00:00:06
Amanda McLaren, welcome to my podcast.
00:00:09
>> Thank you very much, Dom. It's a real
00:00:10
pleasure to be here.
00:00:11
>> Oh, it's wonderful. Wonderful to have
00:00:12
you here. I I think I contacted you
00:00:14
originally on LinkedIn about coming on
00:00:16
the podcast.
00:00:16
>> I think you did. And at that point, I
00:00:18
think I'd just broken my foot, so I kind
00:00:20
of put it off a wee bit, but great
00:00:22
timing. We've just secured the
00:00:24
constructor's championship in racing. So
00:00:27
yeah, flew back in yesterday
00:00:29
>> from Yeah, from Singapore. How how was
00:00:31
that experience?
00:00:33
>> Absolutely brilliant, you know, to be
00:00:35
there when the team secured back-to-back
00:00:37
championships. Um we we didn't make it
00:00:40
through the all night party which
00:00:42
actually began at 4:00 and finished at
00:00:44
about 9 um in the morning, but we
00:00:47
celebrated with the team and just so
00:00:50
pleased for them. Such an amazing
00:00:53
achievement.
00:00:55
You you still I'm
00:00:56
>> sorry.
00:00:57
>> Oh, you're all right. You're all right.
00:00:58
You're still you're still um you're
00:01:00
still quite involved with your dad's
00:01:01
company, aren't you?
00:01:02
>> Yes, we are now. And I say we, myself
00:01:04
and my husband. We're honorary brand
00:01:07
ambassadors for both McLaren Automotive,
00:01:10
Rogar side of the company and with
00:01:12
McLaren Racing and also trustees of the
00:01:16
Bruce McLaren Trust here in New Zealand.
00:01:19
So, a great thing to be able to do to
00:01:22
sort of perpetuate the legacy of dad and
00:01:26
especially with racing and and and what
00:01:27
they're achieving at the moment.
00:01:29
Fantastic to be a part of it. M that's
00:01:33
part of the reason why I wanted to get
00:01:34
you on the podcast cuz I'm I'm I'm 52 so
00:01:37
I'm I'm relatively old I guess on the
00:01:39
big scheme of things and I I was sort of
00:01:42
loosely aware of the connection between
00:01:44
McLaren and Bruce McLaren and New
00:01:46
Zealand
00:01:48
but I feel like um in a way that sort of
00:01:51
like I don't know the legacy or memory
00:01:53
whatever you want to call it is fading a
00:01:54
little bit and people younger than me
00:01:55
may not necessarily appreciate it. Um so
00:01:58
it's good to shine a light on this stuff
00:02:00
where we can. For example, I I it was
00:02:01
only a couple of weeks ago that I
00:02:02
learned that the McLaren logo is like a
00:02:04
kiwi.
00:02:05
>> Um well, yes and no. It looks very very
00:02:08
much like a kiwi, but actually it's not.
00:02:11
So, if we go back, what was the Malbra
00:02:15
chevron was created by Malbra um by
00:02:20
Philip Moss when they were main sponsors
00:02:22
of McLaren racing.
00:02:25
Uh when Malbra
00:02:27
stood away from sponsoring McLaren, they
00:02:31
rounded off the chevron to create the
00:02:34
sheet shape that it now is. And it's
00:02:38
also based on the vortex that came off
00:02:40
the rear wing of the racing car. And so
00:02:44
it looks very much like a kiwi, but
00:02:46
actually it's not. However, if New
00:02:49
Zealanders want to believe it's a kiwi,
00:02:51
[laughter] who are we to delusion
00:02:54
disillusion them? So, um, yeah. Yeah.
00:02:57
Yeah. And I think, you know, back to to
00:02:59
to young people not knowing for quite a
00:03:01
while there, the link between McLaren,
00:03:05
my father, and New Zealand wasn't really
00:03:09
at the forefront of what it was they did
00:03:10
or they spoke about. Since the advent of
00:03:13
McLaren Automotive and Zack Brown coming
00:03:16
on as as CEO of racing, they've made a
00:03:20
lot more of the history in the heritage
00:03:22
and McLaren social media now, all the
00:03:25
big anniversaries of of dad's
00:03:28
achievements, birthday, death, they put
00:03:31
something out there.
00:03:33
>> And the Speedy Kiwi, which was actually
00:03:35
my father's second logo, is actually on
00:03:38
the Formula 1 card. took a photo of it
00:03:41
in the pits at Singapore over the
00:03:43
weekend. And I mean, he's hanging on
00:03:45
there for grim death. The cars go a wee
00:03:46
bit faster now than they did when when
00:03:48
he was created.
00:03:50
>> But Zach especially is very very fond of
00:03:54
the history and the heritage and makes
00:03:56
quite a lot of it. and you walk into the
00:03:57
pits and anyone who's on my my social
00:04:01
media or the Bruce McLaren Trust social
00:04:03
media um will see pictures of dad in
00:04:05
both the hospitality in the paddock club
00:04:08
and in the pits at Singapore and if you
00:04:11
go into the McLaren technology center
00:04:13
now there is dad everywhere and the team
00:04:17
say that they follow his vision and
00:04:19
values very much in the team today.
00:04:22
>> How does it make you feel?
00:04:25
extremely proud. You know, my my father
00:04:27
would
00:04:30
what would have happened to the company
00:04:31
had he remained alive, I don't know. But
00:04:35
to see the road cars being created
00:04:40
very much in the the same philosophy as
00:04:42
his original prototype road car, the M6
00:04:45
GT. And to see his name still in Formula
00:04:49
1, second oldest team on the grid next
00:04:52
to we don't use the F word in our house.
00:04:56
It's not what most people call the
00:04:57
F-word, but I'm referring to that red
00:04:59
Italian team. Um, [laughter]
00:05:02
so they've been around quite a bit
00:05:04
longer than we have, but for McLaren
00:05:07
still to be called McLaren after all
00:05:09
these years with all the changes in in
00:05:11
ownership and so on, I think is just
00:05:13
absolutely wonderful. And dad would be
00:05:16
so proud of everyone there
00:05:19
>> cuz what your dad did um was quite
00:05:21
extraordinary. And it was only um
00:05:23
researching for this chat with you today
00:05:25
that I was sort of aware of um just what
00:05:28
he achieved especially at such a young
00:05:29
age. So he was born in Oakland in 1937.
00:05:32
So if he if he was alive, he'd be 93
00:05:34
today. Um diagnosed with a thing called
00:05:37
Perth's disease as a child.
