<< Prev Page 2 of 2 Finished in the factory colours of papaya orange, the first M10A was shown at the 1969 Racing Car Show before it was fielded for Peter Gethin in the European Championship. He won three rounds and then the car was brought to North America to score more lucrative victories. The talented American felt right at home in the F5000 racer, which was heavier but also slightly more powerful than the contemporary Grand Prix cars. Gethin and the M10A returned just in time to clinch the European title from Trevor Taylor, who had scored several wins in a Surtees during Gethin's absence.
Sales no doubt benefited from Gethin's success and McLaren sold close to 20 customer cars in 1969, which, like all of Mclaren's customer cars, were built for the company by Trojan. They were raced with impressive results around the world. For 1970, the design was updated with the engine mountings lowered considerably. This required the use of the DG300 Hewland gearbox. The revised M10B was also slightly lighter than its predecessor. A further 21 cars were sold in 1970 and even though there was no works program, the McLarens remained the class of the field.
During 1970, Lola had stepped up the game and replaced the company's original spaceframe design with a full monocoque chassis, which raised the bar in F5000. McLaren in turn focused most attention on their F1 and Indy programs, which came at the expense of the F5000 development. Subsequent models were introduced but these did not prove as successful in the salesroom or on the track.
Between 1969 and 1970, the McLaren M10 was the F5000 car of choice, driven to race and championship victories by the likes of Peter Gethin, David Hobbs, Reine Wisell, Howden Ganley and Graham McRae. Their performances with the M10 also earned Gethin, Wisell and Ganley F1 drives. << Prev Page 2 of 2
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Finished in the factory colours of papaya orange, the first M10A was shown at the 1969 Racing Car Show before it was fielded for Peter Gethin in the European Championship. He won three rounds and then the car was brought to North America to score more lucrative victories. The talented American felt right at home in the F5000 racer, which was heavier but also slightly more powerful than the contemporary Grand Prix cars. Gethin and the M10A returned just in time to clinch the European title from Trevor Taylor, who had scored several wins in a Surtees during Gethin's absence.