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00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:12,074
Everyone is intimidated by a shark. Become
a Card Shark AMERICASCARDROOM.COM

2
00:00:33,992 --> 00:00:37,611
Now, can we... Whoa, hold it.
They're still lighting.

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Right. Stand by.

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00:00:41,625 --> 00:00:45,039
Gordon, would you talk, and,
um, Bruce, if you could just nod.

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Yeah.

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This is the story of a young man
from New Zealand who was so successful

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00:00:55,013 --> 00:00:59,678
at driving cars that he came to Europe
to branch out as a professional driver.

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00:01:00,852 --> 00:01:06,018
As a designer, and as a businessman,
last year McLaren exported racing cars

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00:01:06,149 --> 00:01:09,233
worth one and a quarter million dollars.

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00:01:26,420 --> 00:01:30,167
Bruce McLaren driving in his 100th
Grand Prix at the age of only 32.

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Bruce storms back to make it
a sensational McLaren one-two.

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McLaren seems to choose any line

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00:01:51,445 --> 00:01:54,563
in a daring drive
rarely seen in motor racing.

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00:01:55,073 --> 00:01:59,033
McLaren crew chief Tyler Alexander
looks happy, wouldn't you say?

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00:02:04,708 --> 00:02:07,667
Bruce, you're competing on
the world's motor racing circuits,

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00:02:07,794 --> 00:02:11,834
and beating people who've got far,
far more money to spend than you have.

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Would you be much better if you had four
or five times as much money to spend?

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No. We'd probably get in a terrible mess.

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You can get too big as a racing team,

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and you could get involved and hidebound.

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00:02:24,686 --> 00:02:27,599
You've got to be able to move quickly
if you're going to be competitive.

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00:02:30,901 --> 00:02:35,441
But the actual care with which pieces
are put together is very important.

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Something done incorrectly or assembled
in a hurry can be very dangerous.

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When I was a boy, Mum remembers
hearing me telling a fantail:

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"When I grow up
I'm gonna be a racing car driver."

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We're gonna talk about...
We're gonna talk about Bruce,

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the human interest side of it, really.
Yeah, which I think is a good idea.

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You know what it's like when you meet
somebody and there's an instant rapport.

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He was a very hands-on person,

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learning about the mechanics of cars
at his pop's service station in Remuera.

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We learned how to repair cars, put cars
together, build things, make things.

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We were always together.
His friendship was simply unconditional.

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His sense of humor was never
far behind him. It was like a shadow.

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Motor racing was what we lived for.

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Bruce's father had a pretty
extensive career in motorsport himself,

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00:04:55,045 --> 00:04:56,536
from the 1930s.

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Wives and friends signal drivers

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00:04:59,591 --> 00:05:01,423
how far they've gone and their position.

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Some keen spectators follow the race
in the same way,

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whilst others just watch the cars go by,

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and wonder why on earth people
would want to do this sort of thing.

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Pop McLaren obviously wanted Bruce
to follow in his footsteps,

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and Bruce absolutely loved it.

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It was always in his mind
from the time he was a boy.

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And yet he must have been
in severe discomfort

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00:05:29,162 --> 00:05:32,701
most of the time, strapped to that frame.

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00:05:35,460 --> 00:05:39,875
Bruce had an illness from childhood,
which had left him crippled.

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We called him the Crippled Kid.

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We thought he had polio.

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All types of cripples
from all over New Zealand

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00:05:49,474 --> 00:05:52,342
comprise the 73 patients at
the Wilson Home for Crippled Children

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00:05:52,477 --> 00:05:54,343
at Takapuna, Auckland.

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00:05:56,189 --> 00:05:59,978
At nine and a half I contracted
Perthes Disease.

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The ball joint in my left hip
was breaking down.

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To immobilize the hip,
they strapped me to a frame

56
00:06:06,283 --> 00:06:08,275
and dangled weights from my legs.

57
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A specialist said
I'd be laid up for several months.

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He lay on that frame for two years,

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never came off it.

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Was educated on it, and washed
and fed on it, and the whole lot.

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One leg was always shorter than the other.

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And he limped badly,

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and couldn't play rugby or cricket
like other kids.

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- Can you hit anything?
- Sometimes.

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Your piece, yeah.

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And shoot.

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Damn it.

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Can I move?

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Move? What the hell you mean, move?

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00:07:06,968 --> 00:07:08,379
I'm better when I move.

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During these formative years,

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Pop could see
Bruce's extraordinary natural ability.

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And he'd give us little lessons
about lines through corners

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and things to observe.

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It was Les that always said
that when Bruce beats his times,

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he becomes the driver.

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New Zealand didn't have that many
sporting events in those days,

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and people would drive anywhere
to watch guys hurtling around.

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We did a lot of races together,

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00:07:54,391 --> 00:07:56,553
all over the North Island
and South Island.

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00:08:01,356 --> 00:08:04,724
And then when the Grand Prix, the
New Zealand International Grand Prix,

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started,
that became an extraordinary event.

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00:08:12,367 --> 00:08:16,031
I mean, there were 70,000 people there
on the first day.

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00:08:19,874 --> 00:08:22,582
The New Zealand Grand Prix
was an opportunity

85
00:08:22,711 --> 00:08:26,625
for Bruce to race against
the best drivers in the world.

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00:08:28,008 --> 00:08:31,843
People like Jim Clark, Jack Brabham,
and Stirling Moss.

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These guys were the Spitfire pilots
of the 50s and 60s.

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The pin-up boys.

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In New Zealand racing drivers
are regarded with a special sort of awe.

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00:08:48,820 --> 00:08:51,278
And if they happen to be overseas drivers,

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the awe develops into hero worship.

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00:08:54,576 --> 00:08:57,239
That's how I regarded Jack Brabham.

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00:08:58,288 --> 00:09:01,747
Jack Brabham kept his race car
at Pop's service station,

94
00:09:01,875 --> 00:09:06,415
so he became a friend of the family,
and Bruce's mentor.

95
00:09:07,964 --> 00:09:11,833
Bruce was an extremely good driver and
he had the talent that was born in him.

96
00:09:11,968 --> 00:09:15,302
Motor racing's not something you just
suddenly learn out of the blue.

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00:09:16,306 --> 00:09:19,219
You've got to have it inside,
and you've got to have a feel for it,

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00:09:19,350 --> 00:09:21,717
and Bruce certainly had all that.

99
00:09:23,938 --> 00:09:28,273
The New Zealand International
Grand Prix introduced a scholarship

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00:09:28,401 --> 00:09:32,441
to get a New Zealand driver
to compete internationally.

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00:09:33,406 --> 00:09:36,524
Well, tonight's winner,
he started racing as a 15-year-old.

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This year alone he's won six out of six
sports car races,

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driving the ex-Jack Brabham
Bobtail Cooper.

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00:09:45,835 --> 00:09:48,077
The winner is Bruce McLaren.

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00:09:51,257 --> 00:09:53,624
Now, Bruce,
this award allows you to go to England,

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where you will train and race
with the Cooper Car Company.

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Bruce was 20 years old.

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00:10:07,482 --> 00:10:08,893
Mr and Mrs McLaren said,

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"Would you go with Bruce
as a mechanic/helper?"

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00:10:12,403 --> 00:10:14,110
I said, "But I'm not a mechanic."

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00:10:14,239 --> 00:10:17,858
You know, I worked in an automotive
parts warehouse for my dad.

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00:10:18,868 --> 00:10:20,279
Bruce said, "You'll learn."

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00:10:36,427 --> 00:10:38,919
Backing us up was Jack Brabham.

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00:10:39,848 --> 00:10:42,431
What I was able to do
was to have it teed up for him

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00:10:42,559 --> 00:10:43,970
to come to the Cooper Team.

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00:10:44,102 --> 00:10:46,640
This is where we build our racing cars

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00:10:46,771 --> 00:10:50,981
and there are hundreds of component
parts that go to building a racing car.

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00:10:51,109 --> 00:10:53,192
John Cooper said,
"There's your car over there."

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And he looked over,
and it was a pile of pipes and a rack.

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That's your car there, boy.
Now you better start building it.

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00:10:59,492 --> 00:11:02,405
And he had to set about
with Colin Beanland to build the car

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00:11:02,537 --> 00:11:03,869
before he could race it.

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00:11:03,997 --> 00:11:06,205
And Bruce started his Formula 2 career.

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00:11:07,417 --> 00:11:10,125
Dear Dad, I wish you could be over here

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00:11:10,253 --> 00:11:12,290
doing this motor racing with me.

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00:11:12,422 --> 00:11:14,664
I reckon I've inherited
something from you.

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00:11:15,300 --> 00:11:18,384
It's the ability to have a go
when the time is right.

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00:11:18,511 --> 00:11:21,754
Bruce started getting
some good placements in races,

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00:11:21,890 --> 00:11:25,304
which helped the budget.
And he liked the money that he won.

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00:11:28,146 --> 00:11:31,730
Bruce was an incredibly prolific
letter writer.

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00:11:31,858 --> 00:11:36,193
And the boys would record tapes
to send back home.

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00:11:38,281 --> 00:11:41,365
Thanks, Pop, by the way,
for that extra cash you sent over.

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Fortunately, I don't think I'll need it.
The way I'm looking at this season

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00:11:45,496 --> 00:11:49,080
is to get in as many races this year
as possible, and do well.

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00:11:49,209 --> 00:11:51,701
I'm looking forward to Nürburgring
very much.

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00:11:51,836 --> 00:11:54,544
It's a very tough course,
and if I can finish there,

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00:11:54,672 --> 00:11:56,664
I'll be very happy.

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00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:03,721
It was a combined Formula 1 and 2 race.
Bruce in Formula 2.

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00:12:06,768 --> 00:12:10,682
The Nürburgring was the most
dangerous circuit on the calendar.

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00:12:10,813 --> 00:12:15,399
They called it The Green Hell.
Torturous, very, very dangerous...

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00:12:19,405 --> 00:12:22,239
There were several sections where,
if you were brave enough,

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00:12:22,367 --> 00:12:25,360
you'd go over the top of a hump
and you were flying.

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00:12:29,582 --> 00:12:33,667
So many different corners,
so many different type of corners,

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00:12:33,795 --> 00:12:36,959
you know, up a hill, down a hill,
off camber, with camber,

145
00:12:37,090 --> 00:12:39,332
jump twice, four wheels in the air.

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00:12:42,262 --> 00:12:43,594
It was a challenge to any driver.

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00:12:43,721 --> 00:12:45,758
It doesn't matter
how much you knew Nürburgring,

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00:12:45,890 --> 00:12:49,224
every lap there was a new challenge.

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00:12:51,145 --> 00:12:55,105
Bruce was sort of unknown at that time.
A new kid.

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00:12:55,858 --> 00:12:59,147
And he was actually leading
the Formula 2 section.

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00:13:00,989 --> 00:13:02,696
As the race progressed,

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00:13:02,824 --> 00:13:05,532
he got into some of the Formula 1 cars,
and passed them too.

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00:13:08,579 --> 00:13:14,075
He finished fifth overall.
Won the Formula 2 section of it.

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00:13:15,003 --> 00:13:16,960
As he drove up, back to the pit,

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00:13:17,088 --> 00:13:21,628
he had a grin on his face
that was obviously like a mile wide.

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He was just absolutely elated.

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00:13:25,638 --> 00:13:27,721
I helped him out of the car and,

158
00:13:27,849 --> 00:13:31,263
you know, I think there were tears
in both our eyes.

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00:13:34,355 --> 00:13:36,972
That was really the thing
that turned the tide.

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00:13:37,108 --> 00:13:43,321
It got international recognition.
He became on the contenders' list.

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00:13:44,741 --> 00:13:50,453
# Happy birthday to you

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00:13:51,122 --> 00:13:55,708
Bruce turned 21 during that year.
He was still in England,

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00:13:55,835 --> 00:13:58,999
but there was a great 21st
birthday party at his parents' house.

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00:13:59,130 --> 00:14:01,838
# Twenty-one today, twenty-one today

165
00:14:01,966 --> 00:14:03,502
Well, hello, son.

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00:14:03,634 --> 00:14:06,342
I hope you've had a wonderful day,
and as Phil said,

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00:14:06,471 --> 00:14:09,214
we just hope you don't think
we're all under the influence of liquor.

168
00:14:09,807 --> 00:14:14,017
We both got homesick, but the driving
force behind the whole thing

169
00:14:14,145 --> 00:14:16,933
was the enthusiasm
we had for what we were doing.

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00:14:17,065 --> 00:14:19,352
- Over to Dad.
- Hello, Bruce.

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00:14:19,484 --> 00:14:22,227
Once again,
very many happy returns of the day.

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00:14:22,362 --> 00:14:24,979
I mean, people would
love to have done what we did.

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00:14:30,828 --> 00:14:33,946
The Auckland Car Club used
to hold regular club nights.

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00:14:35,041 --> 00:14:36,953
Pop would take the tape recordings.

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00:14:38,169 --> 00:14:39,501
At Goodwood,

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00:14:39,629 --> 00:14:42,417
the biggest sort-out
between the professional drivers

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00:14:42,548 --> 00:14:45,632
and the chaps just starting
is the fast corners.

