Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

USA
Johnny Rutherford, McLaren Offy TC
Prime
Analysis

Is the mighty McLaren M16 the greatest ever Indy car?

When founder Bruce McLaren died in June 1970, his team could have folded. Instead, his loyal band rallied to produce a string of winners - including an Indy car game-changer that won three Indy 500s in six years.

Handsome in all its guises, a winner in all its guises, and, being one of the greatest McLarens, therefore one of the greatest racecars of all time. The M16 – along with the various M8 Can-Am bruisers and the M23 Formula 1 car – upgraded McLaren to the racecar constructor elite.

Tragically, Bruce McLaren didn’t live to see his team make this leap in status, but his legacy was a company made in his image, perfectly blending ambition and adventure with a solid methodical engineering ethos. And it was from this environment that the M16 originated and evolved.

Previous article Zanardi: The man whose name is a synonym for “hero”
Next article Indy 500 memories from Borg-Warner’s famous ‘silver man’!

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

USA