1978 McLaren M26 Formula One ex-James Hunt and Patrick Tambay
With the great James Hunt and Patrick Tambay for the 1978 Formula One season, this McLaren M26 is a Historic Formula One Championship winner, and is offered in outstanding condition after a comprehensive rebuild by Nine-W Race Engineering.
Successor to the double world championship-winning M23, the lighter and lower M26 was McLaren’s final pre-ground effect Formula One chassis. Designed by Gordon Coppuck with Cosworth DFV power, the principle used skirts keeping airflow from underneath to generate downforce. Formula One hero James Hunt had more starts in an M26 than the M23 he is usually associated with, and famously drove an M26 to victory from pole in the 1977 British G.P. An M26 gave Hunt his final Formula One victory at the 1977 Japanese Grand Prix.
Chassis M26-5 raced with McLaren throughout 1978, first with Frenchman Patrick Tambay and latterly with James Hunt, the 1976 world champion. Though M26s had three Grand Prix victories in 1977, results were mixed the next year as development continued and with the advent of the ground effect era. With a debut in the South African G.P. and fifteen appearances in 1978 (results reproduced below), M26-5 is notable for giving James Hunt his final race with McLaren at the 1978 Canadian Grand Prix.
Benefiting from continuous history, Australian racer Vern Schuppan purchased M26-5 in 1979, later passing to Alan Hamilton, an Australian Porsche dealer and racer. Acquired by Peter Heuberger of Switzerland in 1989, she was rebuilt by ex- McLaren engineer Kerry Adams of Adams McCall Engineering beginning her career in historic racing, and was later owned by Allen Lloyd (of Lloyds Pharmacy). Correspondence on file includes a statement by period McLaren personnel confirming M26-5’s team provenance.
1978 McLaren M26 Formula One ex-James Hunt and Patrick Tambay
With the great James Hunt and Patrick Tambay for the 1978 Formula One season, this McLaren M26 is a Historic Formula One Championship winner, and is offered in outstanding condition after a comprehensive rebuild by Nine-W Race Engineering.
Successor to the double world championship-winning M23, the lighter and lower M26 was McLaren’s final pre-ground effect Formula One chassis. Designed by Gordon Coppuck with Cosworth DFV power, the principle used skirts keeping airflow from underneath to generate downforce. Formula One hero James Hunt had more starts in an M26 than the M23 he is usually associated with, and famously drove an M26 to victory from pole in the 1977 British G.P. An M26 gave Hunt his final Formula One victory at the 1977 Japanese Grand Prix.
Chassis M26-5 raced with McLaren throughout 1978, first with Frenchman Patrick Tambay and latterly with James Hunt, the 1976 world champion. Though M26s had three Grand Prix victories in 1977, results were mixed the next year as development continued and with the advent of the ground effect era. With a debut in the South African G.P. and fifteen appearances in 1978 (results reproduced below), M26-5 is notable for giving James Hunt his final race with McLaren at the 1978 Canadian Grand Prix.
Benefiting from continuous history, Australian racer Vern Schuppan purchased M26-5 in 1979, later passing to Alan Hamilton, an Australian Porsche dealer and racer. Acquired by Peter Heuberger of Switzerland in 1989, she was rebuilt by ex- McLaren engineer Kerry Adams of Adams McCall Engineering beginning her career in historic racing, and was later owned by Allen Lloyd (of Lloyds Pharmacy). Correspondence on file includes a statement by period McLaren personnel confirming M26-5’s team provenance.
