In the world of super sports car collectors, McLaren is one of the brands that always has a special charm. Powerful from the exterior appearance to the powerful internal engine, along with the most advanced modern technology, McLaren is always sought after.
McLaren started as a racing team by legendary driver and engineer Bruce McLaren, the McLaren Automotive brand with the commercial racing car segment is still on track to complete its own race.
McLaren Elva
In 2020, in the midst of the outbreak, McLaren Elva – the lightest car the brand has ever built, was introduced and completed production on time. Talking about the Elva supercar, we must mention the “legacy” of its inspiration – the M1A, produced in 1964. Elva is a revolution in supercar production technology inspired by the The car was launched more than 60 years ago!
The M1A is considered the first ‘real’ McLaren (because before that Bruce installed his own car and ran without forming a team). The M1A is an ultra-lightweight, open-top, mid-engined racing car created with the sole purpose of providing the same speed and excitement as on a real racetrack.
McLaren Elva
The M1A weighs 551kg with a tubular steel chassis, McLaren’s first prototype sports racing car is not only light but also extremely responsive. Advanced suspension with independent wishbones and adjustable shock absorbers in the front and inverted lower wishbones in the rear.
Bruce wants to bring the purest emotional experience to those who are passionate about speed, understand and always desire to have the wind while holding the steering wheel. This is the basic ideal upon which its successor – the Elva was produced.
Image of M1A facing its ‘descendant’ McLaren Elva
The M1A is also considered a more “careless” car than today’s Elva – because in those days racers really only cared about speed, and did not consider safety factors like Now. M1A was launched by Bruce with only one criterion: speed and only speed.
During a test run of the M1A at Goodwood Circuit, both Bruce and M1A created an unbelievable feat: the M1A completed a lap in 1 minute 21.6 seconds. This is no less than 3.2 seconds faster than Bruce’s own racing record set on track and 0.4 seconds faster than the overall record held by Graham Hill in F1 BRM. It’s an unexpected start and I’ve only just tested it and haven’t raced yet.
Even though it was a closed test during the production process, the M1A couldn’t help but turn the heads of those present. Among them was Mr. Denis ‘Jenks’ Jenkinson – Stirling Moss’s navigator, who happened to be present at the Goodwood racetrack when the M1A was setting a lap record. Denis asked for a seat next to Bruce to experience the feeling of being unable to keep up with this M1A!
Image of two fast supercars 60 years apart
After this test drive and Mr. Denis’ surprise, Bruce knew it was time to bring the M1A to the world so they could see what the future of motorsport was like.
In the Canadian-American Challenge Cup race, which McLaren drivers won for five consecutive years from 1967 to 1971 – the M1A driven by Bruce took third place overall. At the same time, the M1A proved itself to be the fastest car on the track, equaling the lap record four times and breaking its own seven more times.
This spectacular debut brought 24 orders for the first McLaren racing car – M1A, a sought after sports car for racing teams as well as for individuals passionate about speed that only the M1A has. can be satisfied.
Bruce McLaren is driving himself, setting his own record, breaking the record of his own production car M1A – the inspiration for today’s Elva supercar.
With an overwhelming number of 24 orders, McLaren company has a human resource of only 8 workers, they have to cooperate with outside production to ensure progress. Frank Nichols of Elva Cars Ltd, a small-scale specialist sports car manufacturer, based in Sussex (UK), suggested that he could build copies of the M1A. In November 1964, McLaren and Elva’s parent company agreed terms to proceed with this project.
This is a fruitful partnership. The McLaren Elva M1A is sleek and distinctive with its pointed nose and low rear. From here, the M1A evolved into the M1B, and finally the M1C was the conclusion of the McLaren – Elva partnership, closing a period that partly shaped McLaren’s brand positioning. At the same time, creating for the company an extremely large force in the sports car racing industry.
All three McLaren – Eva models that year maintained the important design principles that “form must follow function” and “everything has its reason”. Until now, these two principles still exist in the production process of today’s modern McLaren Elva supercar.
Image of McLaren team driver – Lando Norris has just won pole for the upcoming Russian GP race taking place on September 26, 2021 (Photo: Yuri Kochetkov POOL/AFP)
Outside of the racetrack, the world has the McLaren Automotive brand and super designs that bring a sense of adventure from speed. At the same time, in the real racetrack, the McLaren Racing team has talented young driver Lando Norris who has just won Pole (first in the qualifying race – will be the first to start in the main race) at the Russian GP – a public race. Round 1, September 25 in the recent qualifying race.
