Rolex Motorsports Reunion Class Spotlight: Bruce McLaren Trophy 1963-1974 Can-Am USRRC V-8s

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There are plenty of exotic-sounding engines running during the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. The hills around WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca echo with wailing rotaries and tiny, turbocharged powerplants from more modern racers. Still, nothing sounds quite like a pushrod V-8 roaring with more than 800 horsepower. Even the “small” engines in this class start where the mighty 5.0-liter SCCA Trans-Am cars top out.

We captured a couple of the qualifying sessions early in Monterey Car Week festivities. We also spoke to some of the drivers to get a feel for what it’s like to handle these unhinged racing machines at Laguna Seca. They’ll all be racing to capture the trophy on Saturday in case you need some motivation to make it to the track.

1971 McLaren M8E

Brandan Gillogly

This 1971 McLaren was campaigned by Frank Parkhill, who raced it at Donnybrooke in 1971 against Jackie Stewart, Denny Hulme, and Peter Revson, among others. Parkhill finished several laps down from those legends, but he did finish. After that Can-Am outing, it competed successfully in several SCCA events.

Brandan Gillogly

Warren Briggs purchased the M8E with a big-block, but it wasn’t this mean machine from Jennings Engines. The high-compression big-block Chevy is now producing around 900 horsepower. “Boy, the corners come up quick in this, you know? What’s quite funny is the more you improve, the more you scare yourself,” said Briggs. “If I improve Turn Six—I’ve changed what I’m doing through there—all that happens is I arrive at the Corkscrew five miles an hour faster; it’s like, ‘bloody hell!’”.  

1966 Elfin 400

Brandan Gillogly

When Globe Products, an automotive casting company in Adelaide, Australia, wanted to show off its manufacturing prowess, it built this 1966 Elfin 400 and fitted it with a Ford small-block using a set of its four-cam, two-valve heads. The sanctioning body where it was racing, Confederation of Australian Motorsport, wasn’t happy that only a few teams were getting low-volume parts that weren’t actually in production. The exotic powerplants had to go.

Mark Goldsmith explained that his car, the experimental quad-cam testbed, “went back to a 302 and went through a few owners and ended up in Tasmania.” Elfin founder Garrie Cooper bought the car and gave it a more wedge-shaped body in 1980, ditching its sleek curves. “It looked like a robber’s dog,” said Goldsmith (U.S. translation: It looked terrible).

Brandan Gillogly

Goldsmith had actually been in this car when he was a teenager. When he found it for sale in Tasmania, he could hardly contain himself. “Who would think 50 years later, I’d go and buy it?” Goldsmith wanted to return the car to its 1966 chassis, bodywork, and livery. That’s no small feat, but Goldsmith had reference material to spare. “We even have people who used to work for Elfin at the time. They took a camera to work and photographed the chassis building,” Goldsmith explained. The black-and-white photos provided enough detail to restore the chassis to its 1966 configuration.

Brandan Gillogly

“I went through the whole lot, from 2014 to 2018,” said Goldsmith. “That’s how it looked in 1966.” It even has the same Hewland gearbox, marked as the 38th LG 500 produced. Aside from the DOHC heads, it’s very much as it was when Globe raced it, and is virtually identical to how it would have been after the DOHC heads were banned. Its Ford 302 V-8 currently produces about 420 horsepower. “We’re so outclassed compared to these eight-liter monsters,” said Goldsmith, completely undeterred and loving every lap behind the wheel.

Brandan Gillogly

“We now race it all around Australia,” said Goldsmith, but this is its first time running in America. We asked his thoughts on Laguna Seca: “This is great,” Goldsmith replied, “There’s nothing like altitude in a racetrack.” With experience at tracks including Brands Hatch, Silverstone, Zandvoort, Monza, and Spa, he’s got opinions on what makes them memorable: “Never say to an Englishman that Silverstone is boring, because they get very upset,” he jokes. “Our favorite track in Australia, obviously, is Bathurst. It’s the Spa of Australia.” Goldsmith has raced at Bathurst several times and compares Laguna Seca favorably to his favorite track in his home country, with one corner reminding him of Spa. “The corkscrew is the Eau Rouge,” he added. We asked if the Corkscrew was scary the first time. “It’s scary every time!” He told us a racing buddy suggested that there are two lines through the Corkscrew, to which he said, “If there are two lines on that corner, I’ve used all nine of them!”

1966 Elfin 400

Brandan Gillogly

Bill Hemming, from Melbourne, Australia, has owned his 1966 Elfin 400 for about 12 years. “I bought it as a box of bits,” said Hemming, “and we had to rebuild the whole thing, make a new chassis.” That was an awful lot of work, but Hemming has plenty of research material to reference as he’s the man who founded the Elfin Heritage Centre to keep the legacy of the Australian sports car manufacturer alive.

The car had been powered by a Repco-Brabham engine, but it was damaged and needed a rebuild, and parts are tough to source. Now it’s using a V-8 that’s much easier to run and maintain, a small-block Chevy. “I had a spare Formula 5000 motor I put in so I could come over here,” said Hemming. “We’re a bit out of our league here. We’re running five-liter motors against the 8.4L McLarens, but that’s all right, someone’s got to do it.”

Brandan Gillogly

The 302 is topped by Lucas fuel injection and produces about 500 horsepower. “It wants to be full throttle,” said Hemming, “which is a bit hard. I’m driving it like an automatic. I only use Third and Fourth gears around here.” The final drive gears in the transaxle aren’t a great match for Laguna Seca’s layout, but Hemming doesn’t mind one bit. “It is terrific. . . Every time I go around, I say, ‘oh, I could have gone faster there’, but you forget.” He’s having an absolute blast with a 500-hp, mid-engine missile; a few things would surely slip our minds as well.

1972 McLaren M8F

Brandan Gillogly

Chris Springer, from Los Gatos, California, was the man to beat in early qualifying, clocking in a 1:27.138 lap in his 1972 McLaren M8F. Springer purchased the car in England about three and a half years ago and shipped it to the US. It sat in a museum for nearly 15 years but spent plenty of time racing in Group 7. Springer speaks nonchalantly about the car’s monster big-block, “I don’t need to have, you know, a thousand horsepower,” said Springer. He estimates that the car may have had closer to 800 horsepower when the 8.2-liter big-block Chevy was new, but the mechanically fuel-injected engine breathes through intake trumpets without any air cleaners, so it ingests a lot more dust than a normal car, and consequently the bores wear much faster. He estimates the current powers at “seven something,” which Springer feels is appropriate. “You know, they say 720 to 740 is what they were in ‘72.”

Brandan Gillogly

When asked about his experience racing at Laguna Seca, Springer was quick to respond: “It’s the best ever,” he said, enthusiastically. “People don’t really recognize it, but Laguna Seca is all banked turns. Banked in your favor.” Springer didn’t just jump into a 700-hp mid-engine race car; he had plenty of experience running a Corvette, but found himself wanting more speed. “The first time I drove it (his McLaren), it was 10 seconds faster than my fastest Corvette. So it’s super fun, but, of course, you have to look further ahead, because you anticipate the next turn. There’s no rest.”  

1970 McLaren M8DBrandan Gillogly