00:05:39
>> Yeah. And up until that point, he wanted
00:05:41
to be an all black.
00:05:42
>> An all black. Yes. Yes.
00:05:44
>> And and this what does this condition
00:05:45
mean? Cuz I saw him bedridden for like a
00:05:47
year. Two years.
00:05:48
>> Two years. Two years. Yes. At the Wilson
00:05:49
home in Takapuna.
00:05:52
So basically it's a degenerative
00:05:54
condition of the hip joint. the blood
00:05:56
flow to the the the hip um ball in the
00:06:00
ball joint in the hip is compromised and
00:06:03
it causes necrosis or death of the hip
00:06:06
joint tissue and the treatment at the
00:06:09
time was to put the children in
00:06:12
traction. So he was on a frame on
00:06:14
traction for 2 years and was told
00:06:18
potentially he may not walk again. He
00:06:20
overcame that. Did walk again, albeit
00:06:22
his leg remained quite a bit shorter
00:06:24
than the other one. And so he had quite
00:06:26
a pronounced limp, but he was told no
00:06:29
contact sport.
00:06:30
>> So that put pay to his rugby career. But
00:06:34
his father, my grandfather, owned the
00:06:36
garage in Remuera, McLaren's garage
00:06:38
there. And so dad had grown up around
00:06:41
cars and obviously inherited a love of
00:06:45
cars and driving. and so switched his
00:06:48
attention to cars which I'm quite
00:06:52
delighted about because you know I'll
00:06:54
admit it I am not a fan of rugby now
00:06:56
that had dad been an all black maybe
00:06:59
things would have changed um but I'm I'm
00:07:02
certainly delighted that he chose cars
00:07:03
as as his profession
00:07:05
>> but what he achieved you know he was 32
00:07:08
when he was killed um and after he
00:07:12
established Bruce McLaren Motor Racing
00:07:14
in 1963 he was running the
00:07:17
He was helping design and build the cars
00:07:20
and that was five different types of
00:07:22
cars at the at the point that that he
00:07:24
was killed. Um he was driving the cars,
00:07:27
he was testing, he was doing work for
00:07:29
other companies such as Ford and
00:07:30
Firestone to bring in money. And so
00:07:34
you can imagine one person doing all
00:07:36
those jobs today. Absolutely not. Um
00:07:39
sport has changed so much. It's no
00:07:40
longer a sport multi-billion dollar
00:07:42
business. But yeah, dad dad seemed to be
00:07:45
able to just manage to do it all and the
00:07:48
travel, you know, they didn't have
00:07:49
private jets and helicopters, so he was
00:07:51
flying commercially and yeah, managed to
00:07:54
fit it all in.
00:07:57
>> Yeah. So, oh no, you're right.
00:07:59
>> I picked up a little bit of a laggy in
00:08:01
Singapore, I think.
00:08:02
>> So, um, he Yeah. moved to England at 21
00:08:05
after winning a racing scholarship. Um,
00:08:07
do you have any idea of the route he
00:08:08
took? Like, what did aviation look like
00:08:10
back then? It wouldn't have been just
00:08:12
one stop in Singapore or Dubai, would
00:08:14
it?
00:08:14
>> I mean, originally he was supposed to
00:08:17
sail because it was a cheaper form of
00:08:19
transport. Now it's a sort of luxury
00:08:21
holiday to go from New Zealand to the UK
00:08:23
on on a ship. But um he got as far as
00:08:27
Australia
00:08:29
and then apparently they wanted him to
00:08:31
fly because Koopers had a race that he
00:08:34
was supposed to be driving in and so he
00:08:37
did fly. Um, but yeah, it was still a
00:08:42
long way in those days. I mean, even as
00:08:43
a young child, I remember it was four
00:08:45
stops to get to New Zealand from the UK
00:08:47
where I was born. But um, you know, what
00:08:51
an adventure for such a young man and to
00:08:55
leave his home, his family, his friends
00:08:58
to the other side of the world where,
00:09:00
you know, you couldn't make a call on a
00:09:02
phone and just talk directly to
00:09:04
somebody. And so a lot of letters were
00:09:07
sent home um which are now part of the
00:09:09
British McLaren Trust collection and
00:09:11
reading through those you know it it
00:09:13
must have been very exciting but also
00:09:17
you know very brave I think back then to
00:09:19
do what he did.
00:09:20
>> Do do the letters paint a picture of who
00:09:22
your father was?
00:09:24
>> I think they show what a close
00:09:27
relationship he had with his father. M
00:09:29
>> I think his father was very much his
00:09:31
sounding board and often he would
00:09:35
discuss problems with the cars or the
00:09:37
handling cuz my grandfather dad's dad
00:09:40
had been a racer himself and understood
00:09:44
car dynamics and so on. So I I think
00:09:47
that relationship remained incredibly
00:09:49
close over the years. Dad came back a
00:09:51
number of times to see them once I was
00:09:53
around bought me back. Um and and the
00:09:57
letters do portray that that close
00:09:59
father-son relationship very much.
00:10:02
>> Um yeah, these are these are treasures
00:10:04
and it's something that you'd only have
00:10:05
at that point in time. I'm thinking now
00:10:06
like Liam Lawson, it's probably like
00:10:08
short text messages to his dad.
00:10:10
>> Yes. Yes. I I think technology has moved
00:10:13
on in all walks of life and and you know
00:10:16
now it's very very different for for the
00:10:18
drivers for sure.
00:10:20
>> Yeah. So, so your father was 26 when he
00:10:22
founded McLaren Racing in 1963, which
00:10:24
seems which seems it seems crazy like
00:10:28
26. He's effectively a kid.
00:10:30
>> Well, well, he is. I mean, I think back
00:10:32
to sort of how I was at 26 and and you
00:10:34
know, well, I thought I knew everything.
00:10:36
I did not for sure. Um, but you know,
00:10:39
he's over there a you know, young man
00:10:43
from Remuer in New Zealand taking on the
00:10:46
established greats. you know what a
00:10:49
thing to do. you know the audacity of
00:10:51
him that but he had this vision he had
00:10:54
this dream and he was the sort that once
00:10:57
he wanted to do something he did it and
00:11:00
I think that's what made
00:11:03
things so special and and made him a a
00:11:06
special person
00:11:07
>> and so yes he established McLaren Motor
00:11:10
Racing and you know went on to to
00:11:12
establish himself only the second driver
00:11:14
ever to win a Formula 1 race in a car
00:11:18
that he had designed and built his own
00:11:20
came on the nose and his great friend
00:11:22
and mentor Jack Brabbom um was the first
00:11:24
one to do it and Jack very much
00:11:26
inspiration. My mom said that Jack had
00:11:29
dad had rung Jack and said, you know, I
00:11:31
want to set up my own team. You've done
00:11:33
it. Any advice? And apparently Jack
00:11:35
said, well, if I can do it, so can you.
