The 1974 McLaren M16C Indy Car was an Offenhauser-powered open-wheeled racer that won the 1974 Indy 500 – the car and its driver, Johnny Rutherford, would lead for 59 of the last 60 laps before taking their historic win at the Brickyard.
Sporting the classic McLaren orange, the McLaren M16C was an advanced car for its day, interestingly the McLaren racing team is the only team to have won Formula One, Indy 500, Can-Am and Le Mans championships. They were also the first to design and build a car using a carbon fiber monocoque – now the standard for all open-wheeled racers.
McLaren was started by New Zealander Bruce McLaren in 1963, Bruce had been a successful race car driver for the Cooper factory F1 team alongside Jack Brabham before going on to start his own team, a team that would become a dominant force in both Can-Am and Formula One.
The Offenhauser-powered 1974 McLaren M16C Indy Car is regarded as one of the most collectible of the historic Indy cars, the lineage of the McLaren company and the fact that this is the car that took the company’s first win in Indianapolis further add to the car’s value in the eyes of collectors and historic racing enthusiasts.
If you’d like to park the McLaren M16C in your garage next to the wife’s Honda you’ll need to make your way to the RM Auctions sale at Montery on the 16th of August 2013. There’s no estimated value for this car as vehicles like this only very rarely come up for auction, however you can expect that it’ll set you back somewhere in the region of 5 to 7 briefcases full of hundred dollar bills.
Photo Credits: tpieper@tedisgraphic.com
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