McNamara Racing

McNamara logo

McNamara Racing was a German racing team and manufacturer of formula cars based in Lenggries , which existed between 1968 and 1971 and was founded and managed by Francis McNamara . Francis McNamara also drove in circuit and hill climbs himself.

In addition to purchased vehicles, own vehicles were developed and used.

Company founder

Francis Eugene McNamara (born August 17, 1938 in Galesburg , Illinois ) grew up with his grandparents after his parents died. He taught himself how to repair cars and weld. He enrolled in the Army in 1954 and served in Okinawa, Thailand, and Vietnam. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1966 , meanwhile with the " Green Berets ". Bad Tölz , a neighboring town of Lenggries, was the location of the Green Berets in Germany. This is where he was transferred. In 1966 he married Bonnie Kiplinger from Washington DC Since his wife made the condition that he retired from military service at the wedding, he submitted his dismissal and started his own company. Their goal was the use of touring cars and monopostos in motorsport .

Own racing experience

Francis McNamara had already gained racing experience in the USA, for example in midget cars , sprint races and NASCAR - stock cars . He also took part in a driver training course at Brands Hatch . Here he met Peter Arundell and Dan Hawkes as instructors who later worked for him.

history

Francis McNamara moved with his wife into an apartment in the Lenggries district of Fleck . This apartment also initially served as a base for racing activities. Initially, rooms and tools from a metal works in Lenggries were rented. In 1968 the opportunity arose to accommodate the business in an old sawmill on Urtlmühlweg.

The bodies were initially made by a third party in a GRP processing company. Later on, an own fiberglass workshop across the street took over the GRP processing. Edward Watermann became head of the department.

In February 1969, the site had become too small and additional storage and assembly rooms had to be rented less than a kilometer away. Additional rentals quadrupled the area of ​​the business premises. The competing manufacturers for the market with single-seat vehicles, especially Formula Ford, were then:

• Crosslé Car Company
• Merlyn
• lotus
• Russell-Alexis and
• titanium

Seasons

1967

The 1967 season cannot yet be credited to McNamara Racing, but to private driver Francis McNamara in Formula Vee . He was still serving in the army and dropped out of almost every race for various reasons. In April he had an engine failure in the 11th of 15 laps on the Nordschleife and was not classified (DNF). At Hockenheim he missed qualifying by one place with a new engine; he reached position 33. 32 cars were registered; but still he was allowed to start last. In Mainz-Finthen, while the racing car was being transported to the racetrack, he collided with a car that was about to turn around and was injured, so that he was out of action until September. Then a gasoline line broke during training in Hockenheim and his Apal was destroyed by fire.

Francis McNamara had once set the fastest time in training, but the season as a whole was a failure. Little by little, the plan matured to build its own racing car in decent quality and with a fire extinguishing system. Francis McNamara did not see any third-party workshops in Germany that would have been able to do this.

1968

Until May 11, 1968, it was not possible to put one's own vehicle on the wheels. So an external make had to be used for the first race. McNamara drove a FUCHS - Formula Vee at the Wallberg race , where he finished ninth. The race was stopped due to an accident; with a second run he had expected a better placement.

From August 4th, the Sebring Mk I, designed by himself together with Dan Hawkes, was used. In the first race at the Nürburgring, Peter Arundell, having started from 48th position, achieved 16th place. As the season progressed, the placements got better; Helmut Töpfl achieved his first victory on October 1st in Hockenheim. Rainer Braun set the fastest time in practice, but retired in the race after an accident.

1969

1969 continued to achieve good results, meanwhile on a Sebring Mk II. Legendary is the run for the Germany Cup at the Nürburgring as part of the supporting program of the German Grand Prix , in which Marko asserted himself on Kaimann just ahead of Lauda. Both set new lap records and distanced the rest of the field by half a minute.

Rainer Braun was a McNamara customer and achieved a class win in the Presberg race, only 5.2 seconds slower than the fastest of the day.

McNamara himself won the Hockenheim Prize on 12/13. April 1969.

The quantitative highlight was the Hansa Cup race at the Nürburgring, where nine Formula Vee cars were looked after, almost all of them customer vehicles. The first places went to third-party brands: Breinsberg on Kaimann before Peter Peter on Austro.

