McLaren Page #6

---

but it was his reality.

PHIL:
Bruce needed a lift.

JOURNALIST:
This is Le Mans, home of

the most famous road race in the world.

PHIL:
Through his contacts with Ford,

Bruce was contracted to drive at Le Mans.

McLaren had been commissioned by Ford

to build a special version of the GT40.

I first met Bruce about 1966.

We were testing and developing with Ford.

We used to kid around,

because he had a bit of a limp,

and he had to have

the clutch pedal closer to him.

And I said, "You know what?" I said,

"I keep banging my shins on that."

Stupid things, but that's what friends do.

I was in good hands with Bruce.

I wanted to learn as much as I could,

because Bruce was an artist.

I loved the way he would rotate the car,

and there was a finesse to that.

To be able to extract every ounce

of what this machine is capable of,

a machine that...

can hurt you.

COLIN:
He took that GT40 from a vehicle

that was dangerous at 190

to a car that was going 214 or so

mile an hour, hands off.

Bruce had contributed a lot

of his expertise to the program,

and Fords

were pretty dominant at that time.

ANDRETTI:
Le Mans was really

the big objective.

Henry Ford had decided he wanted to win

it and it didn't matter what it took.

There wasn't a budget constraint

like we all had in Formula 1.

CHRIS:
Bruce and I teamed up

as Ford drivers.

I guess it became natural

to put the two Kiwis together.

Having a chance to win Le Mans was huge.

The race always started

at four o'clock in the afternoon,

and finished at four o'clock

the following afternoon.

Bruce started the race,

sprinted across the track,

one leg shorter than the other.

(ENGINES ROAR)

In those days, those cars, you couldn't

drive them flat out for 24 hours.

But Bruce said, you know,

"We've got nothing to lose.

Let's give it everything."

And that's exactly what we did.

We just drove it flat out.

COMMENTATOR:
Headlight beams pick out

the advertising signs in high relief,

and the long lonely night of endurance

lies ahead.

PHIL:
As daylight dawned on the Sunday,

the Fords were in a very strong position.

MAN OVER TANNOY:

In first place, number two, Ford.

In second place, number one, Ford.

In third place, number five, Ford.

CHRIS:
Ford made the decision,

we're first, second and third,

we'll have a dead heat.

When the decision came to slow us down,

I can remember Bruce being really annoyed.

Bruce did the last stint.

I will never know whether Bruce put his

foot down, or Ken Miles backed off,

but Bruce crossed the line

clearly in front.

Suddenly, you know, we're standing up

on the podium with Henry Ford,

and we've won one of

the most famous races that exists.

We've just won Le Mans.

(WHISTLING AND CHEERING)

# A few years back Ford savvied a need

# For a bold new breed

of four-wheeled steed

# A car to stand out

from the rest of the gang

# A car born to fame

# The Ford Mustang...

COLIN:
People on the street, they own

a Ford, and Bruce was driving a Ford.

They'd say, McLaren,

that's the guy that won Le Mans.

It impressed so many people.

# Mustang... 66!

It was a huge PR boost.

CHRIS:

Bruce's entire racing operation at that time

was really aimed at the Can-Am series.

MARILYN FOX HALDER: Can-Am is

the Canadian-American Challenge Cup.

And that series

consisted of unlimited engine,

unlimited almost everything,

so that people could be very innovative

with their cars.

Well, this is Mosport.

And I'm Bruce McLaren.

INTERVIEWER:

What do you think was your biggest break?

BRUCE:
The creation of the Can-Am

series was very good for us.

Just at the stage where

we were starting to concentrate

on sports car racing,

sports car racing

became a very big thing in the US.

MARILYN:
I started as a race queen,

if you will, with flags, and the jumping.

I hear those engines, and I'm, whoa.

(LAUGHS)

I would go around with this camera

all the time,

and I'd do the drivers' parade,

and they'd all wave at me

when they go by. Like a family.

Got to meet Bruce, and became friends.

I loved the way he always said,

"She'll be right, mate."

DAN:

Bruce had a good team, and he was trying to

raise enough money

so he could spend enough money

to stay on the cutting edge

of racing car development.

MAN OVER TV:
McLaren's design mastery

was very much in evidence.

Thirteen of his streamlined models

were in the race.

The McLaren was the class of the field.

I was so envious, wishing so much

that I could just drive

one of those things myself.

LOTHAR MOTSCHENBACHER:

McLaren brand, the cars, appealed to me.

It was smooth, and they looked good.

So that inspired me.

COMMENTATOR:

Charging up the back straight,

McLaren makes 165 miles an hour look easy.

I met Lothar,

and Lothar raced a Cobra for a while.

But when he saw the McLaren...

I sold my Cobra.

I sold my house.

I bought the McLaren.

CHRIS:

Bruce McLaren was very important to me,

and what he started with

the McLaren team was tremendous.

It was a great couple of years of my life.

But I was approached to meet Mr Ferrari.

Bruce was very disappointed

because I think that he was

thinking about stopping racing himself

and just running the team.

INTERVIEWER:
Bruce, you're so busy on

the construction and management side,

are you planning to

retire from racing yourself,

and devote seven days a week

to construction and management?

BRUCE:
Not just yet.

I imagine that in a couple of years

or so I will do this.

But at this stage it's still necessary

for me to do the driving.

ALASTAIR:
In '67 we spent three months

just building these Can-Am cars

to go to the States.

That's all we did.

We're just mad activity.

BRUCE HARR:

We needed to win to earn the prize money

to be able to afford

to do our Formula 1 car.

I don't know how they scraped through

all those years.

I guess Teddy basically put a lot

of money in, in the early days.

GORDON COPPUCK:
The Formula 1 failure

hit Teddy's wallet very bad.

It was one thing for the sponsors

to say, "Yes, we'll stick with you,"

but they had to have a reason

for sticking with us.

REPORTER:
The McLaren team has built

a completely new Can-Am car for 1967.

It's the M6A.

Bruce's new teammate, his fellow

New Zealander Denis Hulme.

INTERVIEWER:

Where are you finding that extra speed?

I would say largely with our car, on

acceleration coming out of the corners.

INTERVIEWER:

You don't expect any trouble in the race?

I always expect trouble,

I just hope we don't have any.

WALLY:

At Mosport the race was gonna start.

Bruce said, "Look, we've got a problem."

COMMENTATOR:
New Zealander

Bruce McLaren, who qualified second,

is not on the grid.

Minutes before the cars were lined up,

the McLaren mechanics

discovered a leaky fuel bag,

and are feverishly working

to replace it, but time is running out.

Teammate Denis Hulme

will carry the McLaren banner.

Dan Gurney, in the second row,

will be his major threat.

The field is off for one tour around

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes