The McLaren M5A was a racing car constructed by

Bruce McLaren Motor Racing 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 ...

, and was McLaren's first purpose-built

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

car. Like its M4B predecessor, only one car of this type was ever built. The car was the first to use the

BRM British Racing Motors (BRM) was a British Formula One motor racing team. Founded in 1945 and based in the market town of Bourne in Lincolnshire, it participated from 1951 to 1977, competing in 197 grands prix and winning seventeen. BRM wo ...

type 101 3.0 litre V12 engine, which produced 365 bhp. The M5A's first race was the rain-affected

1967 Canadian Grand Prix The 1967 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Mosport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada on August 27, 1967. The 90-lap contest was race 8 of 11 in both the 1967 World Championship of Drivers and the 1967 International Cu ...

, and after an early spin McLaren worked his way up to fourth place, before a pit stop to change a flat battery caused by McLaren's decision not to use an alternator pushed him back down to seventh place at the end. At the next race in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

McLaren qualified third, but broke two connecting rods while battling for fourth place and retired after 46 laps. The last two races of the season were no better, with McLaren retiring from both. With McLaren missing the season-opening 1968 South African Grand Prix, reigning World Champion

Denis 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 f ...

took over the M5A, now painted orange rather than the original blood-red, and finished 2 laps adrift in fifth place.

Joakim Bonnier Racing Team

Swedish privateer Jo Bonnier bought the M5A to replace his ageing

Cooper T81 The Cooper T81 is a Formula One car produced by the Cooper Car Company for the 1966 Formula One season. It represented something of a comeback for Cooper's fortunes, winning two races and enabling Cooper to finish third in the Constructors' Ch ...

, and used it to take part in 7 more Grands Prix in 1968, as well as that year's

Race of Champions The Race of Champions (ROC) is an international motorsport event held at the end/start of each year, featuring some of the world's best racing and rally drivers. It is the only competition in the world where stars from Formula One, World Ral ...

International Trophy The International Trophy is a prize awarded annually by the British Racing Drivers' Club to the winner of a auto racing, motor race held at the Silverstone Circuit, England. For many years it formed the premier non-championship Formula One event i ...

and International Gold Cup meetings. His best result came in

, with sixth place, but by now it was clear that the car was becoming both unreliable and slow, so Bonnier retired the car and hung it on the wall of his art gallery. The car was later repainted in its original colours and demonstrated in various historic races around the world. Sadly Sir

Jack Brabham Sir John Arthur Brabham (2 April 1926 – 19 May 2014) was an Australian racing driver who was Formula One World Champion in , , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name. Brabham was a R ...

crashed the car heavily after a coming together with

Jackie Oliver Keith Jack "Jackie" Oliver (born 14 August 1942 in Chadwell Heath, Essex) is a British former Formula One driver and team-owner from England. He became known as the founder of the Arrows team as well as a racing driver, although during his d ...

at the 1999 Goodwood Revival Meeting and had to be cut free from the car. The car has since been restored back to original condition.

Formula One World Championship results

( key) (Results in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) This total includes points scored by the McLaren M4B used by McLaren earlier in the season.

Non-Championship results

( key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

http://mclarenm5a.tripod.com/car.htmhttps://web.archive.org/web/20070927213333/http://www.bruce-mclaren.com/the-cars/f1/m5ahttps://web.archive.org/web/20070508152100/http://www.carguidemagazine.com/features/article/5534http://www.forix.com/car.php?l=0&r=1968000819&c=51&b=1000http://www.forix.com/engine.php?l=0&r=1967000819&c=0https://web.archive.org/web/20070929131650/http://forum.racesimcentral.com/showthread.php?t=26687
{{F1 cars 1968 McLaren M05A 1967 Formula One season cars 1968 Formula One season cars