The Herald reporting this car as "sold Overseas"
The Herald reporting this car as "sold Overseas"
I have radio live on,they need to do their home work first before talking about this new car.
Remember it at the car club rooms. It was just a mock up wasn't it?
Don't really believe so. Bits were (empty motor) but when I looked way back when it looked VERY genuine.Originally Posted by Steve Emson
When you read the history on the McLaren trust website you may understand some of the questions above. It was of course written off and then a lot of parts were cobbled together to make a show car. One wonders if the car as sold contains any parts of the original car but as they say if some of the original parts were replaced with new ones it has the lineage of the original and is not a replica. Lets hope there isn't another one out there with the same chassis number.
If the car has indeed been sold, does the purchaser know what he/she is getting for their $1.5m?
The description on the McLaren Trust website suggests that it's no more than a clone from a DNA sample from the original.
Stu Buchanan
we all know what this car is,if after putting down $1.5m to get this car and later being told it is only a clone,i would say the sale of this car will end up in court.
More likely the buyer has checked the provenance and is satisfied there is enough there to make it a good investment. There are plenty of cars out there that have little of the original left after years of crashes, mods etc but end up selling for big bucks. Some of the law suits I know of have been about duplicate serial numbers, often not forged but practised by a few car builders back in the day to avoid taxes.
Would be fair to say that all due diligence would be completed on the car by both sides since the world famous McLaren brand name is involved.
Hope so
Many of The Roaring Season members will be familiar with the fantastic work of Murray Maunder as he followed the restoration of the Bruce McLaren Trusts McLaren M8A. People such as Murray helped us save this car and record this huge task that we undertook some 18 years ago. As many of you are aware we started with a complete and genuine basket case disguised as a later show car and the now finished item is something we can all be proud to have saved for posterity and future generations to come in our ever shrinking world.
So it is with some personal sadness that I can confirm that we at the Bruce McLaren Trust have sold the car to a US based McLaren enthusiast. Despite the report in yesterdays NZ Herald all of the original tripartite agreement signatories gave us their approval, albeit somewhat disappointed that the M8 was possibly not going to stay in NZ.
We made a substantial effort to keep the car here in NZ .Our patron Sir Colin Giltrap even attempted to put together a consortium which ultimately proved futile. I had a Kiwi motorsport family interested in the car (at a considerably reduced price) and we got sooo… close to a conclusion, except after dwelling on the possible repercussions of such a purchase, they reluctantly pulled out. The events of the past 6 months tell me now that it was a very astute decision.
Our eventual overseas purchaser, who we are all very sure will give this car the very best care it deserves, will use it to help promote new McLaren Road cars, (which were always Bruce’s dream). M8A-2 will be displayed alongside other significant McLarens such as OBH500H Bruce’s prototype 6BGT car, along with a complete display of late model McLaren supercars , an M2B the first F1 car and an M8D CanAm, just to mention a few. The collection will be added to as worthy cars become available. This will be a collection like no other and it’s very exciting to see it come together and be part of it.
The proceeds of the sale will be used to firstly extinguish some debt (not anything like the reported amount), including the balance of the restoration costs. The surplus will then be applied towards a permanent home for the Trust. This will take the form of, we hope, of a museum type building with function facilities possibly situated on or about SH1 and Hampton Downs Raceway. As much as we all loved the idea of the service station as our permanent home, there are purchase, car parking and earth quake strengthening issues to contend with there.
Those contributors to the M8 project, who are disappointed with our decision to sell, can rest assured that their donation will be reinvested and indeed acknowledged a second time, in this exciting new project. The centrepiece of which will be the car that started it all, the McLaren Service Station Austin 7. This significant little car, that we bought from the Hubber family, has been restored by a dedicated group of enthusiasts in Nelson. I will follow up with a thread on this car later for you all.
McLaren UK has the Ulster, Bruce’s first racing car………but we have the car he learnt to drive in.
As well as the building project the Trustees have decided to narrow our aims and objectives as we move forward, to make better use of our still limited resources and manpower.
If you are not already aware; one of our trustees, Bruce’s daughter Amanda is leaving NZ to take up a role with McLaren Automotive. I’m sure her father would be proud to see her working for the company he started; manufacturing the supercars he dreamed of.