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00:14:47,011 --> 00:14:50,425
On these fast corners,
you go round them the first few times,

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00:14:50,556 --> 00:14:52,639
you think,
"Ooh dear, that was near the limit,"

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00:14:52,767 --> 00:14:57,603
but in actual fact it's not. It's only
time and confidence that enables you

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00:14:57,730 --> 00:14:59,687
to get round the fast corners quick.

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00:15:01,109 --> 00:15:02,691
The rain was starting to pour,

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00:15:02,819 --> 00:15:05,607
and the whole banking
was absolutely treacherous.

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00:15:05,738 --> 00:15:09,152
We were taking this banking
at about 140 mile an hour.

185
00:15:09,283 --> 00:15:13,493
Under the extreme G loading, you have
to hang on to the wheel fairly tight

186
00:15:13,621 --> 00:15:16,830
to stop your hands being pulled down
on to the floor of the car.

187
00:15:16,958 --> 00:15:19,416
I think it frightens everybody.

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00:15:25,049 --> 00:15:29,134
1959 was Bruce's first
full season in Formula 1.

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00:15:31,889 --> 00:15:34,506
Towards the end of the year
Coopers were major contenders

190
00:15:34,642 --> 00:15:36,554
for the World Championship.

191
00:15:41,399 --> 00:15:44,437
It certainly looks as though
the last Grand Prix of the season,

192
00:15:44,569 --> 00:15:46,435
at Sebring, could be the deciding race.

193
00:15:51,325 --> 00:15:54,489
Jack had a very narrow lead
over Stirling Moss.

194
00:16:04,505 --> 00:16:06,792
Brabham has got the race in his hands.

195
00:16:06,924 --> 00:16:10,292
Supported by teammate McLaren,
nobody can touch him now.

196
00:16:10,428 --> 00:16:15,093
The race and the World Championship
are his, but now the order has changed.

197
00:16:15,224 --> 00:16:17,841
It's McLaren, number nine,
who takes the checkered flag.

198
00:16:19,061 --> 00:16:20,552
Bruce won.

199
00:16:22,356 --> 00:16:25,394
And team manager John Cooper
welcomes his winner home.

200
00:16:26,736 --> 00:16:29,319
My best friend had now won
his first Grand Prix.

201
00:16:33,159 --> 00:16:35,867
Bruce was now the youngest driver ever,

202
00:16:35,995 --> 00:16:39,159
at just over 22 years of age,
to win a Grand Prix.

203
00:16:42,793 --> 00:16:44,534
And Jack had won the World Championship.

204
00:16:44,670 --> 00:16:47,834
What are they going to say in Australia
when they hear this? Or New Zealand?

205
00:16:47,965 --> 00:16:51,629
I don't know about Australia, but I
think they'll be pleased in New Zealand.

206
00:16:58,726 --> 00:17:02,845
It was a new world for Bruce
because now he's recognized.

207
00:17:04,315 --> 00:17:07,934
I remember Bruce saying,
"I think we're becoming famous."

208
00:17:08,945 --> 00:17:11,278
It was an understatement when you consider

209
00:17:11,405 --> 00:17:13,397
what went on for the rest of the year.

210
00:17:20,748 --> 00:17:24,788
Bruce won the opening round of the 1960
World Championship in Argentina.

211
00:17:24,919 --> 00:17:29,880
And on the plane ride back to England,
Jack, Bruce and John Cooper

212
00:17:30,007 --> 00:17:33,216
came up with a car
that went on to sweep all before it.

213
00:17:33,928 --> 00:17:39,014
Cooper cars have swept the board
and won the constructors' prize.

214
00:17:40,184 --> 00:17:42,597
And Bruce, in his second year with Cooper,

215
00:17:42,728 --> 00:17:45,516
finished second to Jack
in the World Championship.

216
00:17:50,611 --> 00:17:52,898
Bruce McLaren was the first New Zealander

217
00:17:53,030 --> 00:17:56,944
to really get into Formula 1
and establish the fact that a Kiwi

218
00:17:57,076 --> 00:18:02,242
could go and do it, and actually make
that breakthrough on the world stage.

219
00:18:05,042 --> 00:18:07,876
He was an important figure to all Kiwis.

220
00:18:22,685 --> 00:18:25,428
Bruce came back home
every year for the race season.

221
00:18:29,442 --> 00:18:34,187
One of Bruce's heartfelt ambitions was
to win the Grand Prix in his hometown.

222
00:18:34,322 --> 00:18:36,279
For many years motor racing has been

223
00:18:36,407 --> 00:18:37,864
a popular sport in New Zealand,

224
00:18:37,992 --> 00:18:39,949
attracting drivers
with a taste for thrills,

225
00:18:40,077 --> 00:18:42,364
and mechanics with a taste for tinkering.

226
00:18:42,496 --> 00:18:44,158
There are car clubs all over the country,

227
00:18:44,290 --> 00:18:45,826
and though prize money is not large,

228
00:18:45,958 --> 00:18:49,122
there's nothing small about
the amount spent on vehicles.

229
00:18:50,087 --> 00:18:52,295
For the big money,
and the big names in motor racing,

230
00:18:52,423 --> 00:18:55,257
we fly north to Auckland,
our largest city.

231
00:18:55,384 --> 00:18:58,923
Here in January each year is run the
New Zealand International Grand Prix.

232
00:18:59,055 --> 00:19:01,843
In the summertime, there was
a lot of things to attract

233
00:19:01,974 --> 00:19:05,263
Northern Hemisphere drivers
down to New Zealand.

234
00:19:05,394 --> 00:19:08,228
There was not much happening
in the northern winter in those days.

235
00:19:08,356 --> 00:19:11,144
New Zealand was a perfect place
to come and take up some sunshine,

236
00:19:11,275 --> 00:19:13,107
waterskiing, girls.

237
00:19:13,653 --> 00:19:16,817
Enjoying the summer weather
with friends are Grand Prix drivers,

238
00:19:16,947 --> 00:19:19,940
some of whom have come halfway round
the world for the big race.

239
00:19:21,077 --> 00:19:22,568
An expert water-skier,

240
00:19:22,703 --> 00:19:25,616
Arnold Glass is trying to explain
the sport to the English drivers.

241
00:19:25,748 --> 00:19:28,661
At least one of the Englishmen
has other interests in mind,

242
00:19:28,793 --> 00:19:31,831
and Arnold's only pupil
is New Zealander Bruce McLaren.

243
00:19:35,633 --> 00:19:36,794
After his wobbly efforts,

244
00:19:36,926 --> 00:19:39,919
Bruce decides to stick to car racing.
He says it's safer.

245
00:19:42,765 --> 00:19:45,803
In New Zealand,
Bruce met a girl from Timaru.

246
00:19:47,645 --> 00:19:50,604
I certainly remember
when Bruce first met Patty,

247
00:19:50,731 --> 00:19:52,814
and she'd become Miss Caroline Bay.

248
00:19:54,902 --> 00:19:56,609
We met at a dance, from memory.

249
00:19:56,737 --> 00:19:58,979
And then I tootled home
with my girlfriend,

250
00:19:59,115 --> 00:20:00,822
and Bruce said he wanted to meet me again.

251
00:20:00,950 --> 00:20:03,237
And he was only there
for a couple of days,

252
00:20:03,369 --> 00:20:05,827
and then off he tootled,
and kept in touch.

253
00:20:06,831 --> 00:20:08,914
I was 18.

254
00:20:12,837 --> 00:20:15,580
So I always said
we had a courtship by letter.

255
00:20:19,510 --> 00:20:24,221
Before we got engaged,
we'd seen each other about six times.

256
00:20:26,726 --> 00:20:29,389
I always liked people with brown eyes
and dark hair.

257
00:20:30,813 --> 00:20:33,055
He could have been a few inches taller.

258
00:20:38,738 --> 00:20:42,106
Often we would be invited to Bruce's
for dinner,

259
00:20:42,241 --> 00:20:46,155
sometime in the company of people
that weren't motor racing people.

260
00:20:46,287 --> 00:20:51,328
And the whole conversation would finish
off with pencils and pieces of paper.

261
00:20:55,713 --> 00:20:57,830
Bruce at heart was an engineer.

262
00:21:00,134 --> 00:21:03,548
He would make models out of balsa wood
and stick and strings,

263
00:21:03,679 --> 00:21:05,966
and do torsion tests on the kitchen table.

264
00:21:09,393 --> 00:21:11,009
And he would come in the next morning

265
00:21:11,145 --> 00:21:13,478
and show us what he'd drawn
and what he'd built.

266
00:21:17,359 --> 00:21:21,353
Bruce and Jack talked
about life after Cooper.

267
00:21:23,240 --> 00:21:25,823
Here we had effectively a perfect storm.

268
00:21:26,869 --> 00:21:30,283
The two drivers in the team,
not just fantastic drivers

269
00:21:30,414 --> 00:21:34,579
but both capable of engineering
and designing a winning racing car.

270
00:21:46,555 --> 00:21:50,265
Jack Brabham left the Cooper team
at the end of 1961,

271
00:21:50,392 --> 00:21:52,850
and started construction of his own cars.

272
00:21:55,481 --> 00:21:57,939
The engineer in Bruce must have thought,

273
00:21:58,067 --> 00:22:01,276
"That's something which
I really need to do one day."

274
00:22:03,322 --> 00:22:06,065
- How did you go, Bruce?
- That was pretty good that time, John.

275
00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:10,285
I think a bit too much braking on the
back, but otherwise nearly perfect.

276
00:22:16,293 --> 00:22:18,501
Monte Carlo was just magical.

277
00:22:20,256 --> 00:22:23,749
They used to have the film festival
the week before,

278
00:22:23,884 --> 00:22:26,092
so all the stars would stay over.

279
00:22:27,805 --> 00:22:30,843
It was tremendous.
And we used to travel in convoy

280
00:22:30,975 --> 00:22:34,184
with the various other drivers,
and we'd stop off in some little motel.

281
00:22:35,563 --> 00:22:38,351
But we had great fun, you know,
travelling around together.

282
00:22:41,151 --> 00:22:45,236
In those days, all the drivers
were friends with each other,

283
00:22:45,364 --> 00:22:48,732
but they were very determined competitors.

284
00:22:51,328 --> 00:22:55,368
Bruce was now the number
one driver at Coopers.

285
00:22:56,292 --> 00:22:58,158
There was an awful lot of pressure.

286
00:22:59,753 --> 00:23:01,585
All the leading drivers were there.

287
00:23:02,381 --> 00:23:06,751
Jimmy Clark and Graham Hill.
On the front row of the grid was Bruce.

288
00:23:06,886 --> 00:23:09,549
Five, four, three, two, one. Drive!

289
00:23:10,014 --> 00:23:11,846
Graham Hill. Ooh, look at that.

290
00:23:11,974 --> 00:23:14,307
That was Willy Mairesse with the Ferrari.

291
00:23:14,435 --> 00:23:15,892
This was Monaco.

292
00:23:20,399 --> 00:23:24,313
Any driver that can finish at Monaco
in my book's a hero.

293
00:23:24,445 --> 00:23:26,858
It was a real endurance event.

294
00:23:27,865 --> 00:23:29,401
Two and three-quarter hours,

295
00:23:29,533 --> 00:23:33,447
2,700 gear changes, hard on the brakes,
and hard on the steering.

296
00:23:38,876 --> 00:23:42,460
Bruce was in the lead,
followed by Phil Hill in a Ferrari.

297
00:23:44,256 --> 00:23:46,589
Phil Hill was closing on Bruce,
and chasing him down.

298
00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:57,183
And everybody in the Cooper pit
got terribly nervous.

299
00:24:01,523 --> 00:24:04,857
Up on to the straight for the last time,

300
00:24:04,985 --> 00:24:06,476
and Bruce McLaren

301
00:24:06,612 --> 00:24:12,279
wins the 20th Monte Carlo Grand Prix
by two seconds.

302
00:24:15,371 --> 00:24:17,408
Everybody was absolutely ecstatic,

303
00:24:17,539 --> 00:24:20,247
John Cooper more probably
than anyone else.

304
00:24:22,544 --> 00:24:26,208
As Bruce said to me later, he said,
"Phil Hill may have caught up with me,

305
00:24:26,340 --> 00:24:29,754
but there was no way
he was gonna get past me. No way."

306
00:24:39,436 --> 00:24:42,645
Coopers have been really
brightened up by the Monaco result.

307
00:24:42,773 --> 00:24:46,517
And I don't have to tell you, folks,
Patty had a ball meeting royalty.

308
00:24:46,652 --> 00:24:51,772
Grace and Rainier had a cocktail party.
I was fixated by the emeralds.

309
00:24:51,907 --> 00:24:54,775
The necklace, the earrings,
the bracelet, the ring.

310
00:24:55,786 --> 00:24:57,652
And it was just fabulous.

311
00:24:59,039 --> 00:25:01,782
Bruce McLaren by then
was a jet-set person.

312
00:25:02,376 --> 00:25:07,246
World-renowned, youngest Grand Prix
winner of all time at that time.

313
00:25:07,381 --> 00:25:10,715
Bruce McLaren, Jim Clark,
Innes Ireland, racing aces now...

314
00:25:10,843 --> 00:25:12,630
Bruce was a superstar.

315
00:25:14,888 --> 00:25:18,177
We had great fun, you know,
travelling around together.

316
00:25:18,892 --> 00:25:21,009
Time...

317
00:25:21,145 --> 00:25:23,979
Our life is time,
and heartbeats are seconds.

