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1974 McLaren M16C/D Indy Car

On Display Now

1974 McLaren M16C/D Indy Car

Driven by: David Hobbs, David “Salt” Walther and Jerry Karl
This M16 holds a total of 49 recorded races
In various guises the McLaren M16 saw frontline service as a works entry in IndyCar racing for five seasons, logging three Indy 500 victories over its remarkable lifetime

Designer Gordon Coppuck had decided on a fresh start for 1971, drawing up an all-new M16 that borrowed its wedge shape from the Lotus 72 which had proved extremely successful in Grand Prix racing in 1970. Coppuck felt that the sleek shape would be ideal for IndyCar racing and he was proved to be correct.

As was standard in those days, it used a 2.6-liter Offenhauser engine mounted in a supporting frame. The engine was mated to a Hewland gearbox with three speeds instead of the two usually favored at Indy to provide better acceleration out of pit stops.

Peter Revson would claim the pole with Mark Donahue second in their Penske McLarens, but both dropped out of the 500, although Donahue did win at Pocono and Michigan. In 1972, Donahue would give Roger Penske his first Indianapolis win with Roger McClusky scoring at Ontario in another McLaren. The following season, Johnn Rutherford won at Ontario and Michigan with Gary Bettenhausen scoring at Texas.

That 1973 season was a dramatic one for IndyCar racing, with speeds rising and a series of spectacular accidents rocking the sport. USAC opted to slow the cars for 1974, mandating narrower wings and restricting their overhang.

McLaren updated its existing design to the new rules and called it the M16C/D, featuring a shorter nose and a chunky rear wing mounted on a center pylon rather than the earlier strut arrangement. With overall length restricted, the short nose allowed the rear wing to be further back.

That winter Peter Revson left the team to join SHadow for F1 – and Penske for IndyCar – although sadly he was killed at Kyalami in March. But it was a great year for Rutherford, who won an Ontario heat early in the year and then triumphed at Indianapolis and Milwaukee on consecutive weekends. Another victory at Pocono helped him to second in the USAC championship behind Bobby Unser. Meanwhile, Briton David Hobbs finished fifth at Indy in this second works entry, #73, which ran in Carling Black Label colors.

The car was then sold to George Walther for use as Salt Walther’s #77 car at the Indy 500 in 1975, 1976, and 1977. It passed to Jerry Karl for 1978 and ran as his #88 Offy car.

After a few years in hiding, it reappeared and was sold to Chuck Haines (St. Louis, MO), eventually undergoing a complete restoration in 2015 before being sold to Rob Dyson in 2017. Entered in the Amelia Island Concours in March 2018, it won the Hulman Memorial Award for Best Race Car.

On loan from The Rob Dyson Collection, Millbrook, New York.

Past Display Cars

When the founders of the International Motor Racing Research Center were working on the details for the new archival and research facility they knew they wanted the look and feel of a library. Some exhibit space was important, and, foremost, they envisioned space for a race car. Wide double doors have accommodated the rolling in and out of dozens of different cars since the IMRRC opened in June 1999. The cars are displayed for a few months, often complementing a Center Conversations talk or another event.

If you have an interesting race car you’d be willing to display at the IMRRC in Watkins Glen, NY, please email Kip Zeiter, the Coordinator of Visitor Services and Outreach.

Among the cars the IMRRC has hosted: