kiwi285 wrote:Hi Brett,
I was told that it was the only surviving M8B (one of only two) and that a gentleman in the South Island has purchased it and is getting Duncan Fox to rebuild it for him.
This rebuild has been on the floor of Duncan Fox's workshop nearly as long as the Trust's M8A. Duncan and Tony (Roberts) of Group Seven Sportscars took the opportunity to pick up the remains of the car which had indeed been one of 3 McLaren M8Bs in 1969. That opportunity was to be able to build the two cars in parallel. For example the tubs of the two cars were almost identical. In fact the Trust car started life as Denny's CanAm winner in 1968 before becoming the "mule" for the M8B and subsequently the team's spare car. The other M8B (of original 3 which included the above "continuation" car) was trashed, as I understand because of severe corrosion on the salt-laden roads of Nth America on the way back to the McLaren base.
This means of the original 3 (or 2.5!) M8Bs there will only ever be one true M8B - the one pictured in the Trust's garage at the Festival. I can't recall if this was Bruce's racecar or Denny's racecar (the Trust car being at different times an A and the spare B). The M8B high wing car was the most successful of all the CanAm McLarens, winning all 11 races in 1969.
Incidentally the Trust car didn't run again this weekend because of major problems with the starter which is proving a headache in term of sourcing the parts. A less authentic set of internals is now going to be used to overcome the absence of any originals.
