4 replies to this topic

[Megatron]

Everyone talks about the Brabham BT55 when talking of low cars but how about the McLaren 4wd that was driven only once, in the 1969 British Grand Prix by Dereck Bell. Take a look...

http://www.motorraci...p69/69gbr20.htm

...it looks like the driver is practically sitting on the ground in this shot. And what an unusal rear wing! I know that 4wd was not the way to go but I have to wonder judging by the photo if that was the only radical aspect of the car. I heard that it was a new design, not based on the regular car like the Matra MS84.

To me, it seems as one of the more odd "one off" cars in F1 history. No wonder Bell's F1 career never took off...

[Vitesse2]

Most McLarens of that era had a pretty low profile: check out the M7A and M14A and the M21 F2 car.

The wing is reminiscent of the constructions cobbled together at Monaco 1969 after high wings were banned - this was probably the origin of it, but McLaren had more experience than most of wings, having tested them in secret as far back as 1966, IIRC.

And as for Derek Bell, well, a classic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, several times ... does your book cover the Tecno PA123 Megatron? It should!!

[Megatron]

No, it doesn't cover the Techno, or the M9A, but I won't rule the Techno out!

[mat1]

Originally posted by Vitesse2
, but McLaren had more experience than most of wings, having tested them in secret as far back as 1966, IIRC.

Did they?? On what kind of car? CanAm perhaps? And why didn´t they do something with it?

mat

[Vitesse2]

I knew it was here somewhere ....

From "McLaren!" by Eoin Young

[Robin] Herd's background in advanced design spurred the interest and development of the McLaren team in the field of aerodynamics, and they began experimenting with the wings and adjustable tail-fins back in 1965. The Oldsmobile-powered M2A Mallite-chassis racing car, used as a test vehicle for Firestone and as a prototype chassis for the 1966 Formula 1 car, was taken to Zandvoort in November 1965 and a simple sort of wing was tried on the back. With the wing fitted Bruce immediately chopped three seconds off his lap time round the Dutch circuit, and with the wing removed his lap times fell back by the same three seconds. All evidence of the wing was then destroyed as the team determined to use it as their secret weapon for 1966. "Indeed, if the Indy Ford engine had lived up to expectations you would have seen the M2B McLaren with a wing on the back," says Herd.

When the Ford-powered car was used for tire testing at Riverside early in 1966 the car was meant to carry an advanced form of adjustable wing mounted above the transmission. It was designed so that the angle could be altered to suit the amount of downthrust required, but engine trouble curtailed these wing tests. The fact that Dan Gurney was sitting on the pit wall during much of the testing also had a negative effect on the display of new ideas before such an interested spectator.

Elsewhere in the same book Young mentions that the M7A was actually designed to incorporate a chassis-mounted wing, although they didn't use it until after Ferrari and Brabham had used them at Spa.

And while looking for this, I rediscovered the fact that McLaren very often used low tray-like wings on the M7 series cars: there are several pictures.