graciously and was so kind to me and others.

I am also embarassed to admit that the first time I ran across him -- in 1959 -- I didn't recognize him! I remember getting a terrible ribbing from my friends. I was horrified, of course, since I was chatting away about how I wanted to meet Bruce McLaren and could the 'new' team mechanic kindly point him out to me... When he identified himself, I wanted to find a really deep hole and crawl in it! However, he was wonderful and made my horrific blunder into an opportunity for me to save face by making light of it, saying it was natural since he was new and so forth. He did remember me several weeks later and made a point of treating me like an old chum. Needless to say, he had a fan for life after that!

[Ray Bell]

I guess I remember him like that, too, Don. Super easy to get on with, no problem that you've walked into the tent with them tearing a carburettor apart or something... Wally could look after that, now's time for a chat!
A far cry, as Dennis laments, from the crew of today. Security men at every possible point, total control of all the surroundings.
Makes it such a relief when you see their car tear the guts out of their garage installation when it drives out onto the pit lane!
But you would never laugh at that happening to Bruce, you'd pitch in and help him fix it, and it would be him in there doing it, too! And he'd thank you personally...
Actually, you've brought out something about the man I might have forgotten, that open friendliness that was like Glynn Scott had (crazy I should say that, their deaths were about a month apart!), while Jack and Denny were more businesslike.
What it really reminds me is how fortunate I have been.
I went to his celebration party, as I've mentioned before, after his AGP win in 1965. This pretender to the World Championship crown mixing it with whoever turned up, the Matichs, Mike Kable (who took me) and all and sundry from about the place. Celebrating a great win, while we were looking back on a great race and a great tragedy.
Bruce had been down that particular road just a year before with Mayer's death at the same circuit, I wonder where it was filed in his mind? I guess Teddy was there, too, and Tyler Alexander, but I don't clearly remember that.
For them, I suppose the win was what needed to be celebrated, there was no good served on the sombre reflection.
And there was all that qualifying champagne to be used up.

[Michael Müller]

Karl, and also you others, you have used the name "McL...." here more than once, most probably without written permission by the company who is bearing this famous name today. Be prepared to receive a letter from their legal department - which according to some rumours exceeded meanwhile the number of technical staff considerably - within the next days!

[Ray Bell]

At least the copyright doesn't apply to the 'Bruce' part, and that was the nicest bit.

[Catch 22]

Sorry to pull a month-old thread up here, but I've got a question about Bruce's early career. As many of you know, I'm a nut for race numbers, particularly when certain drivers seem to favor certain numbers. I finally learned, thanks to Eagle104, why Dan Gurney would run #48 whenever possible, and I know that Stirling Moss was a big fan of #7 (although I've no idea why, but I'll save that for the appropriate thread).

With respect to Bruce, he ran #47 very frequently during his early days. I've seen pictures of him in the Zerex Special and the M1x sports cars and that was almost always the number on the nose. Does anybody know why? I just finished re-reading Eoin Young's book on him and it provides no clues to the mystery.

Thanks in advance.

[UAtkins]

I have recently corresponded with Bruce McLaren's nephew, if you would like his email address I would be happy to provide it. I was researching my father "Tommy" Atkins and was able to send them a couple of photos they'd never seen before. Bruce drove for my Dad and I have lovely memories of him, he always had time for me whenever I was fortunate enough to be able to hang around with my Dad, he was a lovely man. No dramatic memories unfortunately, too long ago and too young at the time.

The one memory I have is second hand through my Mum. Seems that Bruce was leading a race at Goodwood (I have the date somewhere else) with Stirling Moss coming up behind him, they were heading into the chicane when Bruce looked to see where Stirling was...it was all she wrote! Mum said that Bruce was given a talking to about the race not being over until you got the chequered flag or words to that effect!

Good luck with the book.
Ursula

[karlcars]

I'm glad to see this thread is still spinning!

No, I haven't had a legal letter yet about this from McLaren International but one of my businesses has, and over a most inconsequential matter.

Thanks to any and all for your McLaren anecdotes. Good stuff!

[Catch 22]

Karl -

Any clues about the #47 mystery? There must be a story behind it somewhere! I never thought of Bruce as a particularly superstitious driver, but this seems to have been an exception.

I got your Gurney book for Christmas, but have only had time yet to browse through it. Do you include the story of his fixation with #48? I believe a book on drivers' various superstitions might do very well, and it would sure be fun to research and write!

(Please forgive me for not digging into "The Ultimate Racer" as soon as I got it, but I also received "Mon Ami Mate" and couldn't resist the urge to read them in historically chronological order.)