318
00:25:24,106 --> 00:25:27,725
Whatever we do, our preoccupation
with time is constant.

319
00:25:29,903 --> 00:25:32,520
Speed doesn't exist
for a top racing driver.

320
00:25:33,657 --> 00:25:37,241
Your mind completely synchronizes

321
00:25:37,369 --> 00:25:39,281
with the elements
you're competing against,

322
00:25:39,413 --> 00:25:41,154
and one of those elements is speed.

323
00:25:42,332 --> 00:25:46,292
There's an element of danger
but Bruce was such a careful person.

324
00:25:46,628 --> 00:25:52,249
But sadly, motor racing
has its share of tragedies.

325
00:25:59,141 --> 00:26:03,511
Over the years, Bruce saw
a number of his friends killed.

326
00:26:04,897 --> 00:26:07,640
You're dealing with human beings,

327
00:26:07,775 --> 00:26:11,109
cars that are put together
by human beings, so they can break.

328
00:26:12,571 --> 00:26:15,609
Human beings driving them,
so they can make mistakes.

329
00:26:17,326 --> 00:26:21,161
Drivers know that sort of thing's
on any time they get into a car, really.

330
00:26:26,752 --> 00:26:29,665
It may sound callous,
but if you're going to keep racing,

331
00:26:29,797 --> 00:26:31,379
to think on an accident is bad.

332
00:26:33,550 --> 00:26:36,293
It's best to try and forget
as soon as possible.

333
00:26:38,639 --> 00:26:40,631
Everything is in slow motion,

334
00:26:40,766 --> 00:26:42,382
you've got plenty of time to brake,

335
00:26:42,518 --> 00:26:44,805
you've got plenty of time
to change direction.

336
00:26:44,937 --> 00:26:48,430
Speed only happens
when you're having an accident.

337
00:27:24,184 --> 00:27:27,848
At Nürburgring he had an accident,
a high-speed accident.

338
00:27:32,442 --> 00:27:35,435
Bruce said he only remembers
waking up in hospital.

339
00:27:44,246 --> 00:27:47,910
I'd once promised myself I'd give up
motor racing if I had a major crash.

340
00:27:51,420 --> 00:27:57,917
But I found myself thinking, "Not yet."
And I'd like to start something big.

341
00:27:59,803 --> 00:28:01,339
Run my own outfit.

342
00:28:02,472 --> 00:28:04,805
Bruce was preparing for the future.

343
00:28:09,771 --> 00:28:14,812
Bruce was a great student in that
university which was Coopers.

344
00:28:14,943 --> 00:28:19,688
He had a voracious appetite
for information.

345
00:28:21,158 --> 00:28:28,281
That burning curiosity and intelligence.
He had the ability to think big.

346
00:28:41,887 --> 00:28:44,300
When Jack Brabham left,
it became very obvious

347
00:28:44,431 --> 00:28:47,799
that Coopers didn't want drivers
being involved in design,

348
00:28:47,935 --> 00:28:52,020
or in the drawing of it.
And that's where Bruce's passion lay.

349
00:28:55,108 --> 00:28:56,770
Bruce, as an engineer,

350
00:28:56,902 --> 00:28:59,770
could see that Coopers' best days
were behind them.

351
00:29:01,698 --> 00:29:06,614
This was the start of his plan
to get his own full team together.

352
00:29:09,915 --> 00:29:13,829
Jack said, "It's difficult,
but if you want to do it, go for it."

353
00:29:17,798 --> 00:29:21,291
I think the first thing I did for Bruce,
apart from...

354
00:29:21,426 --> 00:29:25,136
I mean, I painted him several times,
of course, winning races.

355
00:29:25,264 --> 00:29:28,507
But he asked me to design a badge

356
00:29:28,642 --> 00:29:32,511
for the then embryo McLaren Racing Team.

357
00:29:33,021 --> 00:29:35,855
This tatty old ledger
came to light recently.

358
00:29:35,983 --> 00:29:40,819
I've got an entry here: "Designing badge
for Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Limited.

359
00:29:40,946 --> 00:29:45,236
For use on racing cars, transporters,
letterheads, lapel badges.

360
00:29:45,367 --> 00:29:46,733
Thirty-nine pounds."

361
00:29:48,161 --> 00:29:51,279
And he said, "Yeah, can you design
a badge that is relevant

362
00:29:51,415 --> 00:29:53,452
to a New Zealand team?"

363
00:29:53,583 --> 00:29:56,417
He was very proud of his heritage,
and New Zealand.

364
00:29:56,545 --> 00:30:01,506
OK, Kiwi, racing car,
the name of the team, a badge.

365
00:30:01,633 --> 00:30:04,091
Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Team.

366
00:30:09,808 --> 00:30:13,597
Bruce McLaren Motor Racing was
first formed to race in New Zealand.

367
00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:19,190
In the Cooper workshop in England,
Bruce and I had built a car

368
00:30:19,318 --> 00:30:22,652
specially to win the New Zealand
Grand Prix, from the ground up.

369
00:30:24,156 --> 00:30:28,321
The car was, for all intents
and purposes, a McLaren car,

370
00:30:28,452 --> 00:30:32,071
but because he was still contracted to
and driving for Cooper,

371
00:30:32,205 --> 00:30:34,788
then it made sense to call it a Cooper.

372
00:30:35,500 --> 00:30:38,038
But it was really Bruce's deal.

373
00:30:39,504 --> 00:30:43,418
Cooper copied our car, and built
a second car for Timmy Mayer.

374
00:30:47,179 --> 00:30:50,923
Timmy Mayer was a young
American driver, Bruce's teammate,

375
00:30:51,058 --> 00:30:53,471
and to some extent, protégé.

376
00:30:55,312 --> 00:30:58,896
Timmy was a very approachable
young fellow.

377
00:30:59,024 --> 00:31:02,517
He'd done very well in England
in Formula Junior.

378
00:31:02,652 --> 00:31:06,487
With his brother, Teddy,
as his team manager.

379
00:31:08,116 --> 00:31:12,611
It was the New Zealand Grand Prix.
This was what we were here for.

380
00:31:14,289 --> 00:31:16,622
Away goes the field of crack drivers

381
00:31:16,750 --> 00:31:18,912
on their high-speedjourney of 150 miles.

382
00:31:24,216 --> 00:31:26,959
Lap after lap with fingers crossed.

383
00:31:32,641 --> 00:31:35,884
And to win in a car
that Bruce and I had designed

384
00:31:36,019 --> 00:31:40,514
and built ourselves was just tremendous.

385
00:31:43,360 --> 00:31:46,353
Lots of hugs all round,
it was a huge effort.

386
00:31:56,957 --> 00:32:02,498
But, as you learn in motor racing,
the highs and lows were enormous.

387
00:32:06,508 --> 00:32:09,626
In practice at Longford,
the last race of the series,

388
00:32:09,761 --> 00:32:13,630
Timmy talked to Bruce about a hump
in the road just prior to a corner,

389
00:32:13,765 --> 00:32:17,349
because Timmy felt that
he was braking before it,

390
00:32:17,477 --> 00:32:19,434
and could possibly brake after it.

391
00:32:19,563 --> 00:32:24,228
And Bruce said, "Yes, you can brake
after it, but be very, very careful."

392
00:32:26,528 --> 00:32:28,360
Timmy went out and never came back.

393
00:32:30,824 --> 00:32:33,658
The vehicle landed a little
sideways into a tree.

394
00:32:33,785 --> 00:32:36,903
The car was virtually broken in two
behind the cockpit,

395
00:32:37,038 --> 00:32:39,655
and, you know,
it just killed him instantly.

396
00:32:41,751 --> 00:32:45,244
It was really our first tragedy.

397
00:32:46,256 --> 00:32:50,751
This was the first time
that it struck so close to home.

398
00:32:52,846 --> 00:32:57,056
When you speak to somebody minutes before

399
00:32:57,184 --> 00:33:03,101
and they're no longer with you,
it affects you quite deeply.

400
00:33:04,232 --> 00:33:07,191
But there was a race the next day.

401
00:33:10,572 --> 00:33:12,313
And the team turned up...

402
00:33:15,410 --> 00:33:17,151
and we raced the next day.

403
00:33:21,082 --> 00:33:23,699
They'd seriously talked
about Bruce not racing,

404
00:33:23,835 --> 00:33:26,248
but decided that, you know,
we must carry on.

405
00:33:26,379 --> 00:33:28,336
This is our business, this is what we do.

406
00:33:32,427 --> 00:33:34,544
At Timmy's funeral, the eulogy Bruce wrote

407
00:33:34,679 --> 00:33:38,093
really was the mantra
that the team followed from then on.

408
00:33:39,100 --> 00:33:43,686
The news that he'd died instantly
was a terrible shock to all of us.

409
00:33:45,482 --> 00:33:49,271
But who's to say that
he had not seen more, done more,

410
00:33:49,402 --> 00:33:54,522
and learned more in his 26 years
than many people do in a lifetime.

411
00:33:56,535 --> 00:33:58,367
To do something well is so worthwhile

412
00:33:58,495 --> 00:34:02,865
that to die trying to do it better
cannot be foolhardy.

413
00:34:05,168 --> 00:34:09,037
It would be a waste of life
to do nothing with one's ability.

414
00:34:09,172 --> 00:34:14,884
I feel that life is measured
in achievement, not in years alone.

415
00:34:38,368 --> 00:34:41,952
At the end of that Tasman series,
we went back to England,

416
00:34:42,080 --> 00:34:44,538
not quite sure what the future
was going to hold.

417
00:34:48,753 --> 00:34:50,790
Eoin Young called me up and said,

418
00:34:50,922 --> 00:34:52,584
"Bruce is here. He wants to talk to you."

419
00:34:52,716 --> 00:34:54,708
Bruce came on the line and said,

420
00:34:54,843 --> 00:34:58,086
"I'm expanding my team,
would you like to work for me?"

421
00:34:58,221 --> 00:35:00,964
He wanted to hire more Kiwis.

422
00:35:01,099 --> 00:35:04,217
"Yes, please.
Thank you very much. I'll do that."

423
00:35:05,854 --> 00:35:09,063
New Zealand mechanics
were very innovative.

424
00:35:09,941 --> 00:35:13,059
They had learned how to build cars
in our little country,

425
00:35:13,194 --> 00:35:16,107
where it was very difficult to get parts.

426
00:35:16,239 --> 00:35:19,528
And so they could make
completely new components.

427
00:35:19,659 --> 00:35:21,195
You know the old saying,

428
00:35:21,328 --> 00:35:26,744
if you give a Kiwi a length of number
eight fencing wire, he'll make anything.

429
00:35:26,875 --> 00:35:30,164
So he liked that attitude,
'cause that's how he was.

430
00:35:31,671 --> 00:35:35,039
Bruce McLaren now had a team
but didn't have a workshop.

431
00:35:35,175 --> 00:35:38,134
Our tow car had a rusty old trailer.

432
00:35:38,261 --> 00:35:42,301
And Eoin Young was sent out urgently
to try and find us a workshop.

433
00:35:42,432 --> 00:35:44,469
In retrospect, it was terrible.

434
00:35:44,601 --> 00:35:48,390
It was very small but in fact
it suited us perfectly at the time.

435
00:35:50,899 --> 00:35:55,018
What he came up with was the corner
of a large industrial garage

436
00:35:55,153 --> 00:35:58,817
that was used for servicing
earth-moving machinery.

437
00:36:00,075 --> 00:36:01,941
With what was virtually a dirt floor.

438
00:36:02,077 --> 00:36:03,659
It probably had been concrete once,

439
00:36:03,787 --> 00:36:06,621
but with all the bulldozers
moving around, it was broken up.

440
00:36:06,748 --> 00:36:11,118
Bruce McLaren Motor Racing in England
started in a very grotty shed.

441
00:36:16,508 --> 00:36:19,000
Well, that ought to do it.

442
00:36:28,061 --> 00:36:29,268
Money.

443
00:36:31,022 --> 00:36:33,059
It takes an awful lot of money
to run a team.

444
00:36:35,610 --> 00:36:39,103
Mechanics, drivers, transportation.

445
00:36:39,239 --> 00:36:44,701
Bruce was up against Lotus, Maserati
and, of course, Coopers and Ferrari.

446
00:36:45,370 --> 00:36:47,327
There was a payroll to meet every week.

447
00:36:50,667 --> 00:36:53,705
Bruce was asked to drive
big American sports cars,

448
00:36:53,837 --> 00:36:55,669
particularly as a test driver.

449
00:36:56,548 --> 00:36:59,882
Ford used Bruce a lot, because
they appreciated his technical ability.

450
00:37:00,009 --> 00:37:03,969
With his engineering background,
Bruce could drive the car,

451
00:37:04,097 --> 00:37:07,215
and he could tell the engineers
exactly what was happening.

452
00:37:07,809 --> 00:37:10,176
Bruce needed the money from Ford.

453
00:37:10,311 --> 00:37:13,019
There was no money in Formula 1.

454
00:37:13,148 --> 00:37:17,392
The McLaren team really
was being financed doing testing,

455
00:37:17,527 --> 00:37:21,737
and we'd do anything up
to three or four hundred miles a day.

456
00:37:23,658 --> 00:37:25,650
There wasn't a lot of money at the time.

457
00:37:25,785 --> 00:37:29,779
They did a lot of tire testing
for Firestone, which paid good money.