World Championship

On January 31, 1969 , an unofficial world championship in the form of a 250-mile race in which 76 cars competed was held in Daytona , where the first Formula Vee race ever took place. 35 dropped out due to an accident. McNamara Racing fielded four vehicles, the drivers were Bross, Huber, Dr. Marko, Töpfl. Marko was involved in a remarkable accident with Bill Bean, who hit his wheels, climbed up, flew over Marko and left tire tracks on the Sebring Mk I.

Töpfl was also involved in a collision, and Bross was eliminated due to a technical defect (spark plug). Huber was left without gas, but drove the fastest race lap.

1970

Operation in the small racing formulas continued even though production was shut down. Only the Sebring Mk3B was introduced as a new development. The cars were able to achieve good placements in the various classes, but were also often canceled.

The team focused on developing and deploying the T 500.

1971

The T 501 was developed and used without success. Bonnie McNamara died shortly before the race in Indianapolis. After the end of the cooperation with STP, McNamara Racing filed for bankruptcy.

vehicles

McNamara Formula Ford

Francis McNamara started with the ex- Penske Chevrolet Camaro and the Apal - Formula Vee from Anton Fischhaber . After the Apal was destroyed by fire, a purchased FUCHS Formula Vee was used as a racing car.

The Camaro came from a small series with thin sheet steel, had engine and transmission units specially homologated for motorsport and had to be repainted for licensing reasons. Later he drove with KLM stickers. McNamara had won her as a contract partner for transporting the cars to the USA. Later he was to be used in the European Touring Car Cup.

At the time, Formula Vee, Formula Ford, Formula 3 racing cars and Indy 500 racing cars were built. The first Formula Vee prototype was called Sebring Mk I, the first evolutionary stage, which only included details, also Sebring Mk I. The second evolutionary stage was called Sebring Mk II, the F3 Sebring Mk III.

The company's own racing cars and the tools and spare parts were transported to the racetracks in two vans, a Hanomag F65 and a Mercedes-Benz T2. A type of vehicle hardly known in Germany at the time was used to transport people: a " camper van ", a Chevy pickup with a caravan body. In addition, a standing height tent was set up in the paddock, in which the mechanics were accommodated at night.

At the very beginning, the racing car was carried on an open single-axle trailer behind the pickup.

The vehicles that were given more than one paint job on the Lenggries factory premises also include two or three Ford Capri, about the use of which no details are available. In general, the Capris made a very good impression.

Sebring Mk I.

When it was introduced in 1968, very restrictive regulations still applied, which were relaxed a little in 1969 (change of the rear track, coupling of the transporter , etc.). The unique selling points were chrome-plated wheel carriers, suspensions and drive shafts, as well as an unusually powerful fire extinguishing system. In addition, the vehicle had a double roll bar and an additional horizontal stiffener in the rear cockpit area.

Thanks to the collaboration with a GRP processing company, the body could be built from this lightweight material. A side effect was that the rearview mirrors did not vibrate.

There were two engine variants for the American and European markets: 1200 and 1300 cm³ displacement in accordance with the locally applicable regulations.

The car was not only praised for its good workmanship and the resulting appearance, but above all the general handling was well received (track test by Peter Arundell).

The car was marketed as a basic kit, consisting of a chassis, three-part body and rear suspension. The following had to be bought: engine, transmission, front axle, steering, brakes, rims and tires so that a drivable car was created. Customers could choose between Bilstein and Armstrong dampers.

Sebring Mk II

This vehicle differed from its predecessor in the engine, for which new regulations again applied (camshaft, power increase to approx. 75 hp and a newly designed body). With the start of work for STP, production was stopped.

Formula Ford

Externally, the Formula Ford does not differ much from the Sebring Mk III, which was built at the same time, except for the narrower wheels. However, a lattice frame made of seamless ST-35 steel tubing was mandatory, while monocoques found their way into Formula 3 in 1970. The technical data were:

• Weight 420 kg
• The only permitted engine was the Ford 1600 GT Kent engine . Bore 81 mm, stroke 77.6 mm. McNamara Racing specifies an engine output of 96 hp at 6500 rpm.
• Wheel size 5.5x13. Steel was the required material; It was recommended to visually inspect for cracks twice a week and replace them every six months.
• Wheelbase 234 cm, front track 147.5 cm, rear 145 cm.

