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Auktionsarchiv: Los-Nr. 522Ω

The ex-Rosso Bianco Collection 1968 McLaren-Chevrolet M6B CanAm Sports-Racing Spider Chassis no. 50.30

Schätzpreis
240.000 $ - 280.000 $
Zuschlagspreis:
n. a.
Auktionsarchiv: Los-Nr. 522Ω

The ex-Rosso Bianco Collection 1968 McLaren-Chevrolet M6B CanAm Sports-Racing Spider Chassis no. 50.30

Schätzpreis
240.000 $ - 280.000 $
Zuschlagspreis:
n. a.
Beschreibung:

This immaculate and virtually concours CanAm McLaren is finished in a livery similar to that of the Penske Racing Team as it contested the legendary CanAm Championship serious of Group 7 sports car races in 1968. This dark blue livery highlighted by intricate gold pin-striping graced the relevant Penske McLaren of that 1968 season which was driven by Mark Donohue – the leading American driver in the series after Dan Gurney. The 1967 CanAm Champion cars had been the McLaren Works Team’s M6As, of which only three were built. For 1968 this design was then put into production as the customer-sale McLaren M6B. While Penske had campaigned an ex-works Gulf-McLaren team M6A model car from 1967 in early-season ’68 United States Road Racing Championship events, contemporary reports state that the M6A was sold to Jerry Hansen pre-CanAm. A new M6B – which was exquisitely prepared to Penske’s towering standards – was then made ready for Penske for the new season. We understand that the example offered here - fresh from long-term preservation and display within the Rosso Bianco Collection - is based upon a 1968-style customer car wearing this lookalike color scheme. Regardless of this car’s detail provenance - research is ongoing as we close for press - this Rosso Bianco car is certainly breathtakingly beautiful!. The unlimited-capacity sports-racing car design which founded the McLaren dynasty of definitive CanAm cars emerged early in time for the second series of Canadian-American Challenge Cup races, in 1967. Bruce McLaren and his men had appreciated how they had come up short in their campaign to win CanAm’s inaugural title the previous year. Their Oldsmobile V8-engined cars – though light in weight – had been light on horsepower too, and so the change was quickly made to Chevrolet engines of larger capacity. The little British-based team found themselves in a catch-up situation, particularly against the big 6-litre Lola-Chevrolet T70s, and they were beaten to the title by Lola’s number one star – John Surtees For 1967 the McLaren team’s youthful chief designer Robin Herd then progressed the monocoque-chassised M6A prototype from blank paper to running prototype in a mere 11 weeks. It was ready on June 19, 1967 – ten weeks before the opening CanAm race – and Bruce McLaren and his new CanAm team-mate Denny Hulme simply tested it to perfection in that period. The M6A design’s twin-pontoon aluminum monocoque chassis was light, simple yet immensely strong and the rear chassis ‘forks’ were stiffened in torsion by the Chevrolet V8 engine block. Suspension was similar to that of the preceding M1-series spaceframe McLaren sports cars. Bruce elected to test the chassis initially without the bodywork, getting the basic platform to handle as he wanted before adding any aerodynamic loads. He would admit that the basic body shape of the M6A owed much to that of the stillborn Ford ‘J-car’ on which he had been working. CanAm authority and contemporary race reporter Pete Lyons wrote in his wonderful book ‘CanAm’ (Motorbooks International 1995): “To show the Yanks the Kiwis were in synch with the Psychedelic Sixties, some of (the team’s) engines appeared with little plaques affixed to the valve covers proclaiming they were full of ‘Flower Power’…Late in the season Bruce was pleased to note that the M6A chassis had been so nicely set up at Goodwood that he reached the last race in the States before he felt any need to change anti-roll bars. Both he and Hulme reveled in the handling that was at once stable and responsive. Envious outsiders spoke of the M6As behaving like F1 cars – or ‘sophisticated go-karts’ as one driver put it…”. Sophisticated indeed; so sophisticated in fact that Bruce McLaren and Denny Hulme utterly dominated that 1967 CanAm series with Bruce emerging as Champion with 30 points to Denny’s 27 in second place – the Gulf-sponsored McLarens having won five of the six qualifying races. For 1968, not only would the Gulf-McLaren works team

