McLaren Cars by Type #

M7A - 1968-69 Robin Herd had a guiding hand with the design of the M7A, it was the teams first Cosworth-Ford powered Formula 1 car. Three M7A's were built to be driven by Bruce and Denny Hulme, the third was the team's spare. This was Robin Herd's first McLaren design and in the interests of accessibility, they had bathtub type monocoque which terminated behind the rear cockpit bulkhead, using the engines crankcase as a fully stressed rear chassis member. Chassis: Monocoque with light aluminium alloy panelling over steel bulkheads, using the engine as a stressed section aft of the cockpit, carrying rear suspension loads through a yoke over the gearbox and plates bolted beneath it. Suspension: Single top link with radius arm, bottom wishbone, anti-roll bar and outboard coil spring/shock units in front. Single top links, reverse lower wishbones, twin radius arms and coil spring/shock units at rear. McLaren cast magnesium wheels, 15 x 10 front and 15 x 15 rear. Brakes: Lockheed17/3P calipers with 11.66 inch diameter discs all around. Body: Detachable fibreglass nose with separate top panel and cockpit surround. Engine cover sometimes used with various wings and spoiler arrangements. Engine: Cosworth-Ford DFV V-8 with 5 speed Hewland DG300 transaxle. Dimensions: Wheelbase 94 inches, front track 58 inches, rear track 57 inches, cockpit width 28 inches, weight 1140 pounds.
	Photo by Michael Hewitt

M7B - 1969
The M7B started as a M7A-3 fitted with broad pannier style fuel tanks at the beginning of the 1969 season as a research vehicle to test weight distribution and give room for the adoption of a four wheel drive system. It was not very successful and was sold to Colin Crabbe's Antique Automobiles Racing team for Vic Elford to drive. Apart from the panniers, its specification was little different from the standard M7A's

M7-B Bruce giving Graham Hill and Denny Hulme a lift

M7C - 1969
While the M7A type bathtub chassis were tough and accessible, they lacked some of the torsional rigidity achieved in the 1968 Formula A/5000 cars. Consequently one F1 car was built using a full "up and over" monocoque chassis identical to the M10A 5 litre cars and the machine, known as M7C-1, was Bruce's personal car in the 1969 F1 season. In general specification it was similar to the M7A cars.