McLaren M7A

Bruce McLaren in the M7A at the 1969 German Grand Prix

Vic Elford in the M7B at the Nürburgring 1969

Denis Hulme in the M7A at the 1968 USA Grand Prix

The McLaren M7 was a Formula 1 racing car , built by the Formula 1 team McLaren .

The McLaren M7A and the M7B , M7C and M7D models were the first notable monoposto racing cars of the then still young racing team. The design of the vehicle came from Robin Herd , the execution was carried out by his successor Gordon Coppuck . The monocoque was made of riveted and glued aluminum . The suspension had lower wishbones and wishbones at the front and double wishbones with push rods at the rear. The struts were on the outside. The V8 unit from Cosworth was used as the engine and the DG-300 transmission came from Hewland .

The racing car was presented in the spring of 1968 and made its debut at the BRDC International Trophy at Silverstone . At the wheel was the new works driver Denis Hulme , who won the Formula 1 World Championship in 1967 and switched from Brabham to McLaren at the end of the year . The first race ended with a win. The M7A also won the Race of Champions at Brands Hatch , which is also not part of the World Championship . This time team principal Bruce McLaren was at the wheel himself.

There were three wins of the season in the world championship . Bruce McLaren won in Belgium and Hulme won the races in Italy and Canada and even had the chance to become world champion again until the last race. But the title went to Graham Hill in the Lotus 49 . The team finished second in the constructors' championship.

In 1969 the car was revised in detail and launched as the M7B. The M7A were henceforth used in the Formula 5000 . The M7B received external fuel tanks and a rear wing. The team was unable to match the great success of the previous year. In the end, however, it was enough for fourth overall place in the constructors' cup. 1970 McLaren was again fourth in this championship with the M7.

An M7B was sold to Colin Crabbe Racing in 1969 and driven by all-round racer Vic Elford . The vehicle was lost in a serious accident at the German Grand Prix . The M7C was Bruce McLaren's emergency vehicle in 1969 and was later sold to John Surtees , who gave the car to Joakim Bonnier a year later . The M7D had an Alfa Romeo engine and was driven by Andrea de Adamich .

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