Bruce McLaren epitomizes the expression ‘living life to the fullest.' He only lived for 32 years, but in that time, he nearly single-handedly changed the path of motor racing and gave the world F1 racing behemoth McLaren. The Kiwi was a racer, an inventor, and a leader, and he continues to be an inspiration and role model for everyone in the world of racing. He devoted his entire life to motor racing and automobile engineering until he passed away in 1970 while testing his design. His legacy still stands tall like his life-sized statue at the McLaren Technology Centre at Surrey, United Kingdom.
At the age of 22McLaren was the youngest driver to win the U.S international Grand Prix contest for Formula I cars in 1959. An engineering graduate from the University of Auckland, he was also a pioneer of racing cars that would lay the foundation of the McLaren racing team and McLaren Cars.
His Early Life And Love for Racing
Bruce McLaren was born in Auckland, New Zealand, on August 30, 1937. Due to a fall when he was very young, he suffered from Perthes disease, which forced him to spend two years in a special traction bed. His hip joint was never fully functional even after he recovered. Bruce developed a knack for racing and automobile engineering from his father, who had a service station.
After recovering from his illness, Bruce joined his father at his service station and learned about automobile engineering. The first car that Bruce and his father jointly built was an Austin 7 Ulster, and at the age of 15, he took that car for a hill climb competition and won. That was his first entry into a competitive event, and for the next few years, he continued to participate in such local events. Soon, he caught the eyes of Jack Brabham, and in 1958 he was selected as a driver to go Europe by the NZIGP Association, of which Jack Brabham was a selection committee member.
His Dazzling Debut In 1958
In 1958 Bruce McLaren arrived in England as a driver of Cooper Cars. Today drivers are hired by racing teams in exchange for millions of dollars, but McLaren left his country and traveled to England just out of his love for racing cars. Cooper Cars hired him without any promised monetary benefits. However, they gave him an opportunity to build and race his own F2 car.
But in that very year, the racing world heard the footsteps of an upcoming legend. That year McLaren participated in the German Grand Prix, a combined F1 and F2 race at the Nurburgring track, and the performance of this newcomer shook the world. He stood first with an F2 car and scored a fifth overall position while giving tough competition to legendary drivers like Tony Brooks.
A Bright Racing Career: 1959 Onwards
The year 1959 was the brightest period in McLaren's racing career. While driving for the Cooper Cars, he conquered the United States Grand Prix of 1959 as the youngest driver ever to achieve the feat. He was 22 then, and his winning run in Grand Prix’s continued the following year, and he won the 1960 Formula One session of the Argentine Grand Prix. He drove the cars to win these championships and used his engineering skills in developing these cars.
After these, McLaren went on to win the 1962 Monte Carlo Grand Prix and 1968 Belgium Grand Prix. Besides, he also set his winning mark in the 24-hour Le Mans with Ford in 1966, and the following year, he won the 12-hour Sebring with Ford again.
The Bruce McLaren Racing Team (1963): The Legend’s Dream
While driving for Cooper, McLaren was looking for a chance to build his racing team, and that became a fact in 1963 when Bruce McLaren Racing Ltd was established. Team Mclaren built two special 2.5-liter Coopers, which won the Tasman Series Championship.
The McLaren M1A, McLaren's first true racing vehicle, was built in late 1964. Frank Nichols, the owner of Elva Cars, now known as Trojan, approached them the same year about the prospect of Elva producing client versions of the McLaren. Both parties benefited from the connection, which lasted until the early 1970s. The McLaren M1B succeeded the M1A as the first car named after the team's founder.
From 1969, team McLaren turned its head towards Canadian-American Challenge Cup Series, and for that year, no other team was even close to the success of Mclaren. He won all 11 races in which he participated, and at the time of his death, in 1970, McLaren was one of the wealthiest driver-designers of the motorsports world.
Bruce McLaren’s life, unfortunately, was not very lengthy, but his achievements spoke for the legend, and they remain hard to emulate by any other individual even today. Within just 32 years, he established himself as a successful racing driver in various formats and contributed as an automobile engineer. He also founded the McLaren racing team, which became a big name in Formula One racing and is still one of the most competent teams even today.