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The Bruce McLaren story: check out the McLaren trailer now!

26 February, 2017

The inspirational documentary account of Bruce McLaren’s pioneering spirit, unswerving tenacity, and endless passion, McLaren is set to grace the big screen.

Directed by Roger Donaldson (The World’s Fastest Indian), McLaren is set to appear in cinemas in June 2017.

Roger Donaldson says, “I was delighted to be involved in the telling of such an incredible New Zealand story — bringing it to life on the big screen has been a huge effort from all involved in Bruce’s legacy. Ever since seeing Bruce McLaren and Jack Brabham race each other in the Tasman series years ago, I’ve been a McLaren fan. Few people know just how extraordinary his journey was and how much he accomplished in his short life.”
 
Produced by Matthew Metcalfe (Beyond The Edge), and Fraser Brown (Orphans & Kingdoms), the film features contributions from renowned drivers Emerson Fittipaldi, Alastair Caldwell, Dan Gurney, Lothar Motschenbacher, Chris Amon, Howden Ganley, Mario Andretti, and Sir Jackie Stewart, and offers unprecedented access to the McLaren family and archives.
 
McLaren will be released in New Zealand cinemas by Transmission in June 2017. It is to be distributed to the rest of the world by Universal Pictures.

Motorsport Flashback –The right racing recipes, and cake

17 September, 2025

If a top-fuel dragster sits atop the horsepower list of open-wheel racing cars, then cars designed for the massively successful Formula Ford category are close to the opposite end. Invented in the mid-1960s as a cheap alternative to F3 for racing schools, the concept was staggeringly simple: introduce the Ford Kent pushrod to a spaceframe chassis; keep engine modifications to a minimum; same tyres for all; ban aerodynamic appendages; and you get the most phenomenally successful single-seater class of racing car the world has ever seen.
The first-ever race for these 1600cc mini-GP cars took place in England in July 1967, but it quickly took off. The US and Australia were among the earliest adopters. It took us a little longer because we had the much-loved National Formula, comprising predominantly Brabhams, Ken Smith’s Lotus, and Graham McRae’s gorgeous self-built cars, all powered by the Lotus-Ford twin-cam. After a memorable championship in 1968/69 the class was nearly on its knees a year later. The quality was still there with Smith winning his national title, just, from McRae, but the numbers had fallen. Formula Ford was the obvious replacement and was introduced for the 1970/71 season as ‘Formula C’.

Angela’s ashes

28 August, 2025

In November 2018, Howard Anderson had a dream of finding a 1964 Vauxhall PB Cresta to recreate the car he, his wife, Ruth, and three friends travelled in from London to Invercargill in 1969. The next night’s dream was a nightmare. He dreamed he would find the original Angela but it was a rusted wreck somewhere in Southland.
Howard’s inspiration came from reading about a driver in the 1968 London–Sydney Marathon who was reunited with his Vauxhall Ventora 50 years later. He, Ruth, and her parents had watched the start of the rally from Crystal Palace in South London. The fashion at the time among the rally and race set was to paint bonnets flat black to avoid the sun’s reflections flashing into the driver’s eyes, thus saving them from certain disaster. Howard admired the flat black bonnet on the Ventora so much he had Angela’s bonnet painted dull black.