00:11:38
>> And and he did.
00:11:41
>> It's incredible. And then uh when he was
00:11:44
28, you came along.
00:11:48
[laughter]
00:11:48
>> Matt is not my small point, so I'm just
00:11:50
nodding brilliantly. 1965.
00:11:54
>> Yeah. So you came along and then um uh
00:11:57
and then in 1970 in 1970 um at the age
00:12:00
of 32 he dies while testing a car.
00:12:03
>> Mhm.
00:12:04
>> So you're 4 years old. What do you have
00:12:06
any like what memories if any do you
00:12:08
have of your dad?
00:12:10
>> I actually don't have any memories of
00:12:12
dad unfortunately.
00:12:14
In the March of 1970, we went to South
00:12:17
Africa to the Kruger National Park out
00:12:20
there and spent some time and I have
00:12:23
snippets of that and hearing the animals
00:12:25
and and being being there on holiday. I
00:12:29
also remember the evening of June 2nd
00:12:32
when he was killed because I went to a
00:12:35
friend's house which had been the plan.
00:12:37
and mom and dad were going to go out
00:12:39
with them and I used to stay overnight
00:12:42
with their um family.
00:12:44
>> But I was given a doll set and I
00:12:48
remember thinking wonder why I've been
00:12:49
given a doll set. It's not Christmas and
00:12:52
it's not my birthday but I was given it
00:12:53
and I just accepted it and carry on.
00:12:56
My mother was of the generation where
00:12:59
children
00:13:01
weren't really told what she deemed to
00:13:03
be adult things and didn't mix in with
00:13:07
adult things. So I was never actually
00:13:11
told. My father had died and for a long
00:13:14
time probably was unaware that something
00:13:17
had changed because he was rarely at
00:13:21
home. you know, racing Can-Am across in
00:13:23
the States, racing in the in the um
00:13:26
European circuit in Formula 1, testing
00:13:29
cars, working for other companies.
00:13:33
I didn't see a lot of him,
00:13:35
>> but I think I mean, my mother suffered a
00:13:38
double loss. She was carrying a child at
00:13:39
the time. She lost that and a year later
00:13:43
I was diagnosed as a type 1 diabetic, an
00:13:46
autoimmune condition,
00:13:48
possibly exacerbated by stress.
00:13:52
>> So I think as a little four-year-old, I
00:13:55
picked up on what was going on at home.
00:13:58
I didn't know why, but I think that
00:14:01
there was some underlying
00:14:03
acknowledgement of what was happening.
00:14:07
That must have been so difficult for
00:14:08
your mom,
00:14:10
>> Pat.
00:14:11
>> Yeah.
00:14:11
>> Yeah. A a very strong lady. She picked
00:14:15
up and carried on. Um became a brand
00:14:18
ambassador for Yardley a couple of years
00:14:21
later.
00:14:22
Never blamed motor racing. She always
00:14:25
said to me, "Your father died doing what
00:14:26
he loved." Mhm.
00:14:28
>> She until the day she died called
00:14:31
everyone that worked at McLaren's
00:14:33
regardless of when they joined her boys.
00:14:37
And she said, "I lost a year of my
00:14:40
life." And then one of my girlfriends
00:14:42
and all her friends, her female friends
00:14:44
were the wives and girlfriends of the
00:14:47
then racing drivers. One of them said to
00:14:50
her, "Come on, Patty. We're going back
00:14:51
to wherever it was." And she picked up
00:14:53
and went back. And from then on, every
00:14:56
British Grand Prix, one European Grand
00:14:59
Prix at least a year, um, all the
00:15:03
historic events at Silverstone when the
00:15:06
Goodwood events, the Revival and
00:15:08
Festival of Speed started up, she was
00:15:10
always at those in that it was her life
00:15:13
for so long, a life she loved, and it
00:15:17
was her friend. So she continued to to
00:15:21
be a part of motor racing, became an
00:15:23
honorary member along with Betty Hill of
00:15:26
the BRDC, first of the women um to be
00:15:31
elected into the the organization and on
00:15:34
an honor on an honorary basis,
00:15:38
excuse me. Um and also um for some time
00:15:43
there a senior part of the committee of
00:15:46
what was affectionately known as the
00:15:48
doghouse club um which was originally
00:15:50
set up for the women to support each
00:15:53
other when their husbands and and
00:15:55
boyfriends were killed um because
00:15:58
tragically back then it was so
00:15:59
dangerous.
00:16:00
>> The dog house club, the women's motor
00:16:02
racing associates club still exists
00:16:04
today. I am a patron um and very much
00:16:08
now uh for raising money for charities.
00:16:12
Thankfully not the benevolent fund. It
00:16:14
was for the women of of drivers who were
00:16:17
killed. There are still unfortunately
00:16:19
the odd one. Um not so much in Formula 1
00:16:21
these days. The the safety measures that
00:16:24
are in place are incredible.
00:16:26
But you know it says on your ticket
00:16:28
motor racing is dangerous and
00:16:30
unfortunately it still is. Yeah, I might
00:16:32
be missing something here, but you just
00:16:34
when you say that, the last driver that
00:16:35
I can think of that comes to mind that
00:16:37
that died was maybe at Cena in the '90s.
00:16:39
>> Um, there was Jeankei subsequently. He
00:16:43
wasn't killed instantly at the track.
00:16:45
Um, but he suffered massive brain damage
00:16:47
and and succumbed sometime later.
00:16:50
>> So, um, I believe he was the last
00:16:52
Formula 1 driver. Um, there have been
00:16:55
some very nasty accidents since. um um I
00:16:59
can't think of the the gentleman's name
00:17:01
and he he went to um the Indie car, but
00:17:04
the car was absolutely engulfed in
00:17:05
flames and he was trapped in that car
00:17:07
for a wee while uh managed to get
00:17:09
himself out and then you know back in in
00:17:12
the days before the fireproofing and all
00:17:14
the safety measures, he certainly would
00:17:16
have been killed.
