Bruce McLaren

It was nice to be there with Mum and Dad, my older sister Pat and younger sister Jan. I started correspondence school with a tutor and then in 1951 had my first year at Seddon Technical Memorial College doing an engineering course. By now I had discarded my walking sticks for good.

Motor racing was in my blood – my father had always shown great achievements in his motor cycle racing days and now was becoming very interested in motor car racing. Eventually a truck full of boxes of spare parts towing the Austin Ulster arrived at 8 Upland Road. My motor racing career had started. How Mum put up with Dad and me with her kitchen table covered in bits and pieces of the engine during meals I will never know. She used to say “If I gave them dry bread and water they wouldn’t have noticed”.

As soon as the Austin was driveable I carved out a figure 8 around the fruit trees in the back of our section. When I turned 15 and was able to obtain a driving licence my early and wonderful days of local hill climbs, gymkhanas, sprint meetings etc. began. My lucky break came when I was allowed to race Dad’s Austin Healey at Ardmore then I graduated to a Bob Tail Cooper. Then my “god father” Jack Brabham came onto the scene. I was selected as “Driver to Europe” by the NZIGP Association and my next two years of University studies were put on hold and a new life had started for me. I left New Zealand on March 15th 1958 for England with my good friend and mechanic Colin Beanland and my first year driving for John Cooper of Cooper Cars as his “new boy”, (see “From The Cockpit”). I returned to Auckland for Xmas and motor racing as No. 2 for Coopers, then back to England and Europe coming home again late 1959 for another season of motor racing and catching up with family members. At this stage I was beginning to feel that our family members might increase as I was becoming very interested in a Timaru girl, Patricia Broad whom I had met at my sister’s and then again at a dance and to whom I became engaged and married on December 9th 1961.

By now motor racing had become my life with all its potentials which I would explore and also be aware of its constant dangers. I returned to NZ as often as I could to catch up with Mum and Dad, Pat and her husband John Hunter and their five children. Pat lived in the South Island so it was a good stopover point. I managed to squeeze in some wallaby hunting, water skiing (one ski only owing to earlier hip problem), and some rowing. My younger sister Jan was still at home with Mum & Dad in these years.