BRUCE MCLAREN: LIFE AND LEGACY OF EXCELLENCE


By Karl Ludvigsen.
Published by Haynes.

Karl Ludvigsen may be creating something of a tight corner for himself. Irrespective of what else happens in the motor racing publishing world, it seems that there is always a new Ludvigsen book somewhere just around the next bend. But each new title that hits the shelves invariably brings to mind another half dozen or so personalities equally deserving of having their story told.

It's not Ludvigsen's fault - if he were to write a book about everyone who deserves it, then he would be tied up for the next several decades. By which time, he'd have just about covered the sixties and most of the seventies. So far, Ludvigsen has walked a middle ground between those subjects whose story is already well-recorded (Fangio, Moss), and those whose racing history was just about ripe for the re-telling, particularly for the Schumacher generation (Ascari, Gurney, Stewart). And now it is the turn of another who falls into the latter category - Bruce McLaren.

The McLaren F1 team's heritage is all but invisible in the outfit's modern guise, and it's interesting to consider what the Kiwi who founded the team would make of it all if he could see it now.

This book doesn't attempt to answer the question, but anyone who is familiar with the other titles in the Ludvigsen biographies series will know by now that that is not really their purpose.

'Bruce McLaren' is primarily an account of the New Zealander's motor racing career, rather than a comprehensive portrait of his life story. Some background information is occasionally provided, usually to provide context and occasionally, one suspects, out of a very mild sense of obligation.

Standard biographies tend to view events such as the subject's death as worthy of complete chapters (usually, followed up by an epilogue). In this instance, McLaren's fatal accident during testing at Goodwood is covered in exactly three paragraphs, after which the credits start rolling. In other words, the emphasis here is very much upon racing, rather than what subjects McLaren may have excelled in at school.

But what the book does do, it does fairly well. I guess it had particular appeal for me, because as an antipodean myself I have often wondered what it must have been like to experience the era when Australians and New Zealanders were making serious waves in Grand Prix racing; Jack Brabham and McLaren as owner-drivers, and Chris Amon and Denny Hulme steering.

The best thing about this series, though, is that it arrests the gradual slide of some of these personalities into the obscurities of the distant past. There's obviously no guarantee that an 18-year-old F1 fan who worships the Jordan team is going to buy a Bruce McLaren book just because there is one available, but seeing the name on the shelves will at the very least trigger some recognition, and may eventually spark an interest.

The value of this book depends very much on where you're coming from and what you're interested in. If you're a long-time Bruce McLaren fan I'd be surprised if much of the information contained here strikes you as revelation, although you'd no doubt appreciate many of the photographs (the format of this series places very heavy emphasis on images, and the selection is thoughtfully chosen and well reproduced.)

For those with a more general interest in racing history, though, this could be a very worthwhile purchase indeed. As an overview of McLaren's career as both a driver and an engineer, the book is just about ideal.

While the emphasis is very much on McLaren's Grand Prix and Can-Am career, there is also good coverage of his efforts elsewhere. I'd have liked to see a little more on the Tasman series, but maybe that's just the appeal of the local angle creeping in.

Particularly intriguing was the chapter dealing with McLaren's forays into Can-Am. Ludvigsen provides an engaging account of the battle of engineering wit between the New Zealander and the legendary Texan designer Jim Hall. At the time, Hall was pioneering the use of wings as aero aids, and McLaren was looking for ways to find extra downforce. Ludvigsen relates this story from the start of the 1967 Can-Am season:

"Another aim for the new car was to get aerodynamic downforce. 'No problem, Bruce,' (Robin) Herd told McLaren, 'we'll just put wings on it.' 'No way,' came the answer. 'If we put wings on we're perceived as copying Jim.' Herd said, 'Bruce, you know that's the way it can be done.' McLaren answered, 'I'm not doing it. I don't care. We've got to get downforce on the car without wings.' 'Great, Bruce, okay, no problem!' the engineer thought, wondering how he was going to work this miracle for the new car for 1967, the M6A." (p. 119)

Ultimately, though, this book continues the standard set by the earlier books in the series. It's informative, reliable and engaging, and should enhance anyone's motorsport library quite nicely.