I am happy to direct any questions you wish to put to the current Trustees and post the replies.
I notice that some posts refer to DNA and other such issues. This car has undisputed provenance. It retains every identified part except where a safety issue may have come into play. Anything else was either a genuine part off this actual chassis or remanufactured from drawings supplied by McLaren themselves who fully supported this project.This is a correct concours restoration with a huge amount of time and other resources behind it. The price attained is a reflection of that.
Again I am happy to answer any questions regarding the rebuild. Nobody can answer them better than me.
Duncan, I think if Bruce McLaren was going to be proud of anyone, it would be you for your dedication, perseverence, and engineering ability to create and finish the car we got to see. As people have said in other media, the maoris can get some `significant' skulls back from the UK at a cost of millions, but there`s no money in the bin for something like retaining the M8A. As Tony said on the news, it`s like losing a puppy.... well at least it`s gone to a good home.
It was a wonderful feeling going out to the Northern Sports car Club at Mt Richmond, walking in and seeing the car sitting there.
M8A may have been a basket case just dressed as a show car, but it gave the place such a genuine Motor Racing atmosphere.
At a Car Club, not a Museum !!!!!!!!
Belated huge thanks to all those at the time who had the foresight and commitment to put it there on free public display at all times.
Last edited by John McKechnie; 07-07-2014 at 11:51 PM.
Yes John it did look so good sitting in the Car Club Rooms at Mt smart clubrooms. My son did so many miles in that car and there was always a fuss when it came to go home to Rotorua It was so good to see it rebuilt and going .IT is sad to see it go overseas
Jamie A
It's with huge sadness that I learn that McLaren M8A/2 will leave this country - especially sad for all those who made great contributions and sacrifices to see such a piece of NZ motor racing history disappear into someone's shed.
Huge credit to Duncan for such an effort in perfectionism and for his patience in relating (much of it on camera) how Team McLaren built them, how it came to be in the state it was 14 years ago, and how he pieced together parts and drawings, photos etc. Exciting milestones in the return of the car from the dead were recorded and now it seems the story will be forgotten again. Will we ever learn the real value of our heritage?
Just my view as of this week and maybe I will feel differently in a year's time...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lx6rg6oGxU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reK372EOzBM
My reference to DNA was meant to be tongue-in-cheek. My apologies to Duncan Fox and all concerned. After all, the car was rebuilt around the original tub, and you couldn't get much more genuine than that.
The sale is probably the best outcome, and better now than a forced sale a few years down the track.
Stu
What of m8b chassis that was on display at HD . Is that a car that, when finished, will remain in NZ? Is this an Trust project or a job for a customer?
As long as blokes like Duncan and yourself continue to share your knowledge, skill, passion and patriotism with us all, the story will never be forgotten, mate. And unlike most of us, you did manage to get your bony arse in the damn thing for a few white-knuckle laps of HD. Woo-hoo !
Yes, after all that time, money and effort it is a big kick in the nuts to see the car go, especially go overseas. But if it serves to keep the continuation and objectives of the Trust going, I guess we all have to take a deep breath and acknowledge that it's for the best, however reluctantly.
At least we'll have the images and the SOUND of that wonderful weapon from your patiently-assembled video treats to get us by....
But remember guys the world is a small place these days, just because its sold overseas doesn't mean we won't see it back one day(maybe)at a Historic event. Cars of this providence are been sold all the time around the world, didn't we also have for very many years the very first Ferrari to win a grand prix? that I believe is now back in Europe? remember we're all only care takers and this McLaren will live on long after we're all gone but at least the Trust, Duncan, investors, made it happen and got the job done.
Like most on this forum I don't know the details for this sale but if as Duncan say's a Trust Museum type building can be build with the funding from this im sure that will benefit us all, rather than the M8A hidden in some dust shop corner because there's no where to put it for public viewing, as always its a sad moment but not the end of the world.
As for DNA well im sure anyone with 1.5M is no fool and has done his home work, many a restoration has started from a "Skid mark" on the road but I doubt very much that is is the case. Well done and congratulations.
Dale M
Duncan has asked me to post these images:
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