458
00:37:32,167 --> 00:37:34,534
Just wonderful experience.

459
00:37:34,669 --> 00:37:38,208
So I knew Bruce quite well by the time
I started working for him.

460
00:37:38,882 --> 00:37:41,420
These were guys, none of them had hit 30,

461
00:37:41,551 --> 00:37:46,216
and they were full of enthusiasm, full
of innovations, and they were smart.

462
00:37:46,848 --> 00:37:50,216
We all spoke his language,
we all shared his humor,

463
00:37:50,351 --> 00:37:53,094
and we were all totally dedicated to him.

464
00:37:53,229 --> 00:37:57,894
He worked along with us. He didn't
stand there and issue instructions.

465
00:37:58,026 --> 00:38:00,564
He would be there with his
sleeves rolled up.

466
00:38:01,029 --> 00:38:03,988
I think now the cars like the big GT cars,

467
00:38:04,115 --> 00:38:06,528
which we drive at Le Mans,
Nürburgring and so on,

468
00:38:06,659 --> 00:38:09,527
they'll do 200 mile an hour,
and they also accelerate like mad,

469
00:38:09,662 --> 00:38:12,075
spin the wheels, you can't keep
full throttle all the time,

470
00:38:12,207 --> 00:38:13,323
and this is a lot more fun.

471
00:38:14,834 --> 00:38:17,827
Bruce decided sports car racing
might be the way to go

472
00:38:17,962 --> 00:38:20,454
for the fledgling McLaren team.

473
00:38:21,674 --> 00:38:26,009
He'd heard of a car that was for sale
in America, called a Zerex Special.

474
00:38:27,555 --> 00:38:31,595
Teddy Mayer was back in America,
with his life in tatters

475
00:38:31,726 --> 00:38:33,843
because of the death of his brother,
Timmy.

476
00:38:33,978 --> 00:38:37,142
And Bruce said, "How would you like
to try and buy this car for me,

477
00:38:37,273 --> 00:38:38,684
and come to England?"

478
00:38:38,817 --> 00:38:42,185
- We chopped the chassis up.
- Put an Oldsmobile engine into it.

479
00:38:42,320 --> 00:38:45,529
Big stack exhaust pipes
so it looked like something from Mars.

480
00:38:45,657 --> 00:38:49,901
Threw it on a plane, took it
to Canada, and won at Mosport.

481
00:38:50,036 --> 00:38:52,528
Bruce McLaren from Auckland, New Zealand

482
00:38:52,664 --> 00:38:54,075
gets the checkered flag.

483
00:39:00,797 --> 00:39:03,414
We, in Europe, were racing for peanuts,

484
00:39:03,550 --> 00:39:06,167
and for us to go to America
and see the sort of money

485
00:39:06,302 --> 00:39:08,385
that was available was mind-blowing.

486
00:39:10,098 --> 00:39:13,387
With his new team,
Bruce needed management.

487
00:39:13,518 --> 00:39:16,226
What about a mechanical means
of taking the nuts off?

488
00:39:16,354 --> 00:39:19,017
- Like Tyrell's air wrenches.
- Wouldn't be a bad idea.

489
00:39:19,148 --> 00:39:21,356
Teddy Mayer was a lawyer.

490
00:39:21,484 --> 00:39:24,477
He became the business brains
of the operation.

491
00:39:27,824 --> 00:39:31,033
He took one look around
the workshop and said,

492
00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:33,698
"Goddamn, you can't work here."

493
00:39:33,830 --> 00:39:36,914
And so Eoin Young was sent out again.

494
00:39:37,041 --> 00:39:41,877
Eoin Young got us what was
a really upmarket workshop in Feltham.

495
00:39:42,005 --> 00:39:45,669
It was 10,000 feet,
the ideal place to start up.

496
00:39:45,800 --> 00:39:48,759
It had lots of windows,
and a good concrete floor,

497
00:39:48,887 --> 00:39:51,345
and nice work benches, and even an office.

498
00:39:52,682 --> 00:39:55,220
And Bruce decided to start
with a clean sheet of paper,

499
00:39:55,351 --> 00:39:57,718
and we would build the first ever McLaren.

500
00:39:57,854 --> 00:40:00,597
This year we decided that the car
that would probably win

501
00:40:00,732 --> 00:40:04,521
would be a lightweight car powered
by a relatively big American engine.

502
00:40:05,904 --> 00:40:07,987
The McLaren M1.

503
00:40:08,448 --> 00:40:12,408
Bruce basically sketched
with a piece of chalk on the floor

504
00:40:12,535 --> 00:40:14,026
what we were gonna do.

505
00:40:14,162 --> 00:40:17,371
It was instantaneous stuff.
There was no time to draw.

506
00:40:17,498 --> 00:40:20,206
The chap would come in at night and say,
"What have you made today?"

507
00:40:20,335 --> 00:40:22,748
"I've made a couple of wishbones here.
Just draw those."

508
00:40:22,879 --> 00:40:25,212
I had an office with a sign
on the door that said,

509
00:40:25,340 --> 00:40:27,502
"Don't knock.
We don't have that sort of time."

510
00:40:27,634 --> 00:40:30,047
Bruce was famous
for just waving his arms and saying,

511
00:40:30,178 --> 00:40:31,714
"You know, just make it like this."

512
00:40:31,846 --> 00:40:35,556
Whoosh, you'd take some tubes,
and bonk, you've got a chassis.

513
00:40:35,683 --> 00:40:38,801
That was one of Bruce's favorite
terms "Just whoosh bonk."

514
00:40:38,937 --> 00:40:42,146
And of course that stuck, then
everything was "whoosh bonk" after that.

515
00:40:42,273 --> 00:40:44,435
But it was anything but whoosh bonk.

516
00:40:46,611 --> 00:40:49,524
The day we wheeled it out
of the workshop, painted black,

517
00:40:49,656 --> 00:40:52,615
with a silver stripe,
and a little Kiwi badge on it,

518
00:40:52,742 --> 00:40:56,486
was a very, very proud moment
for all us New Zealanders.

519
00:41:03,127 --> 00:41:05,835
Bruce went off to America to run that car.

520
00:41:07,090 --> 00:41:09,582
And you'd kind of pack up
and become gypsies.

521
00:41:09,717 --> 00:41:13,757
You know, you'd find space in somebody's
garage, in some dealership,

522
00:41:13,888 --> 00:41:15,720
whatever, to work out of.

523
00:41:15,848 --> 00:41:18,090
Spare parts that had to come from England.

524
00:41:20,311 --> 00:41:25,022
It was a lightweight car,
very much like a formula car in Europe.

525
00:41:25,817 --> 00:41:27,558
It created a huge amount of attention.

526
00:41:29,654 --> 00:41:34,240
The Americans at the time were running
heavy cars, incredibly heavy.

527
00:41:34,367 --> 00:41:37,451
Bruce was nimble,
and he could duck and dive and weave

528
00:41:37,578 --> 00:41:40,366
amongst all these
great big heavy monsters.

529
00:41:41,082 --> 00:41:43,699
The phone started to ring,
and people started to ask,

530
00:41:43,835 --> 00:41:45,622
"How can we get one of these cars?"

531
00:42:07,316 --> 00:42:09,308
- Boy, that car is something else.
- Yeah.

532
00:42:09,444 --> 00:42:10,730
Would you like to drive her?

533
00:42:19,454 --> 00:42:22,663
- Mister, you got yourself a deal.
- I'm glad you like the car.

534
00:42:29,922 --> 00:42:33,290
Dad, we're pretty pleased
the way things are going.

535
00:42:33,426 --> 00:42:36,794
We could have sold 30 sports cars
this year if they'd been available.

536
00:42:36,929 --> 00:42:40,639
A lot easier than winning races,
let me tell you.

537
00:42:40,767 --> 00:42:42,599
We've got a way to go before we understand

538
00:42:42,727 --> 00:42:44,684
aerodynamics on these sports cars

539
00:42:44,812 --> 00:42:47,304
but I guarantee
we know more than anyone else.

540
00:42:48,775 --> 00:42:51,392
The big excitement has been in Formula 1,

541
00:42:52,487 --> 00:42:55,321
but we're keeping that very quiet.

542
00:42:56,657 --> 00:43:01,368
There at the end
of the runway is Concorde 001,

543
00:43:01,496 --> 00:43:03,988
and in Toulouse let's join Raymond Baxter.

544
00:43:04,123 --> 00:43:06,331
Just seconds to go.

545
00:43:08,419 --> 00:43:14,757
The magic moment with us, the crescendo
of sound from the 593 Olympus.

546
00:43:19,222 --> 00:43:22,215
Nose has come up to 20 degrees,
she's airborne.

547
00:43:23,059 --> 00:43:25,096
She flies.

548
00:43:30,566 --> 00:43:33,775
Bruce said to me, "You know,
we really need a full-time designer,"

549
00:43:33,903 --> 00:43:35,690
because he was flat out all the time.

550
00:43:35,822 --> 00:43:41,568
So I said, "I've got this friend called
Robin Herd who works on the Concorde,

551
00:43:41,702 --> 00:43:43,694
but he'd love to design racing cars."

552
00:43:44,372 --> 00:43:48,537
I'd been three years out of university
and I was working at Farnborough,

553
00:43:48,668 --> 00:43:51,911
which is the headquarter
of the British Aircraft Industry.

554
00:43:52,046 --> 00:43:56,711
When Bruce says to a 25-year-old, "Come
and design my first Formula 1 car,"

555
00:43:56,843 --> 00:43:59,256
you either say, "Yep, I'll do that,"

556
00:43:59,387 --> 00:44:01,629
and risk the biggest cock-up of all time,

557
00:44:01,764 --> 00:44:05,383
or no, you throw away
the opportunity of a lifetime.

558
00:44:07,186 --> 00:44:10,679
Robin was aware of all these materials
we didn't know anything about.

559
00:44:11,858 --> 00:44:16,603
And one of the products
was called mallite.

560
00:44:16,737 --> 00:44:21,732
I did a sort of latest aircraft
technology version of a Formula 1 car,

561
00:44:21,868 --> 00:44:24,155
using honeycomb, double skin and bonding.

562
00:44:26,622 --> 00:44:29,205
Bruce took it with great enthusiasm.

563
00:44:30,668 --> 00:44:32,079
JAN McLAREN: The letters to Dad

564
00:44:32,211 --> 00:44:34,624
were full of technical stuff.
The first mallite car.

565
00:44:34,755 --> 00:44:38,419
There's pictures of the tub, and little
drawings of what he was doing.

566
00:44:38,593 --> 00:44:41,176
Course, Dad just lapped up every word.

567
00:44:42,597 --> 00:44:45,214
It was a very tedious vehicle to build.

568
00:44:45,349 --> 00:44:48,592
We would be working on the car
come midnight.

569
00:44:48,728 --> 00:44:51,266
We would probably be working on the car
all night.

570
00:44:52,023 --> 00:44:55,767
When you've just been working 12
or 14 hours a day, week after week,

571
00:44:55,902 --> 00:44:57,268
there's a bit of tension.

572
00:44:59,572 --> 00:45:02,531
When somebody was welding
and couldn't see,

573
00:45:02,658 --> 00:45:05,696
we would fill a 20-cigarette packet
with oxygen acetylene

574
00:45:05,828 --> 00:45:08,445
mixed at exactly the right ratio.

575
00:45:08,623 --> 00:45:11,115
And you just slid it
until it got to the flame.

576
00:45:11,250 --> 00:45:12,991
And at some point it blows up.

577
00:45:14,587 --> 00:45:17,546
I mean, it scared the pants off of people.

578
00:45:17,673 --> 00:45:20,882
You know, Bruce took all those
things in his stride.

579
00:45:22,720 --> 00:45:28,011
Bruce was always one of us.
Very much one of the boys.

580
00:45:29,936 --> 00:45:33,475
When he built a new car,
he would get into it,

581
00:45:33,606 --> 00:45:36,144
and pretend to drive it,
and make engine noises, and steer it.

582
00:45:36,275 --> 00:45:40,986
"Oh, boy, this is going to be quick,"
and then we'd go, "Yeah, yeah, yes."

583
00:45:41,113 --> 00:45:43,025
Really good fun.

584
00:45:45,034 --> 00:45:48,027
They built a jig
to build a mallite chassis with.

585
00:45:48,162 --> 00:45:53,783
There was a piece of cold-drawn
steel tube, about a four-inch diameter.

586
00:45:53,918 --> 00:45:56,501
And it was realized this would make
a wonderful gun barrel.

587
00:45:56,629 --> 00:46:01,749
We decided we'd make an acetylene,
oxyacetylene cannon.

588
00:46:01,884 --> 00:46:03,375
A cap was welded at the end

589
00:46:03,511 --> 00:46:05,503
and then a little bolt
and a spark plug fitted.

590
00:46:05,638 --> 00:46:07,971
Fortunately I did
a pretty good job at welding it.

591
00:46:08,099 --> 00:46:09,965
Not realizing what we were doing.

592
00:46:10,101 --> 00:46:13,139
Robin Herd was, yeah, an object of fun.

593
00:46:13,271 --> 00:46:15,308
I don't know what we were thinking of.

594
00:46:15,439 --> 00:46:18,398
There was a sense of humor
to everything. They seemed to accept me.

595
00:46:18,526 --> 00:46:20,734
He used to come to work at nine o'clock
or something.

