This car has a special meaning to me. I had arrived in London in Sept. 1972 and went to McLaren's at Colnbrook seeking any job and they kindly sent me down to Croydon to interview at Trojan Works. As I was having lunch there I looked out and a transporter was leaving with a blue Trojan McLaren M8FP loaded on. They informed me that was the last Can Am car to be built at Trojan which came as a shock to me because I was in awe of these cars. They said do not worry we would have plenty of work with the Formula 5000 cars.
I never knew what happened to that blue M8FP until the other day at Laguna Seca and there it was still looking great after almost 44 years. I thought of the Trojan workers as I looked at all the rivets that those craftsmen had put into this magnificent machine now ably driven by Rick Knoop. Chassis # 9-72. ( Which meant September 1972 the same month I met my wife in London. Fond memories indeed. Both the car and the good lady still look great !)
( The heaps of grunt department. 8.3 litre McLaren Chevrolet engine ! )
(Ken Hyndman photos )
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