[David McKinney]

Bruce used No.47 as much as possible in NZ, starting with the Cooper-Climax sportscar in 1957 and possibly in the Healey before that, and going right on through the time he was racing his own Tasman Coopers. But as to why, I don't think I ever heard.

[Catch 22]

David -

Thanks for supporting my notion that Bruce believed in the "magic" of #47 (whatever he thought it was). The only picture of the Healey I've ever seen showed it as #10, but it may well have been changed later on (or his dad might have been driving it when the picture was taken).

[karlcars]

My research on Bruce is still ongoing but I haven't yet come across a reason for his favoring of '47'. Of course he relied on '4' in the Can-Am series with considerable success.

After I finish this post I'm off to talk to Robin Herd. Maybe he will know something about Bruce's superstitions! I know Bruce had a little Maoiri 'tiki' that he always had with him in the cockpit...

[Milan Fistonic]

This morning I spoke to Bruce's sister Pat, who confirmed my recollection that the reason Bruce used the number 47 was that his first success was in a car with that number. The Austin Healey did not have the number 47 at the NZGP meetings. It was number 11 in 1955 when Les was driving then 19 in 1956 and 46 in 1957 when Bruce was at the wheel.

[David McKinney]

I remember that BMcL was No.46 at the 1957 GP meeting, but think he might have graduated to 47 at one of the South Island meetings. Am definitely not putting any money on it though. I am more confident that he was 47 in the bob-tailed Cooper at the end of the season - but still not confident enought to put money on it.

[Ray Bell]

He won the AGP at Caversham in 1962 wearing this number, but had 10 for the 1963 race, 7 for the 1964 race and was back to 10 for the Tasman series of 1965.

[Milan Fistonic]

Just to confuse the issue of McLaren's lucky number even further I came across this article while looking through my pile of newspaper clippings for Karl. It was an article supposedly written by Bruce about the 1960 Monaco Grand Prix.

Once upon a time at Monaco you were motor racing if you were bouncing the car off the kerbs to get around the twisting circuit.
That is nothing now, Phil Hill, the Ferrari driver, and I were bouncing off the walls beyond the kerbs during our terrific dice - thank heavens our tyres are strong.
Thank goodness, too, that I had my lucky "number 10" on the car. I scared poor Phil and his Ferrari right off when I motored out of the tunnel leading to the waterfront on the footpath at 110 miles an hour.

This was the first time Bruce had number 10 on his car in a Grand Prix, so where the lucky number gained its charm I do not know.

[Ray Bell]

Perhaps he considered both 10 and 47 to be lucky numbers?

He came back to both repeatedly.

[275 GTB-4]

had an interesting conversation today....about Les McLaren (Bruces Dad) who was also a racer...big Healeys...ran a garage at Remuera near Auckland New Zealand.

during the same conversation was the story of when Bruce McLaren crashed at Pukekohe....hitting an ambulance....and being sued by the St Johns Ambulance

[Huw Jadvantich]

Karl, can I suggest that as part of your research you spend at least a month in New Zealand, where you will be able to step over the threshold of the McLaren Trust (at Pop McLaren's garage in Remuera -the door is nearly always open) and instantly sink into that easy friendship that is pervades the McLaren family? I find it hard to believe that the Mclaren family would have deflected you in an off hand manner...you would only have to spend some time with them to get not only chapter and verse, but the essence of why Bruce just seemed so easy to get along with.
You would also get to understand the Kiwi psyche, which IS different, and meet up with Phil Kerr, who would have to be one of his most long standing friends.
The cost of a visit would be a small investment for a huge insight. (a nice holiday this time of year too.....)

[Milan Fistonic]

Originally posted by Huw Jadvantich
Karl, can I suggest that as part of your research you spend at least a month in New Zealand, where you will be able to step over the threshold of the McLaren Trust (at Pop McLaren's garage in Remuera -the door is nearly always open) and instantly sink into that easy friendship that is pervades the McLaren family? I find it hard to believe that the Mclaren family would have deflected you in an off hand manner...you would only have to spend some time with them to get not only chapter and verse, but the essence of why Bruce just seemed so easy to get along with.
You would also get to understand the Kiwi psyche, which IS different, and meet up with Phil Kerr, who would have to be one of his most long standing friends.
The cost of a visit would be a small investment for a huge insight. (a nice holiday this time of year too.....)

Nice thought but Karl's McLaren book was published in 2001.

[Huw Jadvantich]

Doh!