596
00:46:20,861 --> 00:46:23,695
We would have already been at work
for quite some time.

597
00:46:23,823 --> 00:46:26,110
The drawing office door
was at the top of the stairs.

598
00:46:26,242 --> 00:46:29,531
We waited until Robin got in the office.
So this gun was set up.

599
00:46:29,704 --> 00:46:33,493
- Paint cans was a perfect fit.
- Point it towards the door.

600
00:46:36,043 --> 00:46:38,126
And it was far more successful
than we expected.

601
00:46:38,254 --> 00:46:39,745
It went right through the door.

602
00:46:39,880 --> 00:46:42,497
He suddenly had his door flying inside.

603
00:46:42,633 --> 00:46:45,797
We were all organized
to stow the gun instantaneously.

604
00:46:45,928 --> 00:46:49,137
So it was wang, under the bench.
Everything was out of sight.

605
00:46:50,349 --> 00:46:54,184
"What? Bang? Did you hear a bang?"

606
00:46:54,312 --> 00:46:59,182
It was typical of the New Zealand
and by then McLaren sense of humor.

607
00:47:00,985 --> 00:47:04,649
6 a.m., daughter,
eight pounds, brown hair.

608
00:47:04,780 --> 00:47:08,148
Amanda Leigh. Both fine. Father poorly.

609
00:47:09,827 --> 00:47:11,568
We've certainly been very lucky.

610
00:47:11,704 --> 00:47:14,242
Little Amanda Leigh is as perfect
as we could have wished for.

611
00:47:14,373 --> 00:47:18,333
I'm bringing them home
and picking up the nurse on Tuesday.

612
00:47:18,461 --> 00:47:20,999
I don't go to Nassau
until Wednesday afternoon.

613
00:47:23,049 --> 00:47:27,339
He coped with it wonderfully.
I think I had to do more coping.

614
00:47:27,470 --> 00:47:31,384
Well, you have to, if you're
going to have a successful marriage.

615
00:47:32,350 --> 00:47:35,138
And whatever comes along
you take in your stride.

616
00:47:36,729 --> 00:47:40,348
Because he was away a lot of the time.

617
00:47:49,075 --> 00:47:54,446
1966 was Bruce McLaren's first year
as a Formula 1 constructor.

618
00:47:57,333 --> 00:48:00,792
Bruce, above all,
wanted to win in Formula 1.

619
00:48:00,920 --> 00:48:04,254
To the extent that
he got hold of numbers one and two,

620
00:48:04,382 --> 00:48:07,546
the numbers that go on the car,
for Chris and himself.

621
00:48:08,928 --> 00:48:12,512
Chris Amon was going to
be running the backup car.

622
00:48:12,640 --> 00:48:14,427
It never happened.

623
00:48:14,558 --> 00:48:19,644
I never got to do any races at all
because the engine was a disaster.

624
00:48:21,816 --> 00:48:24,934
Bruce put an Indianapolis Ford engine

625
00:48:25,069 --> 00:48:27,402
into the back of his Formula 1 car.

626
00:48:28,489 --> 00:48:33,860
It made a fantastic noise,
but just had no speed at all.

627
00:48:40,209 --> 00:48:42,997
Dear folks,
it's been so long since I've written

628
00:48:43,129 --> 00:48:45,963
I guess you must wonder what's going on.

629
00:48:46,090 --> 00:48:48,878
The last few months
have been a little difficult.

630
00:48:49,009 --> 00:48:52,252
For the first time ever,
we've had a major setback.

631
00:48:52,388 --> 00:48:55,972
The F1 season is over,
and we've certainly had a failure.

632
00:48:57,143 --> 00:49:00,102
It's hard to keep up the spirits
of the team.

633
00:49:01,355 --> 00:49:03,347
The team stuck at it, as they do.

634
00:49:03,482 --> 00:49:06,566
But, you know,
with that engine there was no hope...

635
00:49:07,445 --> 00:49:10,028
which was a real blow.

636
00:49:22,418 --> 00:49:25,035
I've been feeling a bit of pain lately.

637
00:49:25,671 --> 00:49:26,878
Just one question, Bruce.

638
00:49:27,006 --> 00:49:30,170
The doc asked do I get headaches,
and I said, "Yes."

639
00:49:30,301 --> 00:49:32,167
Quite possibly
due to the curve in your spine.

640
00:49:32,303 --> 00:49:34,795
Due to the pelvis not being square
when I stand.

641
00:49:35,556 --> 00:49:38,139
Your left leg
being shorter than your right.

642
00:49:38,267 --> 00:49:42,557
For a more permanent solution, there's a
rather radical procedure that we can do,

643
00:49:42,688 --> 00:49:46,022
in which we replace
the head of your femur with a steel one.

644
00:49:46,942 --> 00:49:48,228
He sent me to have an X-ray,

645
00:49:48,360 --> 00:49:50,898
and when I looked at them,
I was a little shaken.

646
00:49:51,030 --> 00:49:55,570
The right was a beaut ball and socket
and the left was a tatty old thing.

647
00:49:55,701 --> 00:50:01,197
Quite normal Perthes Disease recovery,
he said. But it shook me a bit.

648
00:50:01,916 --> 00:50:04,624
His short leg, and the pain it caused him,

649
00:50:04,752 --> 00:50:06,869
to him personally, was a great problem.

650
00:50:09,423 --> 00:50:12,291
It was never talked about,
it was never, ever considered to be

651
00:50:12,426 --> 00:50:18,013
of anybody else's concern but his,
but it was his reality.

652
00:50:22,937 --> 00:50:24,974
Bruce needed a lift.

653
00:50:25,481 --> 00:50:30,772
This is Le Mans, home of the most
famous road race in the world.

654
00:50:31,570 --> 00:50:33,653
Through his contacts with Ford,

655
00:50:33,781 --> 00:50:36,114
Bruce was contracted to drive at Le Mans.

656
00:50:38,661 --> 00:50:44,623
McLaren had been commissioned by Ford
to build a special version of the GT40.

657
00:50:45,960 --> 00:50:49,670
I first met Bruce about 1966.

658
00:50:49,797 --> 00:50:52,790
We were testing and developing with Ford.

659
00:50:54,260 --> 00:50:56,968
We used to kid around,
because he had a bit of a limp,

660
00:50:57,096 --> 00:51:00,305
and he had to have
the clutch pedal closer to him.

661
00:51:00,432 --> 00:51:05,803
And I said, "You know what?" I said,
"I keep banging my shins on that."

662
00:51:05,938 --> 00:51:09,147
Stupid things, but that's what friends do.

663
00:51:11,569 --> 00:51:15,813
I was in good hands with Bruce.
I wanted to learn as much as I could,

664
00:51:15,990 --> 00:51:17,697
because Bruce was an artist.

665
00:51:18,617 --> 00:51:23,408
I loved the way he would rotate the car,
and there was a finesse to that.

666
00:51:23,539 --> 00:51:29,080
To be able to extract every ounce
of what this machine is capable of,

667
00:51:29,753 --> 00:51:31,369
a machine that...

668
00:51:32,673 --> 00:51:33,709
can hurt you.

669
00:51:35,384 --> 00:51:39,799
He took that GT40 from a vehicle
that was dangerous at 190

670
00:51:39,930 --> 00:51:44,095
to a car that was going 214 or so
mile an hour, hands off.

671
00:51:46,103 --> 00:51:51,599
Bruce had contributed a lot
of his expertise to the program,

672
00:51:51,734 --> 00:51:55,273
and Fords
were pretty dominant at that time.

673
00:51:56,280 --> 00:51:59,318
Le Mans was really the big objective.

674
00:52:00,451 --> 00:52:03,944
Henry Ford had decided he wanted to win
it and it didn't matter what it took.

675
00:52:05,664 --> 00:52:08,702
There wasn't a budget constraint
like we all had in Formula 1.

676
00:52:10,502 --> 00:52:13,995
Bruce and I teamed up as Ford drivers.

677
00:52:14,131 --> 00:52:17,875
I guess it became natural
to put the two Kiwis together.

678
00:52:20,679 --> 00:52:23,262
Having a chance to win Le Mans was huge.

679
00:52:27,686 --> 00:52:30,349
The race always started
at four o'clock in the afternoon,

680
00:52:30,481 --> 00:52:32,973
and finished at four o'clock
the following afternoon.

681
00:52:36,236 --> 00:52:38,649
Bruce started the race,

682
00:52:38,781 --> 00:52:41,740
sprinted across the track,
one leg shorter than the other.

683
00:52:52,878 --> 00:52:58,124
In those days, those cars, you couldn't
drive them flat out for 24 hours.

684
00:52:59,009 --> 00:53:01,626
But Bruce said, you know,
"We've got nothing to lose.

685
00:53:01,762 --> 00:53:04,800
Let's give it everything."
And that's exactly what we did.

686
00:53:04,932 --> 00:53:06,673
We just drove it flat out.

687
00:53:07,393 --> 00:53:11,103
Headlight beams pick out
the advertising signs in high relief,

688
00:53:11,230 --> 00:53:15,099
and the long lonely night of endurance
lies ahead.

689
00:53:21,573 --> 00:53:24,111
As daylight dawned on the Sunday,

690
00:53:24,243 --> 00:53:26,951
the Fords were in a very strong position.

691
00:53:29,707 --> 00:53:31,915
In first place, number two, Ford.

692
00:53:32,042 --> 00:53:33,874
In second place, number one, Ford.

693
00:53:34,962 --> 00:53:37,295
In third place, number five, Ford.

694
00:53:38,507 --> 00:53:41,625
Ford made the decision,
we're first, second and third,

695
00:53:41,760 --> 00:53:43,092
we'll have a dead heat.

696
00:53:43,846 --> 00:53:46,589
When the decision came to slow us down,

697
00:53:47,766 --> 00:53:50,554
I can remember Bruce being really annoyed.

698
00:53:53,397 --> 00:53:55,184
Bruce did the last stint.

699
00:53:56,275 --> 00:54:00,269
I will never know whether Bruce put his
foot down, or Ken Miles backed off,

700
00:54:00,404 --> 00:54:04,148
but Bruce crossed the line
clearly in front.

701
00:54:12,124 --> 00:54:16,084
Suddenly, you know, we're standing up
on the podium with Henry Ford,

702
00:54:16,211 --> 00:54:19,875
and we've won one of
the most famous races that exists.

703
00:54:20,007 --> 00:54:22,340
We've just won Le Mans.

704
00:54:29,683 --> 00:54:31,845
# A few years back Ford savvied a need

705
00:54:31,977 --> 00:54:34,310
# For a bold new breed
of four-wheeled steed

706
00:54:34,438 --> 00:54:36,680
# A car to stand out
from the rest of the gang

707
00:54:36,815 --> 00:54:38,431
# A car born to fame

708
00:54:38,567 --> 00:54:40,900
# The Ford Mustang...

709
00:54:41,028 --> 00:54:44,988
People on the street, they own a Ford,
and Bruce was driving a Ford.

710
00:54:45,115 --> 00:54:48,904
They'd say, McLaren,
that's the guy that won Le Mans.

711
00:54:49,036 --> 00:54:51,278
It impressed so many people.

712
00:54:52,247 --> 00:54:55,866
# Mustang... 66!

713
00:54:56,251 --> 00:54:58,709
It was a huge PR boost.

714
00:55:00,839 --> 00:55:03,627
Bruce's entire racing operation at that time

715
00:55:03,759 --> 00:55:06,172
was really aimed at the Can-Am series.

716
00:55:07,179 --> 00:55:10,217
Can-Am is the Canadian-American
Challenge Cup.

717
00:55:10,349 --> 00:55:13,558
And that series
consisted of unlimited engine,

718
00:55:13,685 --> 00:55:15,051
unlimited almost everything,

719
00:55:15,187 --> 00:55:18,021
so that people could be very innovative
with their cars.

720
00:55:18,148 --> 00:55:21,391
Well, this is Mosport.
And I'm Bruce McLaren.

721
00:55:22,152 --> 00:55:24,439
What do you think was your biggest break?

722
00:55:24,571 --> 00:55:28,281
The creation of the Can-Am
series was very good for us.

723
00:55:28,408 --> 00:55:31,492
Just at the stage where
we were starting to concentrate

724
00:55:31,620 --> 00:55:33,077
on sports car racing,

725
00:55:33,205 --> 00:55:35,743
sports car racing
became a very big thing in the US.

726
00:55:35,874 --> 00:55:41,211
I started as a race queen, if you will,
with flags, and the jumping.

727
00:55:41,338 --> 00:55:44,672
I hear those engines, and I'm, whoa.

728
00:55:44,800 --> 00:55:47,417
I would go around with this camera
all the time,

729
00:55:47,553 --> 00:55:49,385
and I'd do the drivers' parade,

730
00:55:49,513 --> 00:55:53,723
and they'd all wave at me
when they go by. Like a family.

731
00:55:54,226 --> 00:55:57,264
Got to meet Bruce, and became friends.

732
00:55:57,396 --> 00:56:00,605
I loved the way he always said,
"She'll be right, mate."

733
00:56:03,735 --> 00:56:06,944
Bruce had a good team, and he was trying to

734
00:56:07,072 --> 00:56:10,315
raise enough money
so he could spend enough money

735
00:56:10,450 --> 00:56:13,568
to stay on the cutting edge
of racing car development.

736
00:56:13,704 --> 00:56:16,538
McLaren's design mastery
was very much in evidence.