00:17:17
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The outcomes are
00:17:18
pretty good these days. Yeah. I
00:17:20
mentioned ET and Senna just a second
00:17:21
ago. Have you met He was a McLaren
00:17:23
driver for a time. Have you met many of
00:17:24
the drivers over the years? I've met a
00:17:26
lot of the drivers over the years, but
00:17:28
unfortunately Eden was not one of the
00:17:30
ones that I met, but certainly possibly
00:17:33
one of the most famous McLaren drivers.
00:17:36
Um, really in a league of his own when
00:17:38
it comes to talent and ability and
00:17:41
certainly the one most people remember,
00:17:44
but yeah, sadly I didn't get to meet
00:17:46
him. [laughter]
00:17:47
>> Who? Oh, yeah. I I'll throw some names
00:17:49
at you and we'll see if you know them or
00:17:50
not. Um, Elaine Prost.
00:17:53
>> Have met Elaine a few times. Yes. Lovely
00:17:55
chat. Yes.
00:17:56
>> Um, Mika Hackinan.
00:17:58
>> Mika Hackinan. Yes. Met Mika quite a few
00:18:00
times. Um, and he's now an ambassador
00:18:03
for McLaren. So does quite a bit with
00:18:04
racing and automotive as well.
00:18:06
>> Awesome. Lewis.
00:18:07
>> Lewis.
00:18:09
Met Lewis once. Um, yeah. Most of the
00:18:12
the the latter ones up until sort of
00:18:17
2014 when we went across to automotive,
00:18:20
I was living in New Zealand. Um, and
00:18:23
while I went to the the Australian Grand
00:18:26
Prix, um, that was more sort of the MKER
00:18:28
and David Kard years. Um, yeah. Yeah.
00:18:31
>> Did you ever meet Louiswis's dog?
00:18:33
>> It's No.
00:18:33
>> Oh, his dog's passed away recently.
00:18:36
>> No, it was very sad. Um, I mean, what I
00:18:39
loved was in in the F1 Grand Prix movie
00:18:43
or the F1 movie, the dog gets a cameo
00:18:45
part. I mean, bless it. and and you
00:18:48
know, Lewis was obviously so fond of
00:18:50
that dog and almost wasn't going to
00:18:52
race. Um but sadly the dog did pass away
00:18:55
and yeah.
00:18:56
>> What about your dad's Kiwi mates from
00:18:58
way back? Um Denny and Chris.
00:19:01
>> Yes. So they were good family friends.
00:19:04
Um I remember growing up especially with
00:19:06
with Denny's children um until they came
00:19:09
over back to New Zealand. Um and
00:19:11
similarly with Chris. But the the
00:19:14
children we all met a couple of months
00:19:18
ago when they unveiled the statue of
00:19:19
Chris um in bulls and we've made a pack
00:19:23
that we will get together the children
00:19:26
of the trio at the top Bruce Chris and
00:19:28
Denny every year for a function or a
00:19:30
dinner or a barbecue or something
00:19:32
somewhere and just yeah it's lovely you
00:19:35
know we're very fond of each other um
00:19:38
and it it's great for us to sort of
00:19:41
spend that time and and reminisce sing
00:19:43
and talking about our dads.
00:19:44
>> That's so special.
00:19:45
>> Yeah. [gasps]
00:19:47
>> Um, speaking of statues,
00:19:50
>> we've got one here.
00:19:52
>> What's this? This is very heavy, by the
00:19:54
way.
00:19:55
>> Yes. So,
00:19:55
>> it's beautiful. That's your dad.
00:19:57
>> It is. It is a a bronze. It's a bronze
00:19:59
miniature of the fulls size statue which
00:20:03
is on display at the McLaren Technology
00:20:04
Center in Woking in England. So for the
00:20:08
60th anniversary of Bruce McLaren Motor
00:20:11
Racing being formed, Mansor Roier, the
00:20:15
late shareholder of of major shareholder
00:20:17
of McLaren and Zack Brown commissioned
00:20:20
the lifesize bronze done by the great
00:20:23
Paul Lars, very very clever man. And
00:20:26
when we unveiled that, we had a lot of
00:20:30
plans for a huge celebration and
00:20:31
unfortunately it was 2020 with co
00:20:35
>> um but the full-size bronze is in
00:20:40
McLaren Technology Center and I was
00:20:42
presented with this little one which we
00:20:45
took out to Singapore for an event that
00:20:48
we were involved in and it did cause
00:20:51
quite some interest getting it through
00:20:54
security and then onto the plane cuz the
00:20:56
case is a little bit oversized. But I
00:20:59
have to say both Air New Zealand and
00:21:01
Singapore Airlines were wonderful about
00:21:03
us taking it on once they realized what
00:21:05
it was. And um all the cabin crew on the
00:21:08
the plane on the way over suddenly
00:21:10
became huge McLaren fans. Um some of
00:21:12
them definitely were cuz they knew a lot
00:21:14
about the history. Some of them I think
00:21:15
were just saying it to be nice. But
00:21:17
>> [laughter]
00:21:18
>> um yeah, it's wonderful for me to have
00:21:20
something like this. Everything that I
00:21:23
have has now been bequeathed to the
00:21:24
Bruce McLaren Trust. Um, but this one we
00:21:27
do pick up and take with us because it
00:21:29
it's quite a talking point and so very
00:21:32
very lifelike
00:21:35
>> and so heavy as well.
00:21:36
>> It is rather heavy. Imagine I I had a
00:21:39
weight given to me for the the
00:21:41
life-sized one. You can imagine how
00:21:43
heavy that is. But yes, this is I I
00:21:46
think it plus the the the book case is
00:21:48
10 kilos. M.
00:21:50
>> So what do you know? What do you know
00:21:52
about your mom and dad's love story? So
00:21:54
they met in a party in Timaru, I
00:21:55
believe.
00:21:56
>> They met in a party in Timaru. So
00:21:57
>> where's where's your mom from
00:21:58
originally?
00:21:59
>> So mom was from Christ Church and moved
00:22:02
down to Timaro to live with an aunt and
00:22:06
started working down there. And mom was
00:22:10
really rather glamorous when she was a
00:22:12
young lady. She I could hear what do you
00:22:14
mean when I was young? She was really
00:22:16
all through her life. She was quite a
00:22:17
stunning woman.
