The McLaren M16 was a race car designed and built by

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...

between 1971 and 1976 for American open wheel racing. It is the most successful car of the 1970s at the Indianapolis 500 with three wins in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

and

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

and the last one to win with the

Offenhauser The Offenhauser Racing Engine, or Offy, is a racing engine design that dominated American open wheel racing for more than 50 years and is still popular among vintage sprint and midget car racers. History The Offenhauser engine, familiarly ...

engine.

History

1971

The car was unveiled in January 1971 to replace the M15. Initially named simply M16, the 1971 version is known retrospectively as M16A due to the successive updates. The chassis is an aluminium monocoque powered by the omnipresent at the time Offenhauser straight-4 engine, which in its 159 c.i. (2.61l) version and equipped with a Garrett turbocharger limited to 24.6 psi (1.7 bar) delivered over 700 hp. Following a trend set by the previous year

Lotus 72 The Lotus 72 is a Formula One car designed by Colin Chapman and Maurice Philippe of Lotus for the 1970 Formula One season. The 72 was a pioneering design featuring inboard brakes, side-mounted radiators in sidepods (as opposed to the nose-mou ...

, the radiators were moved to the sidepods giving the car a wedge shape. Two cars driven by

Denny Hulme Denis Clive Hulme (18 June 1936 – 4 October 1992), commonly known as Denny Hulme, was a New Zealand racing driver who won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship for the Brabham team. Between his debut at Monaco in 1965 and his ...

and

Peter Revson Peter Jeffrey Revson (February 27, 1939 – March 22, 1974) was an American race car driver and heir to the Revlon cosmetics fortune. He was a two-time Formula One race winner and had success at the Indianapolis 500. Background Peter Revson w ...

entered the Indianapolis 500 under the McLaren team and one more car run by Penske and driven by

Mark Donohue Mark Neary Donohue Jr. (March 18, 1937 – August 19, 1975), nicknamed "Captain Nice," and later "Dark Monohue," was an American race car driver and engineer known for his ability to set up his own race car as well as driving it to victories. D ...

. The three cars made the qualified in the top 4, but only Revson manages to finish the race in second place.

1972

The new car was baptised as M16B. For that year Indy 500

Gordon Johncock Gordon Johncock (born August 5, 1936) is an American former racing driver. He won the Indianapolis 500 twice, and was the 1976 USAC Marlboro Championship Trail champion. Early career Johncock began racing at Berlin Raceway in Marne, Michigan. J ...

replaced Denny Hulme and Penske entered a second car for

Gary Bettenhausen Gary Bettenhausen (November 18, 1941 – March 16, 2014) was an American auto racing driver. He was born in Blue Island, Illinois, raised in Tinley Park, Illinois, graduated in the class of 1962 from Bremen High School (Midlothian, Illinois) in ...

. Although none of those three crossed the finish line, Mark Donohue did so in the first place, making the car the first McLaren to win the famous race and also giving Penske their first of a long list of victories at Indy.

1973

The M16C saw Johnny Rutherford joining the official team.

1974

Johnny Rutherford took the M16C/D to victory lane.

1975

This year McLaren fielded two new M16E cars while Penske preferred to stick to the previous year cars. Johnny Rutherford finished second both at Indy and the championship overall.

1976

Johnny Rutherford won his second Indy 500 with the M16E. This was the last year of the M16 as a factory entered car, as Mclaren introduced its replacement, the M24. However, several M16s continued racing by other teams until 1981.

References

External links

*https://www.mclaren.com/racing/2017/indy-500/mclaren-m16-three-time-indy-500-winner-2134343 {{McLaren Indianapolis 500 American Championship racing cars