McLaren at 50

Friday 1st February 2013

Pic Of The Week: McLaren hits 50 in style

The boys & girls from Woking kick off their demi-centenary celebrations with this superb shot



OK, so we admit a McLaren-related pic this week will make the site feel rather full of the Woking concern in the last couple of days, but with the company kicking off its 50th Anniversary celebrations and launching its new F1 car at the same time, would you expect otherwise?

And indeed, with images this good, we think we can be forgiven for indulging ourselves further. The recipe here is simple: line up Bruce McLaren’s ’69 M7C alongside a modern-day 12C Spider finished in the same vivid Papaya Orange. Set to a backdrop of McLaren’s utterly clinical, monochrome HQ. Roast for 30 minutes, baste regularly, throw in a few other cooking cliches to taste, and this is the result. Pretty effective, wouldn’t you say? And, as Scrof can testify, it looks every bit as good in the flesh as it does in this shot.

Of course, you’ll be up on the 12C having read Mr Harris’s review – and if you haven’t, then it’s ten Hail Martins for you and straight to bed without any tea – but the M7C is a rather more special beast. Powered by the iconic Cosworth DFV – or Double Four Valve – V8, it was the first McLaren to feature a fully-enclosed monocoque, rather than the bathtub chassis that had gone before, making it a stiffer proposition than previous M7 variants. In its first outing, Bruce McLaren himself helmed it from a lowly 13th on the grid to a 2nd place finish in the race, and while the remainder of its racing career was less distinguished, it still marked a milestone in the history of the team. And you can bet your bottom dollar you’ll be seeing it again as McLaren’s 50th Anniversary celebrations continue!

 

Traditional (4:3)
Computer widescreen (16:10)
TV widescreen (16:9)
Portrait (smartphone, etc)

Author
Discussion

pagani1

Original Poster:

683 posts

202 months

Friday 1st February 2013
quotequote all
Love the Spyder, top of my wish list at present as a sensible supercar not sure about Papaya though prefer Volcano Red myself. Congratulations to Ron Dennis and all at McLaren for building probably the best company in England right now and to work for too I gather. Well Done to you all and to all of the living World Champions for the marque, Emmerson, Niki, Alain, Mika, Lewis and hopefully this season Jenson, sadly James, Ayrton, and Bruce McLaren are not with us.

Edited by pagani1 on Friday 1st February 11:55

soad

32,891 posts

176 months

Friday 1st February 2013
quotequote all
Truly superb photo, this will do nicely. smile

PascalBuyens

2,868 posts

282 months

Friday 1st February 2013
quotequote all
"we admit a McLaren-related pic this week will make the site feel rather full of the Woking concern "

Better than those bloody Porsches all over the site smile

marksmith59

55 posts

199 months

Friday 1st February 2013
quotequote all
Richard Trevithick meets HS2 is the best analogy I can think of?

urquattro

755 posts

186 months

Sunday 3rd February 2013
quotequote all
marksmith59 said:
Richard Trevithick meets HS2 is the best analogy I can think of?
Prefer the steamer re above, and prefer CAN AM monsters to anything modern, their classic races now remain awe inspiring and make F1 look like a set of auto gearboxes running around.

Cotty

39,529 posts

284 months

Sunday 3rd February 2013
quotequote all
Fantastic, one of the best I think.

bicycleshorts

1,939 posts

161 months

Tuesday 5th February 2013
quotequote all
I'm sure it's been posted elsewhere on this site, but this was a great 50th video: Youtube: McLaren 50 - Courage