McLaren Cars Listed by Name

Model number

Category

McLaren “Zerex”
This was Bruce’s first race car for the American series. The chassis was built in the UK and was based on rebuilding from just behind the front suspension to just ahead of the rear suspension with a new McLaren designed tube frame that was welded in. This chassis was far more stiffer that the willowy Zerex original and it had the sophistication of having the water and oil flowing through the chassis tubes. There was no time to fabricate the new exhaust system and the car was flown to Mosport with eight stub exhausts poking up through the tail. First time out it won at Mosport that year and at Brands hatch at the end of August 1963. The car had three names, one “The Jolly Green Giant” (bought about due to lack of time to finish the car, a handyman’s store was visited and a can of garden gate green was obtained), the second name was the “Zerex Special” (re-framed and re-engineered, which the car was more commonly known as) and for various reasons Bruce decreed that the car should be known as the “Cooper Oldsmobile”. Officially the car was a Cooper Oldsmobile when Bruce won with it at Mosport in June 1964. The car won another race in the Guards Trophy at Brands Hatch at the end of August that year.

M1A – 1964-65
The original McLaren built Group 7 sports racing car was a simple space frame design with a light and compact Oldsmobile V-8 engine, cooper wheels, uprights and steering arms, and a Hewland Gearbox. Fitted with the engine effort the Zerex, the McLaren M1 lowered the Zerex’s records at Goodwood by a clear 3 seconds.
The car was painted black with a silver stripe ( New Zealand’s colours) and it was the fastest car on the track at Mosport in September, but with a broken throttle linkage and a long pit stop, Bruce came back to finish third. Later on that season at Nassau the car was painted an orange red colour and the car finished second to Roger Penske’s Chaparral.
In England Frank Nichols of Elva Cars called on Bruce and a long association was formed with Peter Agg of Trojan (Elva’s parent company) to build McLaren replicas They were to be called McLaren-Elvas. The M1A was put into production as the McLaren-Elva Mark 1 and versions appeared with 4.7 litre Ford V-8 power in addition to the standard 4.5 litre Olds, A total 24 were built and met with success, although it became apparent that the Olds engine was just too small for the class.
Chassis: Large diameter round and square tubular frame with light alloy sheet riveted and bonded to it, forming stressed undertray and bulkheads.
Suspension: Independent by unequal length wide based wishbones, anti-roll bar and adjustable coil spring/shock units in the front. Trailing radius arms with single top links, reversed lower wishbones, anti roll bar and adjustable coil spring/shock units at the rear.
Brakes: Dual circuit Girling discs all around.
Body: Four section polyester resin with integral brake and radiator ducting and side sections housing twin fuel tanks.
Engine: Traco Oldsmobile 4.5 Litre V-8 standard with Hewland LG4 speed gearbox.
Dimensions: Wheelbase 91 inches, front track 51 inches, rear track 51 inches.