00:22:19
And
00:22:20
she was at a party and the story is that
00:22:24
my father saw her across the room and if
00:22:28
you bel believe in love at first sight
00:22:30
this was it because he turned to the
00:22:32
person he was with and said I want to
00:22:34
marry that lady.
00:22:35
>> Uhhuh.
00:22:37
And apparently that they were introduced
00:22:39
and my mother sort of looked him up and
00:22:40
down and and but obviously there was
00:22:44
something there because she says they
00:22:47
had a courtship mainly by letter because
00:22:50
she was still living in New Zealand. She
00:22:52
he went back to the UK. He followed she
00:22:55
followed him to the UK um and lived with
00:22:59
a girlfriend over there and then they
00:23:02
got married in Christ Church, mom's
00:23:04
hometown.
00:23:05
and then moved back to the UK. Of
00:23:08
course, being involved in Formula 1 in
00:23:09
those days, you had to be based in the
00:23:10
UK or Europe. And so they set up home
00:23:15
there and then 1965 I came along um and
00:23:19
was born and raised in the UK. But it it
00:23:22
is a lovely story and I think for a
00:23:25
young lady from Christ Church to
00:23:30
meet the people she did and especially
00:23:32
at Monaco after dad won. She went to the
00:23:36
palace, met Princess Grace, Prince
00:23:39
Reineier, and was at a cocktail party
00:23:42
there. And she tells a wonderful story
00:23:43
about they're waiting in this huge, huge
00:23:45
foyer with a marble floor. And she calls
00:23:49
them the boys, Dad and and the other two
00:23:52
drivers who were on the podium got a bit
00:23:55
bored and took their shoes off and in
00:23:57
their socks are skating up and down on
00:24:00
the the floor, whereas mom and the three
00:24:02
ladies are sitting nice and quietly.
00:24:04
>> Jeez. And I mean, you could probably
00:24:06
imagine what's coming. The door opens
00:24:07
and there is Princess Grace waiting to
00:24:10
usher them through [laughter] to the
00:24:11
party. And my mother said she didn't
00:24:13
know whether to be completely emblared
00:24:16
or what to do or she says, but this
00:24:18
faint smile appeared on Princess Grace's
00:24:21
face. And then she sort of regained her
00:24:23
demeanor and said, "You please do follow
00:24:25
me." And through they went, my mom said,
00:24:27
but things like that. She said, "You
00:24:29
know, Monaco was just spectacular." and
00:24:32
the K's film festival was sort of the
00:24:34
week before and so all the stars would
00:24:35
go down. So, you know, she's rubbing
00:24:37
shoulders with all the film stars and
00:24:39
and just having an amazing time through
00:24:42
until the point when my father was was
00:24:44
killed. But yeah, she she and dad a real
00:24:48
fairy tale story.
00:24:50
>> That's wonderful. And I believe the um
00:24:52
your childhood home in London, it was
00:24:54
called Murray.
00:24:56
>> Yeah. after Mai Beach in New Zealand.
00:24:58
When when did you start to feel a
00:25:00
connection to New Zealand?
00:25:02
>> Um,
00:25:03
>> how did you how did you end up back here
00:25:05
living in Toadonga?
00:25:06
>> Okay. So, to to I mean, whenever
00:25:08
somebody you you phoned somebody and and
00:25:11
you know, you didn't order things
00:25:12
online. You phoned and you made the
00:25:14
order or and and they'd asked for your
00:25:16
address and I said Mai and like what?
00:25:19
[laughter] M U R I W? What's that? Oh,
00:25:23
that's New Zealand and it's a beach and
00:25:25
um at you know whatever age I was on the
00:25:28
telephone at home in England. Um we used
00:25:31
to come across to New Zealand
00:25:34
every couple of years to see mom's
00:25:36
family and Christ Church dad's family in
00:25:38
Oakland. Spend some time here with them.
00:25:42
I then left school went training as a
00:25:46
nurse in London um back in the the days
00:25:49
of hospital-based training. And I'm two
00:25:51
and a bit years into it and I get kicked
00:25:53
by a horse and completely take my knee
00:25:56
apart like I had no ligaments left. Tore
00:25:58
the cartilage. Um it was a horrible
00:26:00
mess. And unfortunately afterwards I got
00:26:03
an infection in the joint and my whole
00:26:05
knee locked solid. Um so I was a year on
00:26:08
crutches feeling very sorry for myself
00:26:11
and my mom and stepdad um were coming
00:26:13
out to New Zealand. Mom had bought a
00:26:15
townhouse in Christ Church. And so mom
00:26:18
and stepdad will come back for
00:26:22
as my stepfather after my stepfather
00:26:24
retired, time got longer and longer and
00:26:25
longer, but he was still working at that
00:26:28
point and
00:26:31
[cough]
00:26:34
excuse me.
00:26:36
He was still working at that point. And
00:26:39
so they both said, "Why don't you come
00:26:41
to New Zealand with us?" So I hobble
00:26:43
onto the plane with them and we come out
00:26:45
here and towards the end of the 6 week
00:26:47
holiday I said to mom I'm going to stay
00:26:49
for 6 months. 6 months came and went. 6
00:26:53
years came and went. 26 years came and
00:26:55
went. In the meantime met and married a
00:26:58
New Zealander. Um moved down to
00:27:00
Wellington where Steven my husband was
00:27:02
based at the police college and
00:27:06
we've been here ever since. Well, I say
00:27:09
ever since 2013, we went back to the UK
00:27:14
to the Goodwood Festival of Speed and
00:27:16
met Mike Fluitt who was the then CEO of
00:27:19
McLaren Automotive
00:27:21
and he told us of his plans to open the
00:27:24
50th retailer
00:27:27
50 years after dad established the
00:27:30
company in dad's hometown in Oakland,
00:27:32
New Zealand. And that of course is
00:27:33
McLaren Oakland.
00:27:34
>> Wow. And the interest from New Zealand,
00:27:38
albeit a very small country with a small
00:27:41
population, was so great that for the
00:27:44
first time they held that opening over
00:27:46
two nights, not the usual one.
