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The M8F, which featured the aerodynamic fences running down either side of the body |
1971 For 1971, the M8 was again revised and renamed the M8F. A new 8.1 litre Chevy unit was fitted and mods to the bodywork included the addition of aerodynamic fences that ran down either side of the car climbing into the rear fins. The team recruited a new driver to partner Hulme in the form of New Yorker Peter Revson. Revson had plenty of Can-Am experience, albeit in uncompetitive machinery, and quickly proved a match for his team mate. Hulme won the opening round at Mosport with Revson a close second. Revson's first win came at the third race at Road Atlanta in July and this was followed by further wins at Watkins Glen, Elkhart Lake, Donnybrooke and Laguna Seca. America now had it's first homegrown Can-Am champion with Revson collecting 142 points to Hulme's 132. Despite 2 wins for Jackie Stewart in the Lola, the Scotsman was beaten into third spot on just 76 points - perhaps the closest non-McLaren challenge to date. But 1971 was to be the last McLaren championship.
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1972 The sleek new M20 challenger for 1972 was a better car than the M8F. Improved balance was acheived with a new 'coke bottle' planform and a 'dive plane' wing appeared in the space formed between the front fenders. Jackie Stewart was to have been brought in to the team in a much publicised deal but was unable to take up his seat due to health problems, so the team reverted to the Hulme/Revson partnership.
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Peter Revson in the beautiful M20 |
The season started well with a win for Hulme at Mosport. At the second race at Road Atlanta both cars retired, handing victory to the new Porsche 917/10T. McLaren bounced back with a 1-2 at Watkins Glen but it was to be the last ever works McLaren victory. The Porsche bandwagon began to roll, with the German marque taking all but one of the 6 remaining rounds. The McLaren era was over
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(Photo courtesy of Micheal Stucker/VintageRPM.com) |
There was no secret to the Porsche success. Their 1000 bhp turbocharged engine was simply more powerful than the Chevy. The McLaren team had foreseen the challenge and experimented with their own forced-induction Chevrolet unit. But the truth was that Colnbrook could not afford the prohibitive development costs - Porsche's budget had reputedly been five times that of McLaren's. Subsequently, Teddy Meyer announced McLaren's departure from the series. They wanted to concentrate on their burgeoning Formula 1 program and there would be no more works McLaren Can-Am cars from 1973 onwards. McLaren's association with the series continued in the form of privateer entrants. Since 1968, Lambretta-Trojan had been producing licensed versions of the previous years works cars for customer teams. Privateer McLarens were prolific point scorers over the years in the hands of John Surteees, Mario Andretti, Mark Donahue and Lothar Motschenbacher, amongst others. Not only this, the sale of production versions of works cars had financially sustained McLaren's involvement in the series and contributed to the making of the McLaren Can-Am legend. Fittingly, the last ever Can-Am race of the original series at Road America in August 1974 was won by Scooter Patrick driving his privately entered M20.
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