M1B – 1965-66
This Group 7 sports racing car was the 1965 development of the original M1A design. The design of the M1B was evolved the by artist Michael Turner, working with Tyler Alexander and Robin Herd. It had a blunter noise and sharper cut off at the tail. Design work by Robin Herd saw the M1B gaining a20% stiffer chassis than the M1A and the M1B was no heavier. The first race was at St Jovite and resulted in an ignominious retirement in practice when the Oldsmobile blew up wrecking the transmission as well. Before Mosport, a new 4.5 litre had arrived from Traco and with this installed Bruce finished second to Jim Halls Chaparral.
For the first Can-Am series in 1966 it became obvious to team McLaren early in the season that their 5 Litre Traco-Oldsmobile were going to be no match for the 6 Litre Chevrolet. After the opening races in Canada, Bruce switched from the aluminium engine to the cast iron 5.4 litre Chevrolet which weighed an extra 200 lbs more, but gave an extra 100 horsepower.
The works car driven by McLaren and Amon competed in the 1966 Can-Am series powered by the 6 Litre Chevrolet V-8 with Hilborn injection. Both Bruce and Chris were pace setters, but they were not winners, with Bruce finishing second in the series to Jim Surtees.
Trojan manufactured twenty-eight cars and were sold in the US as McLaren Elva Mark 2’s.
Chassis: Large diameter round and square tubular frame with light alloy sheet riveted and bonded to it, forming undertray and bulkheads.
Suspension: Independent by unequal length wide based wishbones, with anti-dive characteristics, anti-roll bar and adjustable coil spring/shock units in the front. Trailing arms with lower wishbones, single top links, anti roll bar and adjustable coil spring/shock units at the rear. McLaren-Elva cast magnesium wheels, 15 x 8½ front, 15 x 11½ rear (5.50 and 6.50 – 15 tyres)
Brakes: Dual circuit Girling discs all around. 12½ inch diameter front and 11½ inch diameter rear.
Body: Four section polyester resin with integral brake and radiator ducting and side sections housing twin 25 gallon rubber fuel cells.
Engine: Traco Oldsmobile 4.5 Litre V-8 standard with single plate Scheifer clutch and 4 speed Hewland LG gearbox. Hypoid ring and pinion with limited slip differential standard in transmission. Chevrolet and Ford engines and ZF transmission optional equipment.
Dimensions: Wheelbase 91 inches, front track 51 inches, rear track 51 inches, overall length 146 inches, width 64 inches, height to top of windscreen 31 inches, weight less fuel 1300 pounds distributed 40 percent front / 60 percent rear.

M1C – 1966-67
The M1C was built by Trojan as customer cars, using the space frame design from the original design. These M1C variants, sold as Mark 3s, were generally powered by Chevrolet engines, although Ford or Oldsmobile options were listed. The model was a further improved and developed M1B with a separate spoiler wing at the tail. Twenty-five were built and were sold in the USA as McLaren Elva Mark 3’s.
Chassis: Large diameter round and square tubular frame with light alloy sheet riveted and bonded to it, forming undertray and bulkheads.
Suspension: Independent by unequal length wide based wishbones, with anti-dive characteristics, anti-roll bar and adjustable coil spring/shock units in the front. Trailing arms with lower wishbones, single top links, anti roll bar and adjustable coil spring/shock units at the rear. McLaren-Elva cast magnesium wheels, 15 x 8½ front, 15 x 11½ rear (5.50 and 6.50 – 15 tyres)
Brakes: Dual circuit Girling discs all around. 12½ inch diameter front and 11½ inch diameter rear.
Body: Four section polyester resin with integral brake and radiator ducting and side sections housing twin 25 gallon rubber fuel cells.
Engine: Traco Oldsmobile 4.5 Litre V-8 standard with single plate Scheifer clutch and 4 speed Hewland LG gearbox. Hypoid ring and pinion with limited slip differential standard in transmission. Chevrolet and Ford engines and ZF transmission optional equipment.
Dimensions: Wheelbase 90.5 inches, front track 52 inches, rear track 52 inches, overall length 146 inches, width 66 inches, height to top of windscreen 31 inches, weight less fuel 1300 pounds distributed 40 percent front / 60 percent rear.

M2A – 1965
This was an early exercise in producing a Mallite monocoque and was the teams first single seat design. It was teh work of Robin Herd who borrowed Mallite – an aluminium balsa sandwich material – form experience in the aircraft industry, It was light but extremely strong and this single car was used for development of the forthcoming Formula 1 car and served Firestone very well as a test vehicle. It used Traco Oldsmobile and Ford V-8 engines and gave rise to many rumors of McLaren having a Formula 1 car. In fact the car was never raced, but many lessons from its testing were incorporated into the M2B.

M2B – 1966
This was McLaren Racing’s first Formula 1 car. Technically it was a spectacular success, for the chassis was the stiffest open cockpit unit ever built, with torsional rigidity approaching 10,000lbs/ft per degree. The 1966 season was the first to be run under the 3 litre Formula 1, however the McLaren car was not a success and was shelved at the end of the year. two chassis were built, but only one raced.
Chassis: Bathtub type monocoque formed from Mallite and duralumin panelling formed over mild steel bulkheads.
Suspension: Independent by upper rocker arm operating in-board coil spring/shock units with radius arm and lower wishbone in front. Upper transverse link and radius arm, lower reverse wishbone and radius arm with outboard coil springs/shock units at rear. McLaren cast magnesium wheels, 13 x 8½ front and 13 x 12 rear.
Brakes: Girling discs all round with dual circuits and BR calipers, AR rear.
Body: Formed by monocoque sides apart from fibreglass nose cone and cockpit surround, and engine covers used occasionally with both engines.
Engine: 3 Litre Ford V-8, ex Indianapolis twincam engine later replaced temporarily by 3 litre Serenissima V-8; Borg & Beck clutch and 5 speed ZF 5DS25 transaxle.
Dimensions: Wheelbase 96 inches, front track 59 inches, rear track 59 inches.

M3 – 1965-66
The 1965 sports car experiences with the big V-8’s, with lightweight chassis led to the design and production of the low cost and reliable space frame single seater for the 1966 Formula Libre, hillclimb/sprintcar. It was competitive and only a handful were built.
The M3 was also known as the “whoosh bonk” car and was the MGM camera car for the film Grand Prix.
Chassis: Large diameter tubular spaceframe with steel bulkheads and an aluminium dash panel doubling as a bulkhead in the cockpit area. Chassis tubes carried coolant and an aluminium undertray was bonded and riveted in place to add strength.
Suspension: Independent by unequal length wide based wishbones, anti-roll bar and adjustable coil spring/shock units in the front. Trailing radius arms with single top links, reversed lower wishbones, anti roll bar and adjustable coil spring/shock units at the rear. Supplied with optional 15 inch diameter rear wheels.
Brakes: Girling 107/16th inch disc all round with AR calipers. Special ½ inch thick discs for GP versions.
Body: Polyester resin panelling to customers preference.
Engine: To customer preference although engine bay was capable of accepting Oldsmobile, Ford-Cobra, Ford-Indianapolis V-8s or 3 Litres Repco V-8, Maserati V-12 and 2.5 or 2.7 litre Coventry Climax 4 cylinder F1 units. Rear bulkhead designed to accept Hewland LG or ZF DS25 transaxles.
Dimensions: Wheelbase 96 inches (required for possible Indy use), front track 51 inches, rear track 52 inches, overall length 142 inches, height to top of windscreen 29 inches, weight (with 5 litre Oldsmobile) 1100 lbs.

M4A -1967
In 1967 Robin Herd produced three major design, for Can-Am, Formula 1 and Formula 2. The M4A was a simple monocoque for Formula 2 and raced by Bruce seven times. Some chassis appeared in Formula 3 guise. Piers Courage raced a M4A in the 1968 Tasman Series and gave the M4A its only major victory, it did however prove very popular and won many races in New Zealand.
Chassis: Bathtub monocoque formed from aluminium panelling bonded and riveted to four mild steel bulkheads
Suspension: Single top link with radius arms and lower wishbones, outboard coil spring/shock units and anti-roll bar in front. Twin radius arms, reversed lower wishbones and single top links with outboard coil spring/shock units at rear. McLaren-Elva cast magnesium wheels, 13 x 7 front, 13 x 10 rear (5.00 and 6.25 – 13 tyres).
Brakes: Girling or Lockheed 10½ inch discs all around with AR calipers.
Body: Formed by monocoque sides plus fibreglass nose cone and cockpit surround.
Engine: Cosworth-Ford FVA 1600cc 4 cylinder unit with five speed Hewland FT200 transaxle.
Dimensions: Wheelbase 90 inches, front track 54 inches, rear track 54 inches, overall length 121 inches , height 30 inches, weight 830 pounds.

