Description:

We have the pleasure to offer for sale the ultimate McLaren CanAm “big banger” and ex-team VDS (Van der Straeten) McLaren M8F chassis 6-72.

This car was sold new in June ’72 to Count Rudi van der Straeten of Belgium, patron and owner of the VDS Racing Team. It was fitted with a monster 8.1 litre twin-turbo Chevy V8, and depending on where you set the boost dial, was capable of producing anything from 900bhp to a staggering 1300bhp. When asked what is was like to drive, VDS team driver Teddy Pilette, who would race the car during the year in the Interserie, remarked “it was terrific, that is to say “TERRifyingly horrIFIC”…

The car’s ownership and racing history is continuous and well documented (see further below) while Trojan’s attestation calls M8F #6-72 the most original of all surviving M8F’s !

Nevertheless, this mighty McLaren is sold in race-ready condition and benefits from a fresh engine, new wiring loom and all four corners rebuilt.  Dampers have been serviced and re-valved while the gearbox has had a new selector housing and all new internals including CWP. All other serviceable items such as coolers, throttle cables etc. have been renewed including new seat belts and a new electronic 0-360 fire system.

The car comes with its original bodywork and turbo parts in addition to the following spares : spare body, 2 spare wheels sets / 2 transport wheel sets, Gearbox parts & gear-ratio’s, various brake parts (caliper seals, disks, etc.).

This ex-VDS M8F is located in Australia and – being eligible for all CanAm races and events around the world, it is ready to provide its new owner with what must be the ultimate driving experience ! 

History: 

The mighty machine made its racing debut at the superfast Osterreichring, a round of the Interserie, but Teddy retired on the first lap with fuel starvation problems. At Hockenheim the car didn’t get much further when the engine quit on the third lap. At the Norisring 200, the electrics failed after 22 laps, but the car came home a finisher in 15th place at the next race at the Nurburgring. Last race of the year, and best result so far was a steady 5th at Hockenheim. Clearly things were getting better and for 1973 Teddy would race the car for another season of Interserie. A new nose was made up for the car, a copy of the “shovel-nose” style as used on the Porsche 917/10 Can-Am car. The 1973 season was limited as Pilette was more than busy driving the VDS F5000 Chevron, which was the teams priority and only a handful of races were done in the M8F. Engine reliability problems were by and large overcome, but it was tied to the power the engine produced and it’s doubtful if it was ever raced beyond its lowest boost setting. At the opening round of the season Teddy finished 4th in the Nurburgring 300 Kms, which would be its best ever result. A 9th at Imola was followed up by another 9th at Silverstone. At Hockenheim, its last race, the car finished 12th.

The car then went into storage in Trojan’s own private museum and in the early 80s was on loan and on display in Tom Wheatcroft’s museum at Donington Park. In 1990, Charlie Agg of Trojan repurchased the car on behalf of the company who rebuilt the car for the Steinberger Supersports series. The M8F was raced by Charlie himself, and in 1994 the car was rebuilt again, but this time with a normally aspirated Chevy V8 engine. M8F-6-72 was then sold to Victor Myette who also raced the car in Supersports for a few years before selling it Peter Schleifer who briefly owned the car in 2004. He sold the car he following year to historic racer Michiel Campagne who campaigned the car for the next few years until selling it to the current owner in 2014.

In recent years, this spectacular M8F, put back in its VDS livery, has been exhibited in Australian historics events and today is considered to be the most highly original of all McLaren M8Fs.