Auktionsarchiv: Los-Nr. 522Ω
Auktion:
Datum:
18.08.2006
Auktionshaus:
Bonhams London
San Francisco 220 San Bruno Avenue San Francisco CA 94103 Tel: +1 415 861 7500 Fax : +1 415 861 8951 info.us@bonhams.com
Beschreibung:

This immaculate and virtually concours CanAm McLaren is finished in a livery similar to that of the Penske Racing Team as it contested the legendary CanAm Championship serious of Group 7 sports car races in 1968. This dark blue livery highlighted by intricate gold pin-striping graced the relevant Penske McLaren of that 1968 season which was driven by Mark Donohue – the leading American driver in the series after Dan Gurney. The 1967 CanAm Champion cars had been the McLaren Works Team’s M6As, of which only three were built. For 1968 this design was then put into production as the customer-sale McLaren M6B. While Penske had campaigned an ex-works Gulf-McLaren team M6A model car from 1967 in early-season ’68 United States Road Racing Championship events, contemporary reports state that the M6A was sold to Jerry Hansen pre-CanAm. A new M6B – which was exquisitely prepared to Penske’s towering standards – was then made ready for Penske for the new season. We understand that the example offered here - fresh from long-term preservation and display within the Rosso Bianco Collection - is based upon a 1968-style customer car wearing this lookalike color scheme. Regardless of this car’s detail provenance - research is ongoing as we close for press - this Rosso Bianco car is certainly breathtakingly beautiful!. The unlimited-capacity sports-racing car design which founded the McLaren dynasty of definitive CanAm cars emerged early in time for the second series of Canadian-American Challenge Cup races, in 1967. Bruce McLaren and his men had appreciated how they had come up short in their campaign to win CanAm’s inaugural title the previous year. Their Oldsmobile V8-engined cars – though light in weight – had been light on horsepower too, and so the change was quickly made to Chevrolet engines of larger capacity. The little British-based team found themselves in a catch-up situation, particularly against the big 6-litre Lola-Chevrolet T70s, and they were beaten to the title by Lola’s number one star – John Surtees For 1967 the McLaren team’s youthful chief designer Robin Herd then progressed the monocoque-chassised M6A prototype from blank paper to running prototype in a mere 11 weeks. It was ready on June 19, 1967 – ten weeks before the opening CanAm race – and Bruce McLaren and his new CanAm team-mate Denny Hulme simply tested it to perfection in that period. The M6A design’s twin-pontoon aluminum monocoque chassis was light, simple yet immensely strong and the rear chassis ‘forks’ were stiffened in torsion by the Chevrolet V8 engine block. Suspension was similar to that of the preceding M1-series spaceframe McLaren sports cars. Bruce elected to test the chassis initially without the bodywork, getting the basic platform to handle as he wanted before adding any aerodynamic loads. He would admit that the basic body shape of the M6A owed much to that of the stillborn Ford ‘J-car’ on which he had been working. CanAm authority and contemporary race reporter Pete Lyons wrote in his wonderful book ‘CanAm’ (Motorbooks International 1995): “To show the Yanks the Kiwis were in synch with the Psychedelic Sixties, some of (the team’s) engines appeared with little plaques affixed to the valve covers proclaiming they were full of ‘Flower Power’…Late in the season Bruce was pleased to note that the M6A chassis had been so nicely set up at Goodwood that he reached the last race in the States before he felt any need to change anti-roll bars. Both he and Hulme reveled in the handling that was at once stable and responsive. Envious outsiders spoke of the M6As behaving like F1 cars – or ‘sophisticated go-karts’ as one driver put it…”. Sophisticated indeed; so sophisticated in fact that Bruce McLaren and Denny Hulme utterly dominated that 1967 CanAm series with Bruce emerging as Champion with 30 points to Denny’s 27 in second place – the Gulf-sponsored McLarens having won five of the six qualifying races. For 1968, not only would the Gulf-McLaren works team

Auktionsarchiv: Los-Nr. 522Ω
Auktion:
Datum:
18.08.2006
Auktionshaus:
Bonhams London
San Francisco 220 San Bruno Avenue San Francisco CA 94103 Tel: +1 415 861 7500 Fax : +1 415 861 8951 info.us@bonhams.com
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