M4B – 1967
The M4B was the production variant of the Formula 2 design using the Lotus-Ford twincam engines and Hewland HD transaxles for the American Formula B racing. Another so called M4B, the subject of this specification, was the interim 1967 Formula 1 car raced by Bruce McLaren. This was a stop gap measure between the demise of the M2B and the appearance of the new BRM powered M5. The car was also fitted with side sponson to provide extra tankage.
Trojan built 25 M4A/B cars in 1967-1968.
Chassis: Bathtub monocoque formed from aluminium panelling bonded and riveted to four mild steel bulkheads
Suspension: Single top link with radius arms and lower wishbones, outboard coil spring/shock units and anti-roll bar in front. Twin radius arms, reversed lower wishbones and single top links with outboard coil spring/shock units at rear. McLaren-Elva cast magnesium wheels, 13 x 7 front, 13 x 10 rear (5.00 and 6.25 – 13 tyres).
Brakes: Girling or Lockheed 10½ inch discs all around with AR calipers.
Body: Formed by monocoque sides plus fibreglass nose cone and cockpit surround.
Engine: 2.1 litre BRM V-8 with Hewland FT200 transaxle.
Dimensions: Wheelbase 93 inches, front track 54 inches, rear track 54 inches, overall length 121 inches , height 30 inches, weight (with ballast) about 1120 pounds to comply with F1 limit.

M5A – 1967-68
The true 1967 McLaren Formula 1 car, the one off M5 was late starter due to delays with its BRM V-12 engine. Its first race was the Canadian GP and was a strong second till the battery had to be replaced during the race.
Chassis: Aluminium alloy panelled monocoque formed over mild steel bulkheads with long pontoons at the rear to support the V-12 engine
Suspension: Single top link with radius arm, lower wishbone, anti-roll bar and outboard coil spring/shock units in front, and outboard coil spring/shock units at rear. McLaren cast magnesium wheels, 13 x 8½ fronts and 15 x 12 rear.
Brakes: Lockheed discs and calipers all around.
Body: Formed by monocoque sides apart from fibreglass nose cone and cockpit surround.
Engine: 3 litre BRM V-12 with Borg & Beck clutch and Hewland DG 5 speed transaxle.
Dimensions: Wheelbase 96 inches, front track 58 inches, rear track 58 inches.

M6A – 1967
The first car, M6A-1, was completed and ready for testing at Goodwood on June 19, 1967, more that three months prior to the opening race in the Can-Am series. The car covered over 2000 miles of testing before its debut at Elkhart Lake. Team McLaren won its first Can-Am Series with these cars designed by Bruce, Robin Herd, Don Beresford and Tyler Alexander. It was as simple as possible, consisting of single curvatures and square section tubing wherever they could be used. The M6A was a works car and only three were built.
Chassis: Full monocoque formed from aluminium alloy panelling bonded and riveted to steel bulkheads and carrying two 25 gallon fuel cells in the side pontoons.
Suspension: Unequal length upper and lower wishbones, anti-roll bar and coil spring/shock units in front. Upper and lower wishbones with twin radius arms anti-roll bar and coil spring/shock at rear. McLaren cast magnesium wheels, 15 x 8½ inch front and 15 x 13¼ rear.
Brakes: Girling ventilated discs front and rear, 12 inch diameter, with 16-3-LA calipers and dual hydraulic circuits.
Body: Reinforced polyester resin panelling.
Engine: 5.9 litre Chevrolet V-8 with Lucas fuel injection and 5 speed Hewland LG transaxle.
Dimensions: Wheelbase 93.5 inches, front track 52 inches, rear track 52 inches. width 68 inches, height to top of windscreen 31 inches, weight less fuel 1300 pounds distributed 40 percent front/60 percent rear.

M6B – 1968
The M6B was the production version of the Championship winning M6A and differed very little from the original. It was built by Trojan and was offered in a rolling chassis complete waiting only for a motor to be fitted. It was in tremendous demand and a total of twenty-eight were built and their specifications where virtually identical to those of the M6A.

M6GT – 1969
Following the successes of the M6 series in Group 7, a Group 4 GT model was projected for the 69 series. Unfortunately the type met with various problems preventing its homologation in its class and the project was shelved after 4 examples had been completed. The prototype was sold to David Prophet who raced it, later converting it to an open racer. One was completed as a road car for Bruce to test as a prototype for a road car series bearing his name.