Shock absorbers and brake calipers also differed from the Mk II and the Mk III. The cooling water and oil circuits in the Formula Ford and the Mk III were the same. The chassis numbers followed a different nomenclature: in front of them was a running number for each chassis, followed by the year after a slash. Every year the first position started again at 01. With the start of work for STP, production was stopped.

Sebring Mk III

From 1968 to 1970 the displacement in Formula 3 was limited to 1000 cm³. Pictures also show the engine called "Screamer" in a McNamara chassis. From January 1, 1971, a displacement limit of 1600 cm³ applied; a restrictor with a diameter of 20 mm was now required. Since the new, larger-displacement vehicles were slower than the old "Screamer", the air intake was increased to 21.5 mm in 1972. McNamara preferred Italian " Nova " engines, which were sometimes hard to come by.

• Wheelbase 234 cm
• Track width 147.5 cm at the front, 145 cm at the rear
• Minimum weight 400 kg

Sebring Mk3B

The main difference to the predecessor was a revised axle geometry. On May 1, 1970 Niki Lauda met James Hunt in the car described below in Magny-Cours , who was driving a Lotus 59 . The rest of the story is told in the feature film Rush - Anything for Victory .

With the start of work for STP, production was stopped.

T 500

Mario Andretti 1969

Jo Karasek met STP representative Bill Dunn at the Vienna Motor Show (today Vienna Autoshow ) in autumn 1969 . The general exchange of ideas revealed that STP driver Mario Andretti did not have a car for 1970 . The regulations specifically for the Indy 500 had been changed several times in a short time (prohibition of turbines, severe disadvantage of four-wheel drive due to the tire size, etc.), and STP President Andy Granatelli was looking for a partner after a collaboration between Colin Chapman from the Lotus team and Ferrari had n't come about.

On the evening of November 21, 1969, Karasek, Brunner and Francis as well as Bonnie McNamara discussed the details, both in terms of the design of the vehicles (initially it was assumed that there were two copies) and the finances. The Bonnies family's newsletter provided information about exchange rate forecasts (imminent sharp devaluation of the dollar ).

The price range for an IndyCar ranged between $ 600,000 (with turbine and four-wheel drive) and $ 300,000, with a lot of money spent on keeping the vehicle weight not too high above the allowed. With the in-house production of the wheels (14x15 inches) one broke new technical ground. A new screed was laid for the exact alignment of the assembly stands.

The chassis was planned as a monocoque with two rear subframes, which held the methanol tank and one of the two possible engines and served as pivot points for the chassis. The two engine variants consisted of the quasi-standard Ford V8 2.6-liter turbo-charged engine, which was used by many teams, and the naturally aspirated Ford 5.2-liter V8 engine with a cast-iron cylinder head. The intake tract, as the highest point in the rear, required a natural wedge shape for the car, which provided a certain amount of contact pressure.

There was discussion about the validity of strength certificates that McNamara had Dornier draw up in Munich, but were not recognized in the USA. Finally, the helicopter manufacturer Bell helped out, which McNamara knew from his army days.

On February 9, 1970, a delegation consisting of Andy and Vince Granatelli and Mario Andretti came to Lenggries to check the work that had been done so far and to do a seat rehearsal. According to the status of the contracts, four chassis were planned, with Andretti's last year's car serving as a backup and intended for the first early races. One chassis was designed for road courses.

The first set-up drive on the Indianapolis course was unfortunate. The car broke away after a cardan joint broke and drove violently into the concrete wall on the exit of turn 4. You had to use the replacement chassis and change the pivot points of the wheel suspensions. The result of qualifying was eighth on the grid; Andretti finished sixth in the race.

It was subsequently possible to determine that a spring had jammed on the spring plate and that a wheel was not being loaded. While running, Andretti bumped once over the grass of the infield so that the spring settled. The driving behavior was fundamentally better afterwards.

The dismantled chassis for road courses brought Andretti pole position and victory in the 150-mile race in Castle Rock (Colorado) .

T 501

The successor to the T 500 was to be called the T 501 and five copies were to be built; three for oval courses and two for street courses. Another four copies for AJ Foyt's racing team were possible. Then the USAC changed its championship regulations so that only races on oval courses were counted.

