McLaren M2B
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| Category | Formula One | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Constructor | Bruce McLaren Motor Racing | ||||||||
| Designer(s) | Robin Herd | ||||||||
| Technical Specifications | |||||||||
| Chassis | Mallite-aluminium monocoque, with steel bulkheads. | ||||||||
| Suspension (front) | Upper radius arm and lower wishbone, with rocker-arm operated, inboard coilover spring/dampers. | ||||||||
| Suspension (rear) | Upper transverse link and radius arm with reversed lower wishbone. Outboard coilover spring/dampers. | ||||||||
| Engine | Ford 406 2995 cc V8 or Serenissima M166 2996 cc V8. Naturally aspirated, mid-mounted. | ||||||||
| Transmission | ZF 5DS25 5-speed manual transaxle. | ||||||||
| Tyres | Firestone | ||||||||
| Competition History | |||||||||
| Notable entrants | Bruce McLaren Motor Racing | ||||||||
| Notable drivers |  Bruce McLaren |
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| Debut | 1966 Monaco Grand Prix | ||||||||
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| Constructors' Championships | 0 | ||||||||
| Drivers' Championships | 0 | ||||||||
| n.b. Unless otherwise stated, all data refer to Formula One World Championship Grands Prix only. |
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The McLaren M2B is a Formula One motor racing car model, designed by Robin Herd for the Bruce McLaren Motor Racing team. It was the first McLaren Formula One car, and was based on the M2A prototype car (the M1 designation had been used by a sports car racing design). Bruce McLaren had been a works Cooper driver on the international Grand Prix circuit since 1958, but after scoring no wins with Cooper since 1962, and the success of his sports-racing cars, he set out to build single-seat Formula One racing cars for the upcoming 3.0 L formula in 1966. The McLaren M2B made its debut at the 1966 Monaco Grand Prix, powered by an ex-Indianapolis Ford V8. Later in the season, the heavyweight Ford unit was replaced by a lighter, but less powerful, Scuderia Serenissima engine. McLaren encountered limited success in its first year in F1, scoring only three championship points. The car had two race finishes from four Grand Prix starts; there were also two additional entries in which the car did not start the race, although it qualified for the events.
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[edit] Chassis design
The M2B was designed by Robin Herd. Despite Bruce McLaren's own technical and engineering skills, he recognised that his talents lay more in the sports car field and so he recruited Herd from the aerospace industry (he had previously worked on the early stages of the Concorde project).[1] Herd brought his aerospace experience to bear and while monocoque chassis construction had been used in previous Formula One designs, Herd chose to use an experimental composite material for the M2. Mallite (a composite of balsa wood compressed and bonded between two thin sheets of aluminium) was used for almost the entire chassis structure in the M2A prototype, the first time that a composite material had been used for the majority of the structural components of a racing car chassis. However, difficulties in fabricating the complex, compound curvature shapes common in chassis patterns of the era persuaded Herd to reduce its use to only the inner and upper skin of the final M2B design.[1] The resulting structure was the stiffest chassis yet built for a Formula Once car, with torsional rigidity of nearly 10,000 lb·ft (13,600 N·m) per degree.[2] Within this chassis the engine was housed as an unstressed unit, and a conventional wishbone-based suspension arrangement was adopted. The wheelbase measured exactly 8 feet (2438 mm), and front and rear track was 4 feet 10 inches (1473 mm) and 4 feet 10.75 inches (1492 mm), respectively.[3]
[edit] Engines
Two powerplants were used with the M2B; a OHV 4-camshaft Ford V8 powerplant, with a reduced engine capacity from the Indianapolis 500-based 4.2 L unit, at 2995 cc. (This engine shared nothing in common with the Cosworth DFV V8 engine.) Using a Hilborn-Travers fuel injection system, this Ford engine had a claimed power output of 303 bhp (226 kW) at 8750 rpm, and power was transmitted through a ZF 5-speed transaxle gearbox. Slow development of the Ford V8 engine, coupled with bearing failures and a narrow rev range meant that a second engine manufacturer was also used.[3]
A Serenissima engine (V8, 2996 cc) was used in the place of the Ford engine mid-season, and although it was not much more reliable (the two scratched starts were because of engine trouble) it did power Bruce McLaren to 6th place in the British GP, scoring the first-ever point for McLaren's Grand Prix team. A return to the Ford engine after the Dutch GP for the remaining races in 1966 was rewarded with a 5th place in the United States GP.[4]
Neither engine was to be seen in any other Grand Prix car but the McLaren M2B, nor were each engine used in Grand Prix racing again.
[edit] M2B: Film star
A slightly-repainted McLaren M2B was used in the 1966 John Frankenheimer movie Grand Prix. Bruce McLaren was still the driver of the car in actual race meetings, wearing the helmet design of fictional racing driver Pete Aron (played by James Garner) in the movie's plot. The cars were referred to as the "Yamura" team in the movie, in exchange for financial assistance to the little McLaren team (which had only four personnel plus Bruce McLaren at Monaco).[5] Filming took place both during actual race meetings, and in closed sessions, during which then-innovative car-mounted cameras and helicopter tracking shots were used.[6]
[edit] PC simulation
In 2007, a detailed, driveable reconstruction of the McLaren M2B was introduced in the free '66 Mod' for the Grand Prix Legends PC-based racing simulator.
[edit] References
- ^ a b The M2B. www.McLaren.com. Retrieved on 2008-08-31.
- ^ The Cars: Formula 1: M2B. Bruce McLaren Trust. Retrieved on 2008-08-31.
- ^ a b Pritchard, A. 1986. Directory of Formula One Cars 1966-1986. Aston Publicaions. pp. 152
- ^ Engines: Serenissima. GrandPrix.com. Retrieved on 2008-08-31.
- ^ Henry, A. 2006. Autocourse: 2006-07. Crash Media Group Publishing. pp.153
- ^ Monaco Grand Prix - 1966. www.McLaren.com. Retrieved on 2008-08-31.
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