737
00:56:16,665 --> 00:56:19,874
Thirteen of his streamlined models
were in the race.

738
00:56:20,002 --> 00:56:22,415
The McLaren was the class of the field.

739
00:56:23,672 --> 00:56:26,005
I was so envious, wishing so much

740
00:56:26,133 --> 00:56:28,841
that I could just drive
one of those things myself.

741
00:56:30,304 --> 00:56:33,672
McLaren brand, the cars, appealed to me.

742
00:56:33,807 --> 00:56:37,471
It was smooth, and they looked good.
So that inspired me.

743
00:56:39,104 --> 00:56:41,096
Charging up the back straight,

744
00:56:41,231 --> 00:56:44,474
McLaren makes 165 miles an hour look easy.

745
00:56:47,154 --> 00:56:50,864
I met Lothar,
and Lothar raced a Cobra for a while.

746
00:56:50,991 --> 00:56:53,574
But when he saw the McLaren...

747
00:56:53,702 --> 00:56:54,943
I sold my Cobra.

748
00:56:56,163 --> 00:56:57,779
I sold my house.

749
00:56:58,957 --> 00:57:00,448
I bought the McLaren.

750
00:57:05,172 --> 00:57:08,131
Bruce McLaren was very important to me,

751
00:57:08,258 --> 00:57:11,751
and what he started with
the McLaren team was tremendous.

752
00:57:11,887 --> 00:57:14,470
It was a great couple of years of my life.

753
00:57:16,183 --> 00:57:19,597
But I was approached to meet Mr Ferrari.

754
00:57:22,064 --> 00:57:26,479
Bruce was very disappointed
because I think that he was

755
00:57:26,610 --> 00:57:32,106
thinking about stopping racing himself
and just running the team.

756
00:57:34,451 --> 00:57:37,819
Bruce, you're so busy on
the construction and management side,

757
00:57:37,955 --> 00:57:40,322
are you planning to
retire from racing yourself,

758
00:57:40,457 --> 00:57:44,326
and devote seven days a week
to construction and management?

759
00:57:44,461 --> 00:57:45,872
Not just yet.

760
00:57:46,004 --> 00:57:50,089
I imagine that in a couple of years
or so I will do this.

761
00:57:50,217 --> 00:57:54,632
But at this stage it's still necessary
for me to do the driving.

762
00:58:12,823 --> 00:58:15,031
In '67 we spent three months

763
00:58:15,158 --> 00:58:17,571
just building these Can-Am cars
to go to the States.

764
00:58:17,703 --> 00:58:20,662
That's all we did.
We're just mad activity.

765
00:58:20,789 --> 00:58:23,406
We needed to win to earn the prize money

766
00:58:23,542 --> 00:58:25,955
to be able to afford
to do our Formula 1 car.

767
00:58:26,086 --> 00:58:28,453
I don't know how they scraped through
all those years.

768
00:58:28,588 --> 00:58:32,673
I guess Teddy basically put a lot
of money in, in the early days.

769
00:58:32,801 --> 00:58:38,013
The Formula 1 failure hit
Teddy's wallet very bad.

770
00:58:38,140 --> 00:58:42,931
It was one thing for the sponsors
to say, "Yes, we'll stick with you,"

771
00:58:43,061 --> 00:58:46,554
but they had to have a reason
for sticking with us.

772
00:58:48,191 --> 00:58:52,435
The McLaren team has built
a completely new Can-Am car for 1967.

773
00:58:52,571 --> 00:58:54,062
It's the M6A.

774
00:58:57,075 --> 00:59:00,614
Bruce's new teammate, his fellow
New Zealander Denis Hulme.

775
00:59:00,746 --> 00:59:03,659
Where are you finding that extra speed?

776
00:59:03,790 --> 00:59:07,033
I would say largely with our car, on
acceleration coming out of the corners.

777
00:59:08,628 --> 00:59:10,915
You don't expect any trouble in the race?

778
00:59:11,048 --> 00:59:13,415
I always expect trouble,
I just hope we don't have any.

779
00:59:18,430 --> 00:59:20,547
At Mosport the race was gonna start.

780
00:59:20,682 --> 00:59:22,719
Bruce said, "Look, we've got a problem."

781
00:59:22,851 --> 00:59:25,719
New Zealander Bruce McLaren,
who qualified second,

782
00:59:25,854 --> 00:59:26,890
is not on the grid.

783
00:59:27,022 --> 00:59:28,809
Minutes before the cars were lined up,

784
00:59:28,940 --> 00:59:31,307
the McLaren mechanics
discovered a leaky fuel bag,

785
00:59:31,485 --> 00:59:34,978
and are feverishly working
to replace it, but time is running out.

786
00:59:37,199 --> 00:59:39,862
Teammate Denis Hulme
will carry the McLaren banner.

787
00:59:41,953 --> 00:59:44,821
Dan Gurney, in the second row,
will be his major threat.

788
00:59:46,666 --> 00:59:49,704
The field is off for one tour around
the two-and-a-half-mile course,

789
00:59:49,836 --> 00:59:51,327
without McLaren.

790
00:59:59,054 --> 01:00:02,468
And then the Americans
saw Bruce do something special.

791
01:00:03,141 --> 01:00:05,428
McLaren is off, flat out.

792
01:00:06,228 --> 01:00:08,845
To play catch-up
is a tough way to go racing.

793
01:00:08,980 --> 01:00:12,849
McLaren almost a lap behind
as the pack gets the green flag.

794
01:00:14,444 --> 01:00:17,232
Bruce McLaren is 55 seconds behind.

795
01:00:21,201 --> 01:00:23,784
Denis Hulme in the number five McLaren
leads Gurney

796
01:00:23,912 --> 01:00:26,450
into the deceptive
downhill left-hander at Turn Two.

797
01:00:28,875 --> 01:00:30,366
McLaren's out of the esses

798
01:00:30,544 --> 01:00:33,708
and blasts for
the start/finish straight and green.

799
01:00:36,091 --> 01:00:38,674
Hulme and Gurney are setting
a blistering pace.

800
01:00:42,013 --> 01:00:44,380
McLaren gamely pours it on,

801
01:00:44,516 --> 01:00:46,599
cutting the gap between him
and the tail-enders.

802
01:00:51,148 --> 01:00:53,265
McLaren has caught tail-ender Nat Adams,

803
01:00:53,400 --> 01:00:55,266
and signals Fred Pipin to let him by.

804
01:01:01,867 --> 01:01:05,611
McLaren pulls up five places
in just five laps.

805
01:01:07,664 --> 01:01:09,246
McLaren seems to choose any line

806
01:01:09,374 --> 01:01:11,661
in a daring drive
rarely seen in motor racing.

807
01:01:26,683 --> 01:01:30,222
Brett Lunger is into the guard rail,
debris all over the tracks.

808
01:01:30,353 --> 01:01:32,936
Gurney and the sensational Bruce McLaren

809
01:01:33,064 --> 01:01:34,350
battle for second.

810
01:01:37,736 --> 01:01:40,444
McLaren makes his move
down the pit straight.

811
01:01:42,449 --> 01:01:44,315
But Gurney shuts the door.

812
01:01:52,959 --> 01:01:55,872
McLaren now in second.

813
01:01:56,004 --> 01:01:58,997
McLaren crew chief
Tyler Alexander looks happy,

814
01:01:59,132 --> 01:02:00,418
wouldn't you say?

815
01:02:01,176 --> 01:02:04,169
Hulme is in trouble. He's done
serious damage to the bodywork.

816
01:02:07,682 --> 01:02:09,548
McLaren narrows the gap.

817
01:02:11,561 --> 01:02:14,679
Hulme struggles on,
the burnt-out wheel locked in place.

818
01:02:19,611 --> 01:02:21,978
Incredibly, Denny holds on to win.

819
01:02:22,113 --> 01:02:26,483
Bruce storms back to make it
a sensational McLaren one-two.

820
01:02:27,327 --> 01:02:30,365
Every racing driver likes
the opportunity now and then

821
01:02:30,497 --> 01:02:33,490
to be able to come
right from the back of the field.

822
01:02:34,042 --> 01:02:37,001
Even though Bruce was really
wanting to try and wind down,

823
01:02:37,128 --> 01:02:40,621
he loved racing, he loved driving.
And he was still good at it.

824
01:02:42,467 --> 01:02:45,801
Bruce needed another driver in Formula 1.

825
01:02:47,305 --> 01:02:50,013
Quite clearly
Bruce and Denny got on very well.

826
01:02:52,894 --> 01:02:55,511
They were Kiwis taking on the world.

827
01:03:03,863 --> 01:03:05,980
Denny had a foot
in both camps, as it were.

828
01:03:06,116 --> 01:03:08,824
He was driving with Jack Brabham
in Formula 1.

829
01:03:13,623 --> 01:03:17,287
The Formula 1 season ends up with
Denny becoming World Champion.

830
01:03:19,754 --> 01:03:23,498
Bruce won the Can-Am championship,
Denny was second.

831
01:03:24,301 --> 01:03:26,714
And the longer we went,
we got stronger together,

832
01:03:26,845 --> 01:03:28,552
and Bruce decided
there'd be a place for me

833
01:03:28,722 --> 01:03:30,759
in his Formula 1 team,
his new Formula 1 team.

834
01:03:30,890 --> 01:03:33,724
- It's beautiful.
- I don't like the steepness.

835
01:03:33,852 --> 01:03:35,059
- I do.
- I'm with you.

836
01:03:35,186 --> 01:03:37,303
You've got to play up
to the fans, don't you?

837
01:03:39,858 --> 01:03:44,319
Our Formula 1 car was designed. The M7.
Robin Herd designed the chassis.

838
01:03:46,031 --> 01:03:48,398
The car was a success
right from the start.

839
01:03:54,205 --> 01:03:57,448
We were starting to look very good.

840
01:03:57,584 --> 01:04:02,204
And then, in 1968,
Bruce made history at Spa.

841
01:04:13,683 --> 01:04:17,302
Spa is a very, very long race,
very high speed.

842
01:04:17,437 --> 01:04:20,896
Fuel consumption is absolutely critical.

843
01:04:24,527 --> 01:04:26,314
Spa was a bit like Monaco.

844
01:04:26,446 --> 01:04:28,779
Sometimes only three or four cars
would finish.

845
01:04:28,907 --> 01:04:32,275
Denny was very competitive.
Second right from the start.

846
01:04:32,410 --> 01:04:35,073
Bruce was running sixth or seventh,
making his way up the field,

847
01:04:35,205 --> 01:04:39,370
and Denny got into the lead, and then
the next thing there he is, in the pits.

848
01:04:41,336 --> 01:04:43,453
Pit stop. What's wrong?

849
01:04:43,588 --> 01:04:46,501
Drive shaft's melted off the side
of the gearbox.

850
01:04:48,760 --> 01:04:52,094
But Bruce's car was running
particularly well.

851
01:04:52,764 --> 01:04:53,971
Towards the end of the race,

852
01:04:54,099 --> 01:04:58,264
he'd worked himself up into
second place, behind Jackie Stewart.

853
01:04:58,395 --> 01:05:00,478
Tyler was out there
with the pit board to Bruce,

854
01:05:00,605 --> 01:05:02,972
waving furiously,
telling him to go faster and faster,

855
01:05:03,108 --> 01:05:05,395
'cause there was every chance
he could catch Jackie.

856
01:05:06,903 --> 01:05:09,646
On the last lap, unbeknown to Bruce,

857
01:05:09,781 --> 01:05:13,491
Jackie Stewart's car stopped, out of fuel.

858
01:05:13,618 --> 01:05:17,077
But he didn't see Jackie run out,
and he crossed the line.

859
01:05:20,333 --> 01:05:23,121
As far as Bruce was concerned,
he'd finished second,

860
01:05:23,253 --> 01:05:25,870
and we were trying to say to him,
"You've won. You've won.

861
01:05:26,005 --> 01:05:27,462
You've won the race."

862
01:05:38,435 --> 01:05:41,269
Oh, I just thought it was fantastic.

863
01:05:41,396 --> 01:05:45,106
Absolutely fantastic. And he deserved it.

864
01:05:50,280 --> 01:05:55,446
Bruce had now won Formula 1
Grand Prix in a car of his own design

865
01:05:55,577 --> 01:05:58,365
and manufacture, bearing his name,

866
01:05:58,496 --> 01:06:01,955
and it was just a major step forward
for the race team.

867
01:06:05,170 --> 01:06:07,036
It is so appropriate

868
01:06:07,172 --> 01:06:11,257
that the first ever win
for a McLaren in Formula 1

869
01:06:11,384 --> 01:06:13,922
was with Bruce McLaren at the wheel.

870
01:06:14,053 --> 01:06:18,593
And it was the second time in history
that a driver won a Grand Prix

871
01:06:18,725 --> 01:06:21,513
with his name on the nose of the car.

872
01:06:22,562 --> 01:06:24,895
And it's never happened since.

873
01:06:27,025 --> 01:06:30,109
I'd said to Bruce, you know,
"When we first started over here

874
01:06:30,236 --> 01:06:35,356
eight or nine years ago, and we dreamed
about doing something on our own,

875
01:06:35,492 --> 01:06:39,953
we didn't know how long it would take,
when we could do it, but we've done it."

