©McLaren
Legendary McLaren designer Gordon Coppuck, the man who penned the ultra-successful and long-lasting McLaren M23, stopped by Woking this week to be reunited with an old friend.
The McLaren M16C which delivered an Indy 500 win in 1974 to the team and its driver, Johnny Rutherford, was brought back to its permanent home, and its creator greeted it with a bout of joy and nostalgia.
Part of Coppuck's inspiration for the design was derived from Lotus' ground-breaking wedge-shaped 72, the British engineer believing the low-drag concept would perfectly suit Indy's high-speed oval racing.
And Gordon was right, as the M16 certainly ranks as one of the all-time great Indy racers.
