Legacy of Bruce McLaren

As a Remuera teen in the 1950s, Bruce McLaren split his time between Seddon Technical College, his dad’s Upland Road garage and weekend motorsport events at which he excelled. A decade or so later he had not only established the McLaren Formula 1 team in England but had taken the chequered flag at Monaco and Le Mans, dominated North American sportscar racing, competed in the Indianapolis 500 and made steady progress on a road car programme. Our Bruce repeatedly took on the likes of Ferrari, and often won.

Forty years after his tragic death, McLaren, the company, is very much a UK concern and its on-track rivalry with Ferrari has ultimately spread to the streets. The mid-engined MP4-12C is McLaren’s answer to the Ferrari 458 Italia, the junior supercar that featured in last year’s Urbis Design Annual. It is the first road-going McLaren since the limited production F1 of 1994 (see sidebar).

Designed by Frank Stephenson, the MP4 is one of three models to be produced in a Norman Foster-designed factory beside McLaren’s Technology Centre in Surrey. It offers similar performance at a similar price to the Ferrari 458 but differs in key areas. First, it is based around a carbon monocoque for maximum structural integrity whereas the Ferrari uses an aluminium spaceframe chassis. Both cars have V8 engines but McLaren’s design employs twin turbos, giving it a very different character from the high-revving Italian unit. McLaren has also incorporated F1 technology into the MP4’s gearshift, and braking is assisted by a near-vertical airbrake located where a rear spoiler typically sits.

The flanks are dominated by dramatic, scooped intakes behind scissor doors, and the exhausts are uniquely positioned above the rear number plate, like a pair of flared nostrils flanked by tail lights. Inside, the simplicity of the driver-focused set-up shows that McLaren values function over form and designers insisted on excellent visibility being a priority.

On paper, the McLaren’s key figures mostly eclipse those of its chief rival, making the MP4 a quiet over-achiever, much like like the man who gave the company its name. McLaren makes too little of this connection today but at least we know why a stylised Kiwi logo sits prominently on the MP4’s bonnet and wheel centres.