The T 501 was not a further development of the T 500, but was completely redesigned. There were several early races for testing in which the first 501 was completely destroyed. Andretti's team-mate Steve Krisiloff had to switch to the 69 Brawner Hawk-Ford. Andretti finished ninth in the race in Phoenix . The driving impression was good. In Trenton he retired with a broken turbocharger. In qualifying for Indianapolis he reached the 9th place and Krisiloff, now again in the McNamara the 27th. In the race, both were eliminated. The 1971 race went down in history because the pace car drove into the photographer's stand after the start and injured 29 people, two of them seriously.

driver

• Mario Andretti drove seven races on the T 500 in 1970 and eleven on the T 501 in 1971
• Peter Arundell
• Peter Brand six races between 1969 and 1971
• Helmut Bross
• Horst Eiteneuer
• Helmut Koinigg
• Helmut Marko was not only one of the drivers, but also worked in management and as a legal advisor for the company.
• Jochen Mass started in 1970 in the Bad Neuenahr hill climb and in an AvD race at the Nürburgring, but was retired on both occasions due to engine failure.
• Gerold Pankl
• Werner Riedl
• Toni Sailer
• Bill Scott, successful driver from the USA
• Helmut Töpfl

The status of the listed drivers and those not listed is not always precisely defined; in particular, there is no data on fees. Many well-known names from the time, Niki Lauda as an example , drove a McNamara Racing car at some point in their career. The purchase price usually included two test days, with the route rent being payable by the buyer. Niki Lauda's Formula 3 was bought by his father; a separate contract with himself stipulated that he could train his own mechanic at McNamara Racing, the mediation of discussions with Shell for the purpose of free delivery of fuel and lubricants and a current account for spare parts. In the event of success in races (among the top five), the spare parts were delivered free of charge. In return, the damaged parts had to be returned, and McNamara Racing undertook to pay a penalty of DM 5000 in the event of late delivery of the car; 1000 DM was added for each missed race.

In the work listed under literature, further details of a driver's contract can be seen on page 91.

Other employees

• Gustav Brunner
• The former designer Dan Hawkes came from Lotus in 1968
• Jo Karasek , who was poached by Lola in 1969 . One of the decisive factors was his desire to work in a German-speaking country again.
• Edward Marley of Brabham
• Peter Reinhardt by Roger Penske

The first racing mechanics were Heinz Willibald and Toni Krinner. The latter had already worked for Toni Fischhaber. By chance I got in touch with an Englishman named John McNamara, who worked in Ford's marketing department for Americans in Bavaria. He was hired as sales manager for racing cars, but also for racing accessories such as helmets and driver's suits. In May 1969, Johann Ludhammer joined the team as a specialist for Elektra Beckum (later Metabo ) inert gas welding. He was also entrusted with the NVC department. The body parts were modeled over wooden blocks and then sanded. Hoods and doors were also made for the racing department of Ford Cologne.

Operational management

As ambitious as the racing business was, the German bureaucracy was neglected. In 1969, a dentist's bill revealed that the management had not insured their employees. Francis McNamara had simply applied the American conditions, where employees take care of their own health insurance, in Germany. Of course he paid the bill and made up for what he had missed. The workforce was appeased with a meal that included a cup of turtle soup .

In order to maintain contacts with important clients, table attendants in a nightclub in Munich have been paid when they should be distracted by impending deadlines.

In 1969, at the instigation of Jo Karasek, production was switched from a purely one-off production (it took eight days to assemble the frame and body) to a type of series production (employees turned, welded or milled a large number of parts "in stock"). This made it easier to guarantee the delivery of vehicles.

In addition to pure production and support on the racetracks, McNamara switched to services for third-party racing cars, on which he carried out repairs and adjustments. By keeping a large number of parts in stock, he felt able to do so.

Finances

Part of the establishment of the workshop was financed by the severance pay McNamara received when he left civil service. The share that his wife and her mother invested in the company is likely to be significantly higher.

Bonnie Kiplinger from Washington DC (born July 21, 1939 ) performed as an aerialist at the New Jersey State Fair in 1966 and met Francis McNamara there when he was standing from the 100 m high roof of the main grandstand of the Trenton Raceway (today: Trenton Speedway) abseiled. She was the wealthy daughter of the American newspaper publisher LaVerne Kiplinger.

