McLaren

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1

DIRECTOR:
Now, can we... Whoa, hold it.

They're still lighting.

Right. Stand by.

Gordon, would you talk, and,

um, Bruce, if you could just nod.

Yeah.

GORDON:
This is the story of a young man

from New Zealand who was so successful

at driving cars that he came to Europe

to branch out as a professional driver.

As a designer, and as a businessman,

last year McLaren exported racing cars

worth one and a quarter million dollars.

(CAR ENGINE WHINES)

COMMENTATOR:
Bruce McLaren driving in his

100th Grand Prix at the age of only 32.

Bruce storms back to make it

a sensational McLaren one-two.

McLaren seems to choose any line

in a daring drive

rarely seen in motor racing.

McLaren crew chief Tyler Alexander

looks happy, wouldn't you say?

GORDON:
Bruce, you're competing on

the world's motor racing circuits,

and beating people who've got far,

far more money to spend than you have.

Would you be much better if you had four

or five times as much money to spend?

No. We'd probably get in a terrible mess.

BRUCE:
You can get too big

as a racing team,

and you could get involved and hidebound.

You've got to be able to move quickly

if you're going to be competitive.

But the actual care with which pieces

are put together is very important.

Something done incorrectly or assembled

in a hurry can be very dangerous.

(ENGINE STARTS)

(REVS)

(CHEEPS)

BRUCE:
When I was a boy, Mum remembers

hearing me telling a fantail:

"When I grow up

I'm gonna be a racing car driver."

We're gonna talk about...

We're gonna talk about Bruce,

the human interest side of it, really.

Yeah, which I think is a good idea.

You know what it's like when you meet

somebody and there's an instant rapport.

He was a very hands-on person,

learning about the mechanics of cars

at his pop's service station in Remuera.

We learned how to repair cars, put cars

together, build things, make things.

COLIN BEANLAND:
We were always together.

His friendship was simply unconditional.

His sense of humor was never

far behind him. It was like a shadow.

Motor racing was what we lived for.

Bruce's father had a pretty

extensive career in motorsport himself,

from the 1930s.

COMMENTATOR:

Wives and friends signal drivers

how far they've gone and their position.

Some keen spectators follow the race

in the same way,

whilst others just watch the cars go by,

and wonder why on earth people

would want to do this sort of thing.

Pop McLaren obviously wanted Bruce

to follow in his footsteps,

and Bruce absolutely loved it.

It was always in his mind

from the time he was a boy.

COLIN:
And yet he must

have been in severe discomfort

most of the time, strapped to that frame.

Bruce had an illness from childhood,

which had left him crippled.

We called him the Crippled Kid.

We thought he had polio.

ANNOUNCER:
All types of cripples

from all over New Zealand

comprise the 73 patients at

the Wilson Home for Crippled Children

at Takapuna, Auckland.

BRUCE:
At nine and a half

I contracted Perthes Disease.

The ball joint in my left hip

was breaking down.

To immobilize the hip,

they strapped me to a frame

and dangled weights from my legs.

A specialist said

I'd be laid up for several months.

He lay on that frame for two years,

never came off it.

Was educated on it, and washed

and fed on it, and the whole lot.

One leg was always shorter than the other.

JIM ANDERTON:
And he limped badly,

and couldn't play rugby or cricket

like other kids.

- MALE:
Can you hit anything?

- SUNDANCE KID:
Sometimes.

Your piece, yeah.

And shoot.

(LOUD GUNSHOT)

Damn it.

Can I move?

Move? What the hell you mean, move?

(GUNSHOTS)

I'm better when I move.

PHIL:
During these formative years,

Pop could see

Bruce's extraordinary natural ability.

And he'd give us little lessons

about lines through corners

and things to observe.

COLIN:
It was Les that always said

that when Bruce beats his times,

he becomes the driver.

New Zealand didn't have that many

sporting events in those days,

and people would drive anywhere

to watch guys hurtling around.

PHIL:
We did a lot of races together,

all over the North Island

and South Island.

And then when the Grand Prix, the

New Zealand International Grand Prix,

started,

that became an extraordinary event.

I mean, there were 70,000 people there

on the first day.

MICHAEL CLARK:
The New Zealand

Grand Prix was an opportunity

for Bruce to race against

the best drivers in the world.

People like Jim Clark, Jack Brabham,

and Stirling Moss.

These guys were the Spitfire pilots

of the 50s and 60s.

The pin-up boys.

BRUCE:
In New Zealand racing drivers

are regarded with a special sort of awe.

And if they happen to be overseas drivers,

the awe develops into hero worship.

That's how I regarded Jack Brabham.

COLIN:
Jack Brabham kept his race car

at Pop's service station,

so he became a friend of the family,

and Bruce's mentor.

Bruce was an extremely good driver and

he had the talent that was born in him.

Motor racing's not something you just

suddenly learn out of the blue.

You've got to have it inside,

and you've got to have a feel for it,

and Bruce certainly had all that.

PHIL:
The New Zealand International

Grand Prix introduced a scholarship

to get a New Zealand driver

to compete internationally.

Well, tonight's winner,

he started racing as a 15-year-old.

This year alone he's won six out of six

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