Having sat beside Stirling Moss as navigator, and winning the 1955 Mille Miglia round-Italy 1,000-mile classic for the works Mercedes-Benz racing team, Jenks knew what he was talking about. He continued: “I am all set for a dice and I know lots of other people who would join me as racing passengers”.
At Goodwood ’64 he described how: “After getting the handling to his liking, McLaren took me for a couple of fast laps of the Goodwood track, around 1min 25secs, just to prove to me that it was a two-seater sportscar, for I have continually argued with these chaps and their hotrod racers. I maintain that they are ridiculous as sportscars, and they should spend their energy building single-seaters from the same components… The first McLaren, as it is called, was surprisingly comfortable, the level ride being outstanding and the suspension so soft and controlled that sitting on a fibreglass seat was no bother at all. Cockpit room was pretty cramped, and through St Mary’s and the chicane I had the greatest difficulty in avoiding leaning on McLaren’s left arm, which supports my contention that racing with passengers would develop much more civilised ‘sportscars’.
“The Oldsmobile engine, running to 7,000rpm, was remarkably smooth, but gave a good punch in the back on acceleration, compared to the smooth torque of the V12 Ferrari engine in the 330P, and the handling of the McLaren was remarkable for its smoothness and balance, there being very little wheel-twiddling or full-lock slides, the car being held on a very steady course, especially through the fast corners. The windscreen was minimal and tailored to the driver, so that wind pressure at 130-160mph was terrific and a lot of laps would have given me a pain in the neck. The chassis and suspension on this car are virtually to modern Grand Prix car specification, and its smooth ride was a most outstanding impression, which explains why Grand Prix drivers can sit in an unpadded cockpit on a sheet of aluminium or fibre-glass. What I am hoping is that one day someone will devise a tandem-seated Grand Prix car, so that I can sit behind some of the ‘workers’ of today and really see how they go round corners…”
It took many years, but Jenks’s tandem-seat F1 notion certainly came to pass…
Meanwhile, Bruce made his racing debut in this first true McLaren car in the Canadian Grand Prix for sportscars, held at Mosport Park on Saturday, September 26, 1964. Bruce wrote: “I think the Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport meant more to me and my team members than any other race we have competed in. It was the first race with the car that we built ourselves from the rubber up [the McLaren 1] and we were delighted with its performance and potential. We didn’t win, but we certainly didn’t leave Canada with our tails between our legs.