00:27:49
Back in the hotel after the opening,
00:27:52
Mike and Steven are talking and Steven
00:27:54
was being made redundant from his role
00:27:56
with the New Zealand Olympic Committee
00:27:59
and Mike offered us jobs to work for
00:28:01
McLaren in the UK. So we thought about
00:28:05
it for a little while. We'd set up a
00:28:08
farm in Upper Hut just outside of
00:28:10
Wellington. We had two goats called
00:28:12
Lewis and Fernando after Lewis Hamilton
00:28:14
and Fernando Alonzo who were the Mlown
00:28:16
drivers at the time. We had horses. Um I
00:28:19
had two horses and we had Grazers
00:28:21
deliveries. Um
00:28:24
and it was a beautiful home and we'd
00:28:27
spent a lot of time and money on it. But
00:28:29
we also thought gosh what an opportunity
00:28:32
to go and work for
00:28:35
the company that my father founded but
00:28:38
automotive at that point only 3 years
00:28:41
old um bringing to market P1 which in my
00:28:45
mind is the most incredible achievement
00:28:47
and very similar to what it was my
00:28:49
father had achieved in such a short
00:28:51
time. So Steven and I packed up, went to
00:28:54
the UK. Back home for me, we lived very
00:28:56
close to Won's where my mother and
00:28:59
stepfather still were. And
00:29:02
spent some amazing years there until the
00:29:06
pandemic struck. And half our job was
00:29:10
guests and visitors at the McLaren
00:29:12
Technology Center, showing them around,
00:29:14
telling the story. And the other half of
00:29:16
our job was traveling nationally and
00:29:19
internationally to various events and
00:29:21
hosting guests and visitors and again
00:29:23
telling dad's story. So we were at home,
00:29:26
we were furoughed. I was able to ride my
00:29:28
horse. Um, so I spent lockdown out with
00:29:31
my horse. But Steven had children and
00:29:34
grandchildren in New Zealand. And we had
00:29:37
always maintained that once both my
00:29:41
mother and stepfather passed away, we
00:29:42
would come back to New Zealand. And my
00:29:46
stepfather was was the last one, he died
00:29:48
at the end of 2020.
00:29:51
And so we told both racing and
00:29:53
automotive we were going to give them a
00:29:55
year and then come back to New Zealand.
00:29:58
And that's when they said, "Well, okay,
00:30:00
sorry to see you go, but would you like
00:30:02
to be honorary brand ambassadors?" So,
00:30:04
we said, "Yes, okay, we'll continue to
00:30:06
do that." And then we had to apply
00:30:08
through the MIQ process, which I know a
00:30:10
lot of people will understand our
00:30:12
suffering through that process. Um, but
00:30:14
we got back into the country. We now
00:30:18
live in Tapuna, just outside of Turanga,
00:30:20
and absolutely loving being back. Still
00:30:23
travel a lot. We're back to the UK twice
00:30:26
before the end of the year for um a
00:30:28
conference with McLaren Automotive and
00:30:31
then spending some time with racing and
00:30:34
then to Suzuka on the way home next
00:30:36
year. So, love doing what we're doing.
00:30:39
Um but it's pretty full on.
00:30:41
>> I'm going to have to blow my nose.
00:30:43
Sorry.
00:30:43
>> Yeah. No, you go ahead. We got some
00:30:44
tissues here for you.
00:30:45
>> Oh, okay. Sorry. [laughter]
00:30:51
>> That's cool. got the the air con and
00:30:52
airplanes will do this to you.
00:30:54
>> Oh, I I picked up a little bit of a
00:30:56
luggy on the way out to Singapore and
00:30:57
and
00:30:58
>> it's um
00:30:59
>> it's much better than it was. I mean,
00:31:01
the hacking cough I had a couple of days
00:31:02
I thought I thought, god, this is going
00:31:03
to be dreadful, but it's not too bad.
00:31:06
So that that must have been a really
00:31:08
nice um opportunity to get that um that
00:31:10
call up from McLaren to become involved
00:31:12
because I'm guessing for a number of
00:31:13
years you were just just getting along
00:31:14
with your life sort of under the radar
00:31:16
largely as like a a civilian just a
00:31:18
nurse um with this this this you know
00:31:22
hole in your heart you know being Bruce
00:31:24
McLaren's daughter but you know not
00:31:27
having any sort of connection to the
00:31:28
company.
00:31:29
>> Absolutely right. I mean my mother was a
00:31:31
a original director of the company um
00:31:34
which she retained through until the
00:31:36
mid-70s when she was actually asked if
00:31:39
she she would sell her shares which she
00:31:40
did. Whether or not she regretted it, I
00:31:43
think she did um subsequently. But while
00:31:47
we went to to some races
00:31:50
sort of as guests of McLaren, it was as
00:31:53
guests. The family had nothing to do
00:31:55
with with the company. So yes, I became
00:31:58
a registered nurse. Um,
00:32:01
and on my badge it said, "Amanda, nobody
00:32:04
knew."
00:32:05
>> And so every time we used to go back to
00:32:08
the McLaren Technology Center, I mean,
00:32:10
prior to that, we went to the the
00:32:12
various um factories they had, but
00:32:15
especially the McLaren Technology
00:32:16
Center, I mean, just an incredible
00:32:18
building in its own right, let alone
00:32:19
what it is they do inside.
00:32:22
But the time before we were there,
00:32:26
before we were offered the roles, I
00:32:28
remember walking through thinking, I
00:32:30
wonder what it would be like to work
00:32:31
here. [snorts]
00:32:33
And then subsequently, we did. And I
00:32:35
have to say, for some people that work
00:32:38
in that building, they say that they
00:32:41
sort of get a bit used to it.
00:32:44
For Steven and I,
00:32:47
maybe every other day on average, we'd
00:32:50
meet a guest who'd been driven around
00:32:52
the lake and then to what they called
00:32:55
Hlocks, the big doors would open and
00:32:58
they'd come in and you'd see their eyes
00:33:01
out on stalks as they looked down the
00:33:02
boulevard and saw this immense space
00:33:06
full of the history and the heritage and
00:33:08
the cars.
00:33:10
And we see it through their eyes. And as
00:33:12
we talked them through it and walked
00:33:14
down the boulevard and through to
00:33:15
McLaren Production Center, we would just
00:33:18
realize how special it was. And for me,
00:33:23
it was just the icing on the cake
00:33:25
because dad's name's still on the
00:33:27
building. You know, it is the McLaren
00:33:29
Technology Center and every car that
00:33:31
comes out of there has dad's name on it.
00:33:34
And so just that little extra bit of
00:33:37
pride, but it also caused some some
00:33:41
some, you know, Matthew, you'd phone up
00:33:43
it because it is the McLaren Technology
00:33:44
Center, but we still have problems with
00:33:46
it occasionally. And they'd say, you
00:33:50
know, what's your name? Amanda McLaren.
