McLaren Memories - A Biography of Bruce McLaren (Eoin Young)

Author: Eoin Young

Bruce McLaren, a young man with an infectious sense of enthusiasm, loved to build cars, go racing — and win. Arriving in Europe from New Zealand in 1958 he joined his mentor Jack Brabham in the Cooper Formula 1 team and immediately showed prodigious talent. Victory at Sebring in 1959 made Bruce the youngest-ever driver to win a Grand Prix. This was followed by a chain of trophies in Formula 1, Formula 2, the Tasman Series, Le Mans and CanAm. In 1966 Bruce — still only in his 20s — started his own Grand Prix team, which survives to this day. Bringing together kindred enthusiasts such as Teddy Mayer and Robin Herd, he developed, tested and — until Denny Hulme joined from Brabham in 1968 — drove the cars. Bruce's death in 1970, testing a CanAm car at Goodwood, was all the more shocking because he was known as a safe driver who respected the limits.

Eoin Young's reminiscences about Bruce McLaren, his great friend and compatriot, will be compelling reading for fans of 1960s motor racing. Drawing from his own memories, interviews with Bruce's inner circle, his letters home, the magazine column they co-wrote and contemporary newspaper reports, Young recreates that golden era when racing drivers were mates and motorsport was fun. It's an extraordinary story. As a 10-year-old, diagnosed with the crippling Legg-Perthes disease, Bruce was told he would never walk again.

McLaren Memories o ows his high-achieving life right up to that last day at Goodwood, described by Ron Smith who was running the pit. Eoin Young, whose autobiography It Beats Working won the limo Makinen Trophy for outstanding motorsport coverage, has written several books for Haynes, including Forza Amon! and Jim Clark and his most successful Lotus.