‘Violet Smoke’ is named after the decals over the wheel arches of the car that fade into the rear of the car, giving the wheel smoke a tinge of colouring as this number 96 Mclaren-Chevrolet M1B leaves the line during the Witsun Trophy.

Perfectly framing the car in the aspect ratio as it goes across the line, ‘Violet Smoke’ is one of my favourite photos from the weekend, giving such vivacious memories to being trackside, smelling the burning fuel and tyres as he drives by. Along with the parallel lines running across the photo, it’s one that is immensely satisfying to the eye.

This Mclaren-Chevrolet M1B is a car which plans date back to 1963, starting simply as the M1; originally a replacement for the Zerex Special, it initially was built to use a Climax four cylinder engine. The car was extensively tested by Bruce McLaren at Goodwood, the very track this car is photographed at and, shortly after this, an aluminium body was fitted, the final change before the car was ready for action.

At the September 26th Mosport GP, Mclaren qualified on the front row, led the race and finished third and losing three laps from a throttle linkage issue. Fixing the issue, he raced it across North America, eventually causing mass manufacturing of the car as buyers became interested, outsourcing it to specialist Elva.

With no drawings of the original car, in 1965 the first customer ‘Elva-Mclaren M1’ was ready and was delivered without an engine to give chance to decide between the old Oldsmobile engine or the more powerful Chevrolet or Ford engines. With Elva building 21 M1s, McLaren built an improved version known as the M1B.

With a revived chassis and completely new body penned by artist Michael Turner, the M1B raced with success in 1965 and then went on to maiden in the Can-Am championship.

While it may not have been the an outright success, Bruce McLaren’s M1’s were definitely a commercial one and established McLaren as a serious manufacturer, paving the way for the legacy he created in Can-Am with the M6A.