00:33:52
Yes. No, no, not the emails.com
00:33:56
McLaren. What's your surname? Amanda
00:33:59
McLaren. And there'd be this pause
00:34:03
and then they'd go, "Is that a
00:34:05
coincidence?" I'm like, "No,
00:34:08
no, no, no, no. Dad founded the team,
00:34:11
big pause." And suddenly there'd be a
00:34:13
bit of scurrying sometimes. And then I
00:34:14
get kind of their boss on the phone
00:34:16
saying, "What can we do to help this,
00:34:17
Amanda?" [laughter] And other times
00:34:18
they'd be just like, "Oh my god,
00:34:20
really?" And oh wow. and and you kind of
00:34:23
hear it through their eyes again and and
00:34:25
with their voice and and so yeah,
00:34:28
working there was so special to be part
00:34:30
of of of the company that my dad founded
00:34:35
to have it. It was a really interesting
00:34:37
cuz we were staff and we told them to
00:34:39
treat us as staff,
00:34:42
but a lot of them didn't and we got
00:34:43
little perks and my ID card. Everyone
00:34:46
else had the sort of passport photo
00:34:48
picture on it for me. They put the
00:34:51
picture of me in my dad's N6 GT, the
00:34:54
prototype road car when I was four years
00:34:56
old. That was my picture. And and just
00:34:59
really sweet things like that used to
00:35:01
happen.
00:35:02
>> Um but yeah, to to see automotive grow
00:35:05
from being a tiny little company when we
00:35:08
started through to to what they were
00:35:10
doing when we left was just a phenomenal
00:35:13
thing to be a part of and to experience.
00:35:15
Um really was special.
00:35:16
>> Yeah. this uh technology center that
00:35:18
you're talking about. I've seen um
00:35:20
photos of that online and some uh
00:35:22
YouTube videos. It looks impressive.
00:35:25
>> It it it really is to the extent you
00:35:27
know when some of these these films I
00:35:30
mean it was used in in the F1 film. Um
00:35:33
but previously there was a a sci-fi and
00:35:36
sci-fi is not my thing and I apologize I
00:35:39
cannot remember the the name of the film
00:35:40
but they use that as the headquarters.
00:35:42
Um and and it it is the most incredible
00:35:47
piece of design and engineering and the
00:35:49
Formula 1 team actually helped make some
00:35:51
of the the structure of it, the
00:35:53
loadbearing um parts of it because that
00:35:57
is part of their expertise in terms of
00:35:59
building a Formula 1 car and it really
00:36:01
is quite spectacular and and it was Ron
00:36:04
Dennis's baby, his concept and what what
00:36:08
a legacy to leave. Um, he says he was a
00:36:11
chapter of of of McLaren, dad the first,
00:36:14
he really the second, Zach and and
00:36:16
Automotive now the third. But yeah, just
00:36:19
a a fantastic building. It really is.
00:36:23
>> So cool. When did you when did you lose
00:36:26
your mom? When did she pass away?
00:36:28
>> So, I hope you weren't going to ask me
00:36:31
that. Steven, what year did mom die?
00:36:37
>> Nope. He said 2016.
00:36:39
>> Thank you. Um,
00:36:42
so we lost mom in 2016. Um, I was in the
00:36:47
UK. I'd been there for 2 years. She'd
00:36:50
about 5 years previously been diagnosed
00:36:52
with stage 4 ovarian cancer and had been
00:36:55
given 6 months without chemo and 18
00:36:58
months with chemo. And I said before a
00:37:00
very strong, tough, feisty lady. She had
00:37:04
the chemo. While she lost her hair, it
00:37:08
didn't make her feel unwell. We still
00:37:10
had our pub lunches and our wine. My mom
00:37:12
loved her wine. For anybody that knew
00:37:14
mom who might be listening to this, yes,
00:37:16
she loved her wine. Um,
00:37:19
and we had a very special two years
00:37:23
knowing that she was ill, but at the
00:37:27
time still
00:37:29
still having the time of our life. And
00:37:31
so we go out on a Monday night with what
00:37:33
she called her Monday night girls and
00:37:35
and I'm still closely in touch with them
00:37:37
and see them every time I'm back in the
00:37:39
UK. And then Tuesday I take her
00:37:41
shopping. We have mother daughter lunch.
00:37:44
And McLaren Automotive wanted me to talk
00:37:48
to her and get the stories that only she
00:37:51
knew. And so I was able to spend that
00:37:53
that time and and you know actually get
00:37:56
paid to talk to your mother which was
00:37:58
was quite surreal. But we we had some
00:38:01
lovely moments and I did learn quite a
00:38:03
lot of things that previously sort of I
00:38:06
didn't know.
00:38:06
>> Yeah.
00:38:07
>> And it was just wonderful to spend that
00:38:09
time together.
00:38:11
>> Um and she was great really until
00:38:14
unfortunately she fell and broke her hip
00:38:16
which is what you know is the beginning
00:38:19
of the end for a lot of the elderly.
00:38:21
>> Yeah. Having a fall
00:38:22
>> um having a fall is is never good. And
00:38:24
um while she was still able she she got
00:38:26
around in a wheelchair after that. um
00:38:29
and just sort of walk the short
00:38:30
distances from the the um flat that they
00:38:33
had to the car and then from the car to
00:38:36
the pub. Um we still managed to have
00:38:38
some amazing times and then she was
00:38:40
admitted to hospital and thankfully
00:38:43
within 4 days she'd passed. So yeah, but
00:38:46
just so good to have been there and not
00:38:48
got the phone call from my stepfather um
00:38:51
from the UK and and had to kind of maybe
00:38:54
go backwards and forwards a few times
00:38:55
sort of thinking, god, am I going to get
00:38:57
there in time? So, it was it was
00:38:59
fantastic to be there um and spend that
00:39:02
time with her.
00:39:03
>> Can you remember any of those stories
00:39:04
that you got from your mom that
00:39:05
surprised you while you were curating
00:39:08
your dad's life?
00:39:10
>> Well, yes. I mean, it wasn't until then
00:39:12
that I learned that she was carrying a
00:39:14
child when she lost my dad,
00:39:16
>> but also um the color of the house,
00:39:19
Murray. So, it was painted white, brick
00:39:25
painted white with blue front door,
00:39:29
garage door, and blue shutters in the
00:39:31
Georgian style. And I said to her, why?