876
01:06:44,083 --> 01:06:47,702
Here in a cul-de-sac, right under
the flight path of London Airport,

877
01:06:47,837 --> 01:06:50,124
is the home of one of the most successful

878
01:06:50,256 --> 01:06:52,543
areas of British motor racing.

879
01:06:53,968 --> 01:06:59,054
David Road was a very basic kind
of English industrial estate.

880
01:07:03,561 --> 01:07:08,522
To us at the time, it seemed like
this was very grand, but...

881
01:07:08,650 --> 01:07:12,234
Every 80 seconds we had
a jet land over the top of us,

882
01:07:12,362 --> 01:07:14,775
and if you're on the telephone,
you just had to stop talking.

883
01:07:14,906 --> 01:07:17,489
You'd have to say, "Excuse me,
you've got to wait for 60 seconds

884
01:07:17,617 --> 01:07:19,779
whilst the building vibrates."

885
01:07:20,620 --> 01:07:23,363
Having the factory so close
to the airport suited Bruce fine.

886
01:07:23,498 --> 01:07:24,784
He was constantly in the air.

887
01:07:24,958 --> 01:07:27,746
He was able to jump off the plane
at the airport, get to David Road,

888
01:07:27,919 --> 01:07:30,957
have a few meetings, and he'd be
back on the plane within minutes.

889
01:07:31,881 --> 01:07:34,043
Bruce and Denny spent a lot of time
in airplanes

890
01:07:34,175 --> 01:07:36,462
backwards and forwards
across the Atlantic.

891
01:07:43,226 --> 01:07:46,765
The drivers, Bruce and Denny's,
involvement was split between

892
01:07:46,896 --> 01:07:51,482
a Can-Am weekend,
and then a Formula 1 weekend in Europe.

893
01:07:52,735 --> 01:07:54,442
They'd fly in on the Thursday

894
01:07:54,571 --> 01:07:58,155
because the jet lag was quite bad
between England and the US.

895
01:07:58,283 --> 01:08:01,276
And we'd run Friday, and then
Saturday practice and qualifying,

896
01:08:01,411 --> 01:08:02,993
and then race on Sunday.

897
01:08:05,665 --> 01:08:11,002
Team McLaren earned more than
$162,000 in prizes for the series.

898
01:08:13,590 --> 01:08:16,754
Bruce must've been
something of a workaholic.

899
01:08:18,177 --> 01:08:22,012
There was this great need
for him to be busy.

900
01:08:23,057 --> 01:08:25,970
I'm not sure
when he ever found time to sleep.

901
01:08:27,478 --> 01:08:32,189
Bruce also did have big plans
to manufacture street cars, road cars.

902
01:08:32,317 --> 01:08:35,151
And I remember the prototype coupe
that he built.

903
01:08:35,278 --> 01:08:39,022
We were in England, setting up
to get delivery of our next McLaren.

904
01:08:39,157 --> 01:08:42,616
When we were in the office,
he showed us this model that was there,

905
01:08:42,744 --> 01:08:46,033
the GT that he wanted to build,
because that was his dream.

906
01:08:47,999 --> 01:08:50,082
We would like to do a road car
in the future,

907
01:08:50,209 --> 01:08:52,872
and we're talking and thinking about it.
Some way down the line.

908
01:08:53,046 --> 01:08:54,253
I hope it happens.

909
01:08:56,132 --> 01:08:59,796
That road car really was Bruce's baby.

910
01:09:13,733 --> 01:09:15,269
All the neighbors came out

911
01:09:15,401 --> 01:09:19,361
when he very quietly tried to drive it
out of the garage.

912
01:09:22,158 --> 01:09:23,774
I only drove it briefly,

913
01:09:23,910 --> 01:09:26,744
and wanted to show off
when you had a cocktail party.

914
01:09:46,224 --> 01:09:49,888
We're in a tremendously competitive year.

915
01:09:50,019 --> 01:09:52,352
The cars are very, very equal.

916
01:09:52,480 --> 01:09:56,770
They're all within tenths of a second
on lap time.

917
01:09:56,901 --> 01:09:58,938
This really keeps you working.

918
01:10:03,032 --> 01:10:06,821
Cars were becoming
increasingly more powerful,

919
01:10:06,953 --> 01:10:11,539
and designers were trying to find ways
of creating downforce

920
01:10:11,666 --> 01:10:16,411
to keep the cars on the track,
on fast corners in particular.

921
01:10:16,546 --> 01:10:18,754
And cars started sprouting wings.

922
01:10:20,758 --> 01:10:24,217
Aerofoil section. Put it on struts,
stick it on the back of the car,

923
01:10:24,345 --> 01:10:26,211
put something on the front
to balance it out,

924
01:10:26,347 --> 01:10:28,805
and it gives more downforce,
and therefore more grip.

925
01:10:29,851 --> 01:10:33,470
You know, aerodynamics has come
a long way since those days

926
01:10:33,604 --> 01:10:35,971
of us putting a wing on a minivan

927
01:10:36,107 --> 01:10:38,565
and measuring the downforce
with bathroom scales.

928
01:10:43,823 --> 01:10:47,567
For the '69 season
the car was designated M8B.

929
01:10:47,702 --> 01:10:51,116
This was the car that we ran
a high wing configuration,

930
01:10:51,247 --> 01:10:56,333
with struts down on to the uprights,
that proved to be unbeatable.

931
01:10:57,295 --> 01:11:00,459
Group 7, the fastest
racing cars in the world.

932
01:11:00,590 --> 01:11:05,381
Champions McLaren and Hulme drive these
cars to win on Gulf Premium No-nox.

933
01:11:09,474 --> 01:11:11,136
If McLaren and Hulme depend on it

934
01:11:11,267 --> 01:11:14,931
for power, performance
and mileage, shouldn't you?

935
01:11:17,190 --> 01:11:21,685
The success of Bruce McLaren and
Denny Hulme in Can-Am was extraordinary.

936
01:11:35,333 --> 01:11:39,794
In 1969, there were 11 rounds
of the Can-Am championship.

937
01:11:40,713 --> 01:11:43,046
McLarens won all 11 of them.

938
01:11:43,216 --> 01:11:48,336
Every race.
Hulme won five, McLaren won six.

939
01:11:51,933 --> 01:11:53,265
Just unbelievable.

940
01:12:09,075 --> 01:12:11,237
He was bringing home buckets of cash.

941
01:12:11,869 --> 01:12:14,361
Lots of other race team owners
made themselves rich

942
01:12:14,497 --> 01:12:17,661
and beggared their teams,
and Bruce had it the right way round.

943
01:12:17,792 --> 01:12:19,954
Put your money and your effort
into your race team,

944
01:12:20,086 --> 01:12:23,295
and then, when it's really winning,
then you can live off the highlife.

945
01:12:25,925 --> 01:12:28,838
So we've finished building
the house in Walton-on-Thames.

946
01:12:32,723 --> 01:12:36,012
Three-quarters of an acre.
Mum, you'll love it, I'm sure.

947
01:12:36,686 --> 01:12:39,394
I'm happy. It's a real family home.

948
01:12:40,982 --> 01:12:42,848
We've called it Muriwai.

949
01:12:53,828 --> 01:12:56,445
When you talk to anybody
that's at their height,

950
01:12:56,581 --> 01:12:59,745
it has to be all-consuming,
it has to be your total life.

951
01:13:00,877 --> 01:13:02,869
It was like working in a circus.

952
01:13:03,004 --> 01:13:05,917
The circus would go to America,
or the circus would go to Mexico,

953
01:13:06,048 --> 01:13:08,756
or South Africa,
and you would turn up at the racetrack,

954
01:13:08,885 --> 01:13:11,127
it'd be the same tire people,
and the same fuel people,

955
01:13:11,262 --> 01:13:13,345
and all the other same team members,

956
01:13:13,472 --> 01:13:15,555
and you hadn't seen each other
for three weeks.

957
01:13:17,268 --> 01:13:20,352
It was just like a small community
that moved around the world.

958
01:13:21,272 --> 01:13:24,640
New Zealander Bruce McLaren
driving in his 100th Grand Prix

959
01:13:24,775 --> 01:13:26,937
at the age of only 32.

960
01:13:27,069 --> 01:13:31,860
Each year it gets a little harder
to keep everything as neatly

961
01:13:31,991 --> 01:13:35,780
and as nicely controlled as we did,
you know, in previous years,

962
01:13:35,912 --> 01:13:38,655
because there is
just that much more administration,

963
01:13:38,789 --> 01:13:40,576
there is that much more to go wrong.

964
01:13:40,708 --> 01:13:44,167
We had grown very quickly
in the space of two or three years.

965
01:13:46,589 --> 01:13:50,959
Bruce was so busy that I would, sort of,
wave to him as he passed in the factory.

966
01:13:51,093 --> 01:13:53,756
It was always a rush to get
the Formula 1 cars

967
01:13:53,888 --> 01:13:58,178
built for the January, February start.
And then Can-Am didn't start till June.

968
01:13:58,351 --> 01:14:00,593
Resources were fairly stretched.

969
01:14:00,728 --> 01:14:03,937
Not a huge team of people at all,
maybe 50 guys

970
01:14:04,065 --> 01:14:09,481
working on Can-Am, Formula 1
and Indianapolis cars as well.

971
01:14:09,612 --> 01:14:13,276
People say the three big races
in motorsport are

972
01:14:13,407 --> 01:14:18,823
the Monaco Grand Prix, Le Mans,
and the Indianapolis 500.

973
01:14:18,955 --> 01:14:23,199
The Indy 500 is arguably
the best-known race in the world.

974
01:14:27,046 --> 01:14:31,666
I suppose it was logical for a workaholic
to look at Indianapolis

975
01:14:31,801 --> 01:14:34,134
as the next thing to tackle.

976
01:14:35,554 --> 01:14:37,170
Yeah, he was building an empire.

977
01:14:37,723 --> 01:14:40,807
Dear folks, two Indy cars
went off last night.

978
01:14:40,935 --> 01:14:42,767
And Denny, Chris Amon, Teddy and I

979
01:14:42,895 --> 01:14:45,137
should be running at Indianapolis
on Monday morning.

980
01:14:46,315 --> 01:14:48,523
Nobody in the team, other than Denny,

981
01:14:48,651 --> 01:14:50,643
really had any experience of the place.

982
01:14:51,237 --> 01:14:52,819
Very early on in the month,

983
01:14:52,947 --> 01:14:56,190
Denny's car caught fire
going down the back straight.

984
01:14:59,245 --> 01:15:01,703
Denny's overalls were on fire,

985
01:15:01,831 --> 01:15:04,869
but because it was methanol,
you couldn't see any flame burning.

986
01:15:07,128 --> 01:15:09,996
And Denny ended up getting
his hands badly burnt,

987
01:15:10,131 --> 01:15:13,624
which put a stop to his driving,
in fact he ended up in hospital.

988
01:15:22,226 --> 01:15:24,843
We were scheduled for a test
with the Can-Am car.

989
01:15:28,941 --> 01:15:30,898
The entire month of May had been

990
01:15:31,027 --> 01:15:33,895
a massive intersection
of all of our projects.

991
01:15:37,408 --> 01:15:43,780
Formula 1, Indianapolis and Can-Am
was almost too much for one man.

992
01:15:43,914 --> 01:15:46,076
And I think he'd come to the realization

993
01:15:46,208 --> 01:15:49,167
that he was gonna need to step away
from some driving.

994
01:15:49,295 --> 01:15:53,039
And I suppose perhaps Patty
had an influence on that as well,

995
01:15:53,174 --> 01:15:54,415
understandably.

996
01:15:56,594 --> 01:16:00,178
He'd just arrived back
from America the day before,

997
01:16:00,306 --> 01:16:01,672
from Indianapolis.

998
01:16:01,807 --> 01:16:04,470
Denny should have been testing the car,

999
01:16:04,602 --> 01:16:07,845
because of Bruce just being back
and jet-Iagged.

1000
01:16:09,398 --> 01:16:11,390
But Denny couldn't drive.

1001
01:16:12,401 --> 01:16:15,064
The design side of the car
hadn't changed a lot.

1002
01:16:15,196 --> 01:16:19,315
How are you gonna do a lot better
than 11 out of 11 wins anyway?

1003
01:16:20,701 --> 01:16:24,320
The main change came about
through banning high wings.

1004
01:16:24,455 --> 01:16:27,698
There were so many accidents
in Formula 1 with the high wings...

1005
01:16:31,212 --> 01:16:34,956
that the Americans followed suit
and banned them at the end of the year.

1006
01:16:35,466 --> 01:16:38,129
Cary Taylor and myself were at Goodwood.

1007
01:16:38,260 --> 01:16:42,470
And they were exploring
rear-wing configurations.

1008
01:16:42,598 --> 01:16:46,592
They had a wing section hung between
fins on the tail the first time,

1009
01:16:46,727 --> 01:16:50,061
and this generated
huge amounts of downforce.

1010
01:16:57,947 --> 01:17:01,861
We were testing there with
a Formula 1 car, and a Can-Am car.

1011
01:17:01,992 --> 01:17:04,029
And he was climbing from one car
into the other.

1012
01:17:11,293 --> 01:17:14,786
He was in a great frame of mind,
and I always remember,

1013
01:17:14,922 --> 01:17:19,633
he'd been to see the Sundance Kid film,
and it took his fancy.

1014
01:17:20,344 --> 01:17:22,210
He was pretty impressed with that.

