McLaren-Chevrolet M10B - Flickr - exfordy

The McLaren M10 was a

Formula 5000 Formula 5000 (or F5000) was an Open-wheel car, open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel ...

race car Race, RACE or The Race may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

chassis built by

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited ( ) is a British auto racing, motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known a ...

that competed in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

between 1969 and 1973.

Design

McRae-Chevrolet GM1 - McLaren-Chevrolet M10B - Flickr - exfordy

The McLaren M10 was manufactured in large numbers. Built close to the weight limit, it was very light and was powered by a 500+ hp Chevrolet V8 engine. The cars were not manufactured by McLaren itself, but by the British racing car manufacturer Trojan. Trojan was able to complete and deliver 17 of the originally ordered quantity of 50 vehicles.

Racing history

The M10 was the only Formula 5000 racing car to win the North American

Championship twice. In 1970, John Cannon won the championship with four race wins. A year later, Briton David Hobbs won the championship with victories at Seattle, Road America, Laguna Seca, Edmonton, and Lime Rock. Australian driver

Frank Matich Francis Anthony Matich (25 January 193511 May 2015) was an Australian racing car driver. A highly successful motor racing competitor in the 1960s and 1970s, Matich built his own range of Matich sports cars and open wheel cars, mainly to sup ...

drove a Repco-

Holden Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. Founded in Adelaide, it was an automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter that sold cars under its own marque in Australia. It was ...

powered McLaren M10B to victory in the

1970 Australian Grand Prix The 1970 Australian Grand Prix was a motor race held at Warwick Farm Raceway in New South Wales, Australia on 22 November 1970. The race, which was the thirty fifth Australian Grand Prix, was open to Formula 5000 cars, 2.5-litre Australian For ...

at the Warwick Farm Raceway in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. It was the first of 13 wins for McLaren in the

Australian Grand Prix The Australian Grand Prix is an annual Formula One motor racing event, taking place in Melbourne, Victoria. The event is contracted to be held at least until 2035. One of the oldest surviving motorsport competitions held in Australia, the Gran ...

as of

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

(not including

Bruce McLaren Bruce Leslie McLaren (30 August 1937 – 2 June 1970) was a New Zealand racing driver, automotive designer, engineer and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . McLaren was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Champ ...

's own AGP wins in

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

and

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

). The M10 was also used in the

European Formula 5000 Championship The European Formula 5000 Championship was a motor racing series for Formula 5000 cars held annually from 1969 to 1975.Wolfgang Klopfer, Formula 5000 in Europe: Race By Race It was organized in the United Kingdom by the British Racing and Sports Ca ...

. In the first season of this series,

Peter Gethin Peter Kenneth Gethin (21 February 1940 – 5 December 2011) was a British racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Gethin won the 1971 Italian Grand Prix with BRM. Born and raised in Surrey, Gethin starte ...

won the championship title with an M10 fielded by Church Farm Racing.

References

External links

{{McLaren McLaren racing cars Formula 5000 cars