M7A – 1968-69
Robin Herd had a guiding hand with the design of the M7A, it was the teams first Cosworth-Ford powered Formula 1 car. Three M7A’s were built to be driven by Bruce and Denny Hulme, the third was the team’s spare. This was Robin Herd’s first McLaren design and in the interests of accessibility, they had bathtub type monocoque which terminated behind the rear cockpit bulkhead, using the engines crankcase as a fully stressed rear chassis member.
Chassis: Monocoque with light aluminium alloy panelling over steel bulkheads, using the engine as a stressed section aft of the cockpit, carrying rear suspension loads through a yoke over the gearbox and plates bolted beneath it.
Suspension: Single top link with radius arm, bottom wishbone, anti-roll bar and outboard coil spring/shock units in front. Single top links, reverse lower wishbones, twin radius arms and coil spring/shock units at rear. McLaren cast magnesium wheels, 15 x 10 front and 15 x 15 rear.
Brakes: Lockheed17/3P calipers with 11.66 inch diameter discs all around.
Body: Detachable fibreglass nose with separate top panel and cockpit surround. Engine cover sometimes used with various wings and spoiler arrangements.
Engine: Cosworth-Ford DFV V-8 with 5 speed Hewland DG300 transaxle.
Dimensions: Wheelbase 94 inches, front track 58 inches, rear track 57 inches, cockpit width 28 inches, weight 1140 pounds.

M7B – 1969
The M7B started as a M7A-3 fitted with broad pannier style fuel tanks at the beginning of the 1969 season as a research vehicle to test weight distribution and give room for the adoption of a four wheel drive system. It was not very successful and was sold to Colin Crabbe’s Antique Automobiles Racing team for Vic Elford to drive. Apart from the panniers, its specification was little different from the standard M7A’s

M7C – 1969
While the M7A type bathtub chassis were tough and accessible, they lacked some of the torsional rigidity achieved in the 1968 Formula A/5000 cars. Consequently one F1 car was built using a full “up and over” monocoque chassis identical to the M10A 5 litre cars and the machine, known as M7C-1, was Bruce’s personal car in the 1969 F1 season. In general specification it was similar to the M7A cars.

M7D – 1970
Team McLaren built this car in association with Autodelta early in 1970 to accept one of their Alfa Romeo T33 V-8 engines. The new chassis followed the two year old M7 series design but was two inches longer.

M8A – 1968
The 1968 Can-Am works cars were further developments of the very successful M6A design and were again kept as simple as possible, employing single curvature panelling and square tube sections in the monocoque, which now used the engine as a partially stressed structural member. Three cars were built, dominating the series with Denny winning the championship.
Chassis: Aluminium alloy and magnesium panelling monocoque based on steel bulkheads and using the Chevrolet engine as a partially stressed structural member stiffening the rear bay.
Suspension: Single top link with radius arm, lower wishbone, anti-roll bar and coil spring/shock units in front. Twin radius arms with single top link, reversed lower wishbone and coil spring units at rear. McLaren cast magnesium wheels 15 x 10 front and 15 x 15 rear.
Brakes: Lockheed discs all around, 12 inch diameter with 17/3P calipers and dual aerodynamic surfaces.
Body: Reinforced polyester resin panelling.
Engine: Chevrolet V-8 with 4 speed Hewland transaxle.
Dimensions: Wheelbase 94 inches, front track 57.6 inches, rear track 56 inches.

M8B – 1969
Three new and further developed Group 7 works cars were built for the 1969 Can-Am series, using at least one of the original M8A monocoque. They differed form the earlier cars in body design, using wings that stood high above the tail on suspension mounted struts and had new 7 litre engines built by George Bolthoff, an ex Traco engineer. There were minor detail differences between the M8B’s and the M8A’s. The 1969 cars used larger wheels 15 x 11 front and 15 x 16 rear. They were unbeaten in the 1969 season and took Bruce to his second championship.

M8C – 1970

This model was the 1970 production version of the all conquering M8 series design, but differed in some important respects. It was felt that private customers would wish to fit engines other than the Chevrolet ZL-1s used by the works, and rear-bay crossmembers were provided to support optional engines, replacing the subframes used to stress the blocks in the M8A and B models. Specifications were similar to the earlier models and demand was high, Trojan building 15 cars.

