Bruce McLaren Motor Racing was founded in 1963 by New Zealander Bruce McLaren. Bruce was a works driver for the British Formula One team Cooper with whom he had won three Grands Prix and come second in the 1960 world championship. Wanting to compete in the Australasian Tasman Series, Bruce approached his employers, but when team owner Charles Cooper insisted on using 1.5 litre Formula One-specification engines instead of the 2.5 litre motors permitted by the Tasman rules, Bruce decided to set up his own team to run him and his prospective Formula One team-mate Timmy Mayer with custom-built Cooper cars. Bruce won the 1964 series, but Mayer was killed in practice for the final race, prompting his brother and manager Teddy Mayer to become involved with the running of the team. In 1964 and 1965 McLaren were based in New Malden, then Feltham before settling on premises in Colnbrook. During this period Bruce drove for his team in sports car races in the United Kingdom and North America and also entered the 1965 Tasman Series with Phil Hill but didn’t win it. He continued to drive in Grands Prix for Cooper but judging that team’s form to be waning, decided to race his own cars in 1966.

Can-Am

McLaren’s first Can-Am entrant was the M1B, which Bruce and Chris Amon raced in the series’ inaugural, 1966 season. With it, they led two races but scored no wins. The following year Robin Herd purpose-designed the Chevrolet V8 powered M6A, delays with the Formula One programme allowing the team to spend extra resources on developing the Can-Am car which was the first to be painted in McLaren orange. With Denny Hulme now partnering Bruce, they won five out of six races and Bruce won the championship, setting the pattern for the next four years. In 1968 they used a new car, the M8, to win four races—non-works McLarens took the other two—but this time Hulme was victorious overall. 1969 saw McLaren domination become total as they won all eleven races with the M8B; Hulme won five, Bruce won six and the driver’s championship. McLaren’s success in Can-Am brought with it financial rewards, both prize money and money from selling cars to other teams, that helped to support the team and fund the nascent and relatively poor paying Formula One programme.

When Bruce was killed testing the 1970 season’s M8D, he was at first replaced by Dan Gurney, then later by Peter Gethin. They won two and one races respectively while Hulme won six on the way to the championship. In 1971 the team saw off the challenge of 1969 world champion Jackie Stewart in the Lola T260, winning eight races, with Peter Revson taking the title. Hulme also won three Can-Am races in 1972 but the McLaren M20 was defeated by the Porsche 917/10s of Mark Donohue and George Follmer. Faced by the greater resources of Porsche, McLaren decided to abandon Can-Am at the end of 1972 and focus solely on open-wheel racing. When the original Can-Am series ceased at the end of 1974, McLaren were by far the most successful constructor with 43 wins.