1015
01:17:22,346 --> 01:17:23,382
Ready?

1016
01:17:25,182 --> 01:17:27,174
No, we'll jump.

1017
01:17:33,816 --> 01:17:37,059
Oh, shit!

1018
01:17:41,365 --> 01:17:45,109
And you always stop at midday
at Goodwood for lunch.

1019
01:17:46,662 --> 01:17:51,123
The Aero Club insists.
But Bruce wanted to do one more run.

1020
01:17:51,250 --> 01:17:53,788
And he wanted to use some more rear wing.

1021
01:17:58,340 --> 01:18:02,630
There was a bit of a frantic
"get the car out"

1022
01:18:02,761 --> 01:18:07,131
to get just another lap in
to evaluate this particular adjustment.

1023
01:18:22,239 --> 01:18:23,775
You can hear those cars,

1024
01:18:23,908 --> 01:18:28,824
the V8 running about 6,000 revs,
and those were monstrous engines.

1025
01:18:40,424 --> 01:18:42,757
All of a sudden, it's just...

1026
01:18:48,891 --> 01:18:50,348
And a silence.

1027
01:18:57,107 --> 01:19:00,020
Jim Stone and I jumped in my car,
and then drove round.

1028
01:19:00,152 --> 01:19:05,989
And I lifted him out of the car, and
it was obvious to me that he was dead,

1029
01:19:06,116 --> 01:19:08,824
because he was broken,
and he was like a rag doll.

1030
01:19:08,953 --> 01:19:13,744
And so I... I held on to him.

1031
01:19:13,874 --> 01:19:18,710
I sat there and held him
until the ambulance came,

1032
01:19:18,837 --> 01:19:21,045
and then the ambulance people
took him off me.

1033
01:19:26,845 --> 01:19:29,087
It wasn't too long
before I had a phone call,

1034
01:19:29,223 --> 01:19:33,968
and it was a tragic accident,
and we had lost Bruce.

1035
01:19:35,771 --> 01:19:37,228
So... so...

1036
01:19:38,274 --> 01:19:41,938
being what we were, we took
the broken car, put it in the truck,

1037
01:19:42,069 --> 01:19:45,608
and I drove the truck back to the factory.

1038
01:19:45,739 --> 01:19:49,073
I had to tell Patty what had happened.

1039
01:19:51,704 --> 01:19:55,823
A couple of the people from
McLarens just came to the house.

1040
01:19:55,958 --> 01:19:58,416
I think one is in a state of shock
for such a long time.

1041
01:19:58,544 --> 01:20:01,787
Amanda obviously was little,
so she wasn't totally aware of it.

1042
01:20:02,464 --> 01:20:06,424
I said to Denny, "Let's just go outside."

1043
01:20:06,552 --> 01:20:09,670
So we went outside
and walked around the lawn

1044
01:20:09,805 --> 01:20:11,637
and the garden in Bruce's house.

1045
01:20:12,558 --> 01:20:17,770
I realized I would have to call
Bruce's parents in New Zealand.

1046
01:20:19,690 --> 01:20:22,649
And it was now after midnight there.

1047
01:20:24,778 --> 01:20:29,239
Pop answered the phone
and it was just so difficult...

1048
01:20:31,201 --> 01:20:33,158
to tell them what had happened.

1049
01:20:33,954 --> 01:20:38,244
I spoke to Pop. I spoke to Mrs Mac,

1050
01:20:38,375 --> 01:20:44,121
and Mrs Mac said, "You know, I had
a dreadful premonition this morning

1051
01:20:44,256 --> 01:20:46,543
that something was going to happen."

1052
01:20:46,675 --> 01:20:51,420
And I sat up suddenly in bed.

1053
01:20:51,555 --> 01:20:56,346
Just bolt upright.
And Les says, "What's the matter?"

1054
01:20:57,603 --> 01:21:00,391
That whole day's come back, Roger.

1055
01:21:03,734 --> 01:21:04,770
It's...

1056
01:21:06,403 --> 01:21:10,693
You build a pretty close relationship
with a driver. He's got to trust you.

1057
01:21:11,950 --> 01:21:12,986
And...

1058
01:21:16,288 --> 01:21:17,824
Yeah.

1059
01:21:17,956 --> 01:21:21,540
Yeah, a very sad day.

1060
01:21:26,507 --> 01:21:32,845
I wanted the boys to carry on,
and I wrote a letter to the team,

1061
01:21:32,971 --> 01:21:35,463
the boys as I always called them.

1062
01:21:37,559 --> 01:21:39,391
My boys.

1063
01:21:50,197 --> 01:21:53,110
What happened should never have.

1064
01:21:53,242 --> 01:21:59,409
At, say, 180 mile an hour, with the
rear wing set at a fairly high angle,

1065
01:21:59,540 --> 01:22:02,123
the rear section of the car lifted.

1066
01:22:07,423 --> 01:22:11,337
Unfortunately, there was
a marshal's post, due for demolition,

1067
01:22:11,468 --> 01:22:15,929
hadn't been demolished,
right in the path of the car.

1068
01:22:21,145 --> 01:22:24,013
Teddy and I decided we would get
everybody in the factory together,

1069
01:22:24,148 --> 01:22:28,017
and we said to them, "Take tomorrow off."

1070
01:22:28,152 --> 01:22:31,520
The next day everyone turned up.

1071
01:22:31,655 --> 01:22:35,023
Yeah, we decided to carry on. I mean,
that's what he would've wanted us to do.

1072
01:22:39,288 --> 01:22:44,408
Eoin Young, Patty McLaren
and myself would fly out to New Zealand

1073
01:22:44,543 --> 01:22:45,784
for his funeral.

1074
01:22:48,839 --> 01:22:53,834
The funeral procession
left to drive to the cemetery.

1075
01:22:54,803 --> 01:22:57,591
At every intersection,
there was a traffic officer

1076
01:22:57,723 --> 01:23:00,466
making sure the lights were overridden,

1077
01:23:00,601 --> 01:23:04,595
so that the cortège
was never going to be slowed down.

1078
01:23:04,730 --> 01:23:07,564
All of the traffic officers
stood to attention

1079
01:23:07,691 --> 01:23:10,729
and saluted as we went through.

1080
01:23:20,078 --> 01:23:22,616
We got a huge photograph of Bruce,

1081
01:23:22,748 --> 01:23:27,459
and we put it up on the far wall
of the factory, in the prototype shop.

1082
01:23:27,836 --> 01:23:30,294
Denny was there virtually every day,

1083
01:23:30,422 --> 01:23:33,881
other than the days that he had to go
and see the specialist,

1084
01:23:34,009 --> 01:23:39,129
and he took over the mantle
of team leader.

1085
01:23:39,264 --> 01:23:41,551
At the back of everyone's mind, of course,

1086
01:23:41,683 --> 01:23:47,520
was here we are due to be on Mosport,
first Can-Am race, June 14th.

1087
01:23:47,648 --> 01:23:49,014
Within two weeks.

1088
01:23:49,149 --> 01:23:52,358
And so another car had to be built
very quickly

1089
01:23:52,486 --> 01:23:55,479
if we were
a functioning motor racing team.

1090
01:23:55,614 --> 01:23:59,358
They quickly designed
a whole new system of struts

1091
01:23:59,493 --> 01:24:02,406
to hold the bodywork and the rear wing.

1092
01:24:02,538 --> 01:24:05,747
Denny said,
"I'm going to drive at Mosport,"

1093
01:24:05,874 --> 01:24:08,241
because he said
we've got to be there with two cars.

1094
01:24:08,377 --> 01:24:10,744
And we said, "No, you're not. You can't."

1095
01:24:10,879 --> 01:24:14,088
"The doctors have all said to you that,
you know, your hands are so bad."

1096
01:24:14,216 --> 01:24:17,175
Denny certainly made it very obvious that,

1097
01:24:17,302 --> 01:24:19,168
come what may, he was driving.

1098
01:24:20,889 --> 01:24:26,226
The immediate thought was who can
we approach to drive the second car?

1099
01:24:28,230 --> 01:24:29,937
The McLaren team is here,

1100
01:24:30,065 --> 01:24:32,182
dedicated to winning
in the memory of their boss.

1101
01:24:32,317 --> 01:24:34,559
Dan Gurney, a close friend of Bruce's,

1102
01:24:34,695 --> 01:24:36,812
has volunteered to drive
the second McLaren.

1103
01:24:36,947 --> 01:24:39,109
I drove a Can-Am car for McLaren

1104
01:24:39,241 --> 01:24:43,781
under the worst sort of circumstances,
when Bruce left us.

1105
01:24:43,912 --> 01:24:49,783
I felt as though my old friend would
probably be honored if I could do well,

1106
01:24:49,918 --> 01:24:52,410
and so I said yes.

1107
01:24:52,546 --> 01:24:55,584
He joins Denny Hulme,
whose hands have been badly burned

1108
01:24:55,716 --> 01:24:58,959
in testing for the Indy 500.
Against doctors' orders,

1109
01:24:59,094 --> 01:25:01,837
and with his hands heavily bandaged,
Denny will race.

1110
01:25:03,348 --> 01:25:05,635
So on the grid at Mosport,

1111
01:25:05,767 --> 01:25:09,431
there's Denny with extremely painful,
burnt hands,

1112
01:25:09,563 --> 01:25:13,807
and then that left hand
went onto the wheel,

1113
01:25:13,942 --> 01:25:20,064
and we had to sort of mould it
round the wheel so he could hold on.

1114
01:25:21,450 --> 01:25:25,410
Unbelievably the doctors
at Mosport allowed him to start.

1115
01:25:30,083 --> 01:25:34,498
Denny led for most of the way,
until he had gearbox problems.

1116
01:25:35,380 --> 01:25:36,871
Dan won the race.

1117
01:25:38,592 --> 01:25:40,504
Denny finished third.

1118
01:25:41,136 --> 01:25:44,470
It was a great opportunity
to do something for Bruce

1119
01:25:44,598 --> 01:25:46,180
to keep things going.

1120
01:25:47,392 --> 01:25:50,351
McLaren went from success to success.

1121
01:25:50,854 --> 01:25:53,597
Teddy won the Can-Am Championship in 1970.

1122
01:25:54,441 --> 01:25:59,027
We'd won the Indy 500 in the new M16
with Mark Donohue.

1123
01:25:59,154 --> 01:26:02,522
In 1974, we achieved our ultimate goal,

1124
01:26:02,658 --> 01:26:05,901
we won the Formula 1 World Championship
with Emerson Fittipaldi.

1125
01:26:07,204 --> 01:26:11,619
We won the Indy 500 with the works car
with Johnny Rutherford.

1126
01:26:11,750 --> 01:26:15,915
Repeated that in 1976
with James Hunt in Formula 1,

1127
01:26:16,088 --> 01:26:19,331
Johnny Rutherford again at the Indy 500.

1128
01:26:19,466 --> 01:26:22,755
And McLaren became
the only team in history

1129
01:26:22,886 --> 01:26:27,631
to have completed the World Championship
Indy 500 double for two years.

1130
01:26:30,018 --> 01:26:33,477
The legacy of Bruce McLaren lives on.

1131
01:26:44,783 --> 01:26:49,323
I've always said that if Bruce had come
into the factory one morning and said,

1132
01:26:49,454 --> 01:26:52,913
"OK, men," because he always
addressed us collectively as men,

1133
01:26:53,041 --> 01:26:56,284
"OK, men, we're not gonna work
on racing cars today,

1134
01:26:56,420 --> 01:26:58,377
we're gonna march across
the Sahara Desert,"

1135
01:26:58,505 --> 01:27:02,169
we'd have all said,
"OK, Bruce. You know, no problem."

1136
01:27:05,137 --> 01:27:08,505
I remember my first actual race.

1137
01:27:09,391 --> 01:27:13,635
It was on a beach at a place called
Muriwai, in New Zealand.

1138
01:27:14,354 --> 01:27:16,937
And I was about 16.

1139
01:27:20,902 --> 01:27:24,145
It was probably the shortest,
slowest race I'd ever win.

1140
01:27:24,281 --> 01:27:26,193
Certainly there was no prize money.

1141
01:27:26,324 --> 01:27:29,362
In fact, I might have got a certificate,
which says,

1142
01:27:29,494 --> 01:27:31,611
"This hereby declares that B. McLaren

1143
01:27:31,747 --> 01:27:35,866
won a up to 1500cc all-comers
handicap race."

1144
01:27:36,001 --> 01:27:38,618
But I was certainly excited by it.

1145
01:28:00,859 --> 01:28:03,897
They tell me that there have
been quite a few modifications

1146
01:28:04,029 --> 01:28:05,861
carried out on this car of yours.

1147
01:28:05,989 --> 01:28:08,151
What would some of those modifications be?

1148
01:28:08,283 --> 01:28:10,616
I believe, for a start,
you're using a bamboo space frame.

1149
01:28:10,744 --> 01:28:12,827
That's correct. It's a bamboo space frame.

1150
01:28:12,954 --> 01:28:16,743
And we're also using,
the most sensational development

1151
01:28:16,875 --> 01:28:18,207
is of course the square wheel.

1152
01:28:18,335 --> 01:28:21,453
That gives us more tread area
when the car is going sideways.

1153
01:28:21,588 --> 01:28:24,956
That's tread area on the ground,
as you must of course understand.

1153
01:28:25,305 --> 01:28:31,515
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