M8D – 1970

Three new cars were assembled for the 1970 Can-Am Championship, and were again improvements on the basic theme. Strut mounted wings acting on the suspension were no longer allowed so the M8D used separate airfoil sections mounted on tail fins rising from the rear fenders. These earned the car the name of “Batmobile” and with 7.5 litre engines built in Livonia. Michigan, by Bolthoff they were again successful; Hulme won another Can Am title after Bruce was killed testing the original M8D at Goodwood. Specifications were as for the earlier M8 series, except for the following: Front track 62.3 inches. rear track 58.8 inches, overall length 164 inches, weight 1420 pounds. Hewland LG600 4 speed transaxle fitted.

M8E – 1971

The Trojan production Can AM car for 1971, based on the prototype tested briefly by Denis Hulme at Goodwood in 1970/ It has the basic shape of the M8B with a low wing instead of the inside fins of the M8D. The track is narrower than the M8D and the car has a smaller fiberglass body. The wheel base is 95 inches with a front track of b58 inches and a rear track of 55.5 inches. Wheels are 15 inch diameter with 11 inch front brims and 16 inch rear rims.

M8F – 1971
The 1971 Can-Am M8F car was designed by G. Coppuck and included a number of innovations. It ran with an 8 litre Chevrolet built by McLaren Engines using the new Reynolds all alloy cylinder block. Horsepower was rated in excess of 740hp.
Chassis:
Suspension:
Brakes:
Body:
Engine:
Dimensions:

M8FP – 1972
1972 Trojan production Can-Am cars
Chassis:
Suspension:
Brakes:
Body:
Engine:
Dimensions:

M9A – 1969
In common with Cosworth, Lotus and Matra, McLaren Racing developed a 4-wheel drive Formula 1 car during the 1969 season. The basis of the car was a simple twin-boom monocoque, with the Cosworth-Ford engine turned back-to-front and driving forward to a McLaren-designed 4wd transmission. The gearbox was just behind the drivers seat with driveshafts running along the left side of the car to tiny limited slip differentials at front and rear. Despite extensive testing the cars was only raced once, and in common with other 4wd projects was soon abandoned.
Chassis: Twin boom aluminum skinned monocoque formed over steel bulkheads and terminating aft of the cockpit. Engine supported by a tubular sub frame also providing pickups for the rear suspension.
Suspension: Upper rocker arms operating inboard coil spring/shock units and lower link with radius arms and anti-roll bar in front. Upper rocker arms operating inboard coil spring/shock units, and reversed lower wishbones, twin radius arms and anti-roll bar at rear. McLaren cars magnesium wheels, 13 x 12 front and 13 x 14 rear.
Brakes: Girling 12 inch diameter ventilated discs front and rear mounted inboard to reduce unsprung weight.
Body: Formed by monocoque sides with detachable fiberglass nose cone, cockpit surround aerodynamic surfaces.
Engine: Cosworth-Ford DFV n3-litre V-8 driving McLaren designed and built 4-wheel drive transmission; torque split integral with gearbox.
Dimensions: Wheelbase 95 inches, front track 59 inches, rear track 59 inches, width at cockpit 36 inches, weight 1160 pounds.

M10A – 1969
McLaren were one of the few successful manufacturers to produce Formula A/5000 cars. This Formula was introduced in 1969. The M10A designed by Gordon Coppuck was extremely successful and dominated the first season of the European Formula 5000. Trojan built 17 cars that season.
Chassis:
Suspension:
Brakes:
Body:
Engine:
Dimensions:

M10B – 1970-71
The 1970 development of the M10A differed in several aspects derived around weight saving initiatives. Peter Gethin won his second consecutive Guards F5000 championship with one of the twenty-one cars built.
Chassis:
Suspension:
Brakes:
Body:
Engine:
Dimensions:

M11
The M11 designation was not used due to possible confusion with “Mark II”.

M12GT
Specifications as for the M12, however it had a shortened M6GT coachwork fitted to it. See this story about the car