McLAREN ORANGE

McLaren Orange is synonymous with the racing history and success of McLaren.

The colour first appeared on the M6A Can-Am car in 1967, and the Formula 1 and Indy race cars that followed.

The story of how the colour was first used by McLaren is retold by Tyler Alexander, an early member of Bruce McLaren’s original team who is still involved with McLaren’s Formula One programme today.

“Paul Hawkins had a Lola Can-Am car that was an interesting shade of orange. I thought it suited the car and would show up well on television and film.

Peter Jackson from Specialised Mouldings, who made the Can-Am bodies at the time, mixed up a colour for the gel-coat that was bit lighter than the Lola colour. Over the course of a few years it became lighter still, becoming the McLaren Orange that is recognised today.”

With its distinct and unique orange livery the M6A went on to win the Can-Am championship in 1967. In 1968 McLaren scored its maiden Formula 1 victory with the M7A that was also painted McLaren Orange.

The legacy of the success of those Orange cars still survives today. McLaren Automotive resurrected the colour on the limited edition McLaren F1 LM, to celebrate the victory at Le Mans and to recall the success of the McLaren Can-Am cars from the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Team McLaren Mercedes has also run its Formula 1 cars with the Orange livery in 1997 and most recently as an interim livery during 2006 pre-season testing.