According to unconfirmed reports, McNamara only built and sold 15 to 18 Formula Vee vehicles. The company's homepage says that 16 were built in March 1969 and over 50 were ordered. According to Peter Schroeder's research, orders for 21 FV cars were on the books in April 1969. However, the chassis numbers of the Formula Vee vehicles have not been passed down; those of Formula 3 suggest at least 5, but also 12 different chassis.

For reasons of economy, it is likely that in the early years no company applicant license was acquired, but one in the name of Francis E. McNamara.

On June 30, 1970, McNamara Racing was entered as a limited partnership in the commercial register. Bonnie McNamara was a partner with 25,000 DM, her mother LaVerne Kiplinger with 50,000 DM.

Disputes and End

In parallel to the purchase contracts for Formula 3 racing cars, many driver contracts were concluded for Formula Vee or Formula Ford. In 1970, when it became clear that the “small” formulas would no longer be produced, these contracts could not be terminated and there was a risk of contractual penalties if the driver switched to another racing team. The free delivery of spare parts with good placements was also sometimes controversial. Werner Riedl had assembled one of three engines that ran well and could no longer say exactly which one he had returned.

Gerold Pankl's Formula 3, damaged by a broken chassis, could not be repaired in time, and Pankl offered to have his mechanics take over the work. He was supposed to pay 40 DM per workshop hour, or 20 DM when working in the open air.

A certain bolt in the wheel suspension, the Millers bolt, also caused unrest among the drivers . He first broke into Helmut Marko's Formula 3 in the framework program of the Monaco GP , and the Roy Winkelmann team who looked after him also took the second McNamara out of the race. The company management failed to inform other vehicle owners and wanted to shift part of the blame on the fitters who were brought in by the driver. However, it is certain that the bolt was already defective, with a hole in the thread that weakened it.

A remaining debt of $ 30,000 that STP should pay to McNamara Racing was also in dispute. The main shareholder LaVerne Kiplinger obtained an injunction that the amount must be withheld by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway until a final decision has been made. Since both cars broke down in 1971, no premiums were due that could have been withheld.

Bonnie McNamara's sudden death on June 21, 1971, allegedly from self-induced sleeping pills, marked the end of McNamara Racing. Francis McNamara disappeared from the scene and was considered untraceable until Schroeder found him in Chicago in 2013 and made several phone calls with him. He was given information and personal effects by friends who were still on duty in the barracks. Other sources place him in Wisconsin . The company was dissolved; the seized inventory helped secure employee salaries for July 1971. On June 13, 1975, McNamara Racing was deleted from the commercial register.

Today the conference center of a hotel is located on the site.

Varia

The team was never at a loss for advertising gags. A small motorcycle with a rear wing above head height was used to transport people in the paddock .

After a chance visit to the circus, Bonnie McNamara arranged a photo session with a trainer, at which real tigers posed with and on the first McNamara Sebring Mk I. Also known is the picture taken by Regina Relang of an FV in the landscape with Helmut Tölpl at the wheel and a model next to him.

literature

• Peter Schroeder: McNamara Racing The way from Lenggries to Indianapolis 1968 - 1971. VIEW GmbH, 1st edition 2015 ISBN 978-3-945397-03-9

Web links

• Today's website
• Picture of the T 500

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.formel-vau.eu/joomla/files/DaytonaalleFV-FSV-FahrzeugeHFVE.pdf
2. ↑ http://www.britishracecar.com/jeffsnook-alexis-mk14.htm
3. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated July 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 38 of 50 
4. ↑ http://www.mcnamara-racing.de/McNamara/Fahrgestellnummer.html
5. ↑ http://www.formel3guide.com/fotos/fotos-1961-1970/fotos-1970.html Pictures No. 9, 17 and 18. The legend names the Mk3B, which was developed later
6. ↑ https://www.pinterest.com/pin/51861833185614158/
7. ↑ http://www.race-cars.com/carsold/other/m1fvx1/m1fvx1ss.htm
8. ↑ http://www.mcnamara-racing.de/McNamara/Home.html
9. ↑ Schroeder 2015, page 57
10. ↑ http://www.mcnamara-racing.de/McNamara/Fahrgestellnummer.html
11. ↑ http://www.teamdan.com/archive/www2/ukf3/69gb.html
12. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from April 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 36/50