00:39:35
And she said, and and this surprised me
00:39:38
slightly because I my mother, she was a
00:39:40
little bit superstitious, but I didn't
00:39:43
think she was was um
00:39:47
quite as superstitious as this, but she
00:39:48
said, I was at a party and there was a
00:39:51
fortune teller there and she read my
00:39:53
palm and she said, "You will have two
00:39:54
children and you will live in a large
00:39:58
white house with blue."
00:40:02
and she said, "I always kind of wanted a
00:40:03
White House with Blue." And I said,
00:40:05
"Yes, but you didn't have two children."
00:40:06
And she said, "Yes, I did." And that's
00:40:08
when she told me that she'd lost a
00:40:10
second baby. So, um, that those were
00:40:13
sort of the two things. And I have to
00:40:14
say, I took that afternoon off. I didn't
00:40:15
go back into work
00:40:16
>> because I I was quite sort of surprised,
00:40:20
stunned, and very sorry for mom because
00:40:23
I rise then she'd not only lost my dad,
00:40:25
she'd lost a child as well. [snorts]
00:40:28
>> Yeah. It must have been impossibly
00:40:30
difficult for your mom at that time,
00:40:32
right?
00:40:32
>> Mhm. I It was I mean, she she didn't
00:40:36
have any family over there in the UK.
00:40:39
She had a lot of friends and I think
00:40:41
they rallied around and looked after
00:40:43
her, which I think was was again those
00:40:46
women were part of the doghouse club.
00:40:48
They'd seen so many of the husbands and
00:40:52
and boyfriends killed that they kind of
00:40:55
knew what to do for each other, I think,
00:40:57
which was dreadful in one way, but at
00:41:01
least they had each other. Um,
00:41:04
and some some good neighbors as well
00:41:07
that that certainly spent a lot of time
00:41:09
looking after me. Um, so I remember
00:41:12
going to Portugal um with our neighbors
00:41:14
who were very very good friends I think
00:41:16
just to give mom a break so she could
00:41:17
have some time and then she came out to
00:41:20
out here for dad's funeral um but again
00:41:23
you know very much on her own um but you
00:41:27
know the strong strong lady um very
00:41:30
strong and you know she she she talked
00:41:33
about it. It was always a little bit
00:41:36
upsetting for her, but she'd always pick
00:41:38
herself up and dust herself off and
00:41:40
carry on. And yeah, very very I I think
00:41:43
the pair of them were quite formidable.
00:41:46
Um, in terms of not being frightening
00:41:49
people, but very determined people and
00:41:52
if they wanted something and I think
00:41:54
that's what made dad so good at doing
00:41:57
what he was doing and, you know, got mom
00:41:59
through those those years.
00:42:01
>> Yeah. What what traits do do you have
00:42:04
that come from your mom that you'd know
00:42:06
firsthand and what traits from your dad?
00:42:08
Maybe your mom said over the years, "Oh,
00:42:09
you know, your your father would say
00:42:11
that or your father would do that."
00:42:12
>> I think [laughter] I got my dad's short,
00:42:14
stumpy little legs. Um,
00:42:17
[snorts]
00:42:17
>> I definitely look very much like him in
00:42:20
in that I hadn't seen Chrison for maybe
00:42:23
15 years. and we went to visit him in
00:42:27
balls and I walked into his lounge and
00:42:29
he looked at me and he went white
00:42:31
>> and he said, "Oh my god, it's Bruce."
00:42:33
>> Um, I don't have my father's stamina how
00:42:38
he managed to do all he did and he could
00:42:43
sleep anywhere apparently. Now I can
00:42:45
sleep anywhere but if I don't get 8
00:42:47
hours I get very tired and when I'm
00:42:51
tired I get grumpy. And yet people say
00:42:53
they never heard my dad speak a short
00:42:56
word to anybody.
00:42:57
>> Wow.
00:42:57
>> He never lost it. He never to tossed his
00:43:00
toys out of the cot.
00:43:01
>> How he managed to do that and when I'm
00:43:03
sort of thinking I think be more dad, be
00:43:06
more Bruce.
00:43:07
>> Um,
00:43:08
mom
00:43:10
managed to sort of smile at everybody
00:43:13
and carry on. And sometimes you see her
00:43:16
gritting her teeth and I think, you
00:43:18
know, I'm sure sometimes people can see
00:43:20
me grit my teeth. Um, but I think they
00:43:24
were both people people. And while I'm
00:43:27
an introvert by nature, when I have to
00:43:31
be sort of out there, um, I'm sort of a
00:43:35
combination of Bruce and Patty. And I I
00:43:36
draw on that sort of strength to be able
00:43:39
to do things maybe you don't necessarily
00:43:42
choose to do um or want to be doing at
00:43:44
that moment but that I mean McLaren and
00:43:50
mom's maiden name was broad um that
00:43:53
spirit and just yeah you know mom bought
00:43:58
me up with manners and with you know be
00:44:02
nice to people and I think that's a very
00:44:05
good lesson for kid.
00:44:06
>> Um,
00:44:08
>> and so I I'm grateful to both of them
00:44:11
for what it was they they did.
00:44:14
>> Was it hard for you growing up without a
00:44:16
father?
00:44:18
>> I think for quite a while because
00:44:22
it was a gradual realization in that
00:44:25
sense. No.
00:44:27
um in that mom had a
00:44:31
lot of male friends and and not taking
00:44:34
this the wrong way at my age. Everybody
00:44:37
who was older than me was either aunt or
00:44:39
uncle. So, I had a number of uncles that
00:44:42
that were very good to me and sort of
00:44:44
did, you know, one put me on the back of
00:44:47
his motorbike and and would do that sort
00:44:49
of a thing and and and [snorts]
00:44:51
um and then my mother had a long-term
00:44:53
steady boyfriend for a long time who I
00:44:55
grew up who really was quite a father
00:44:57
figure to me. And then she remarried
00:45:00
when I was 15. And Douglas, my
00:45:03
stepfather, um for a man who hadn't had
00:45:06
any children and kind of took on me at
00:45:10
the age of 15, um he did incredibly well
00:45:14
and over the years our relationship grew
00:45:16
stronger and stronger. Um which is why
00:45:19
Steven and I decided we would stay in
00:45:21
the UK while he was still alive. Um
00:45:25
and so that there were good strong male
00:45:28
figures in my life as I grew up which I
00:45:30
think certainly helped.
00:45:32
>> Yeah. Filled the void a bit.
00:45:33
>> It well it did. But I also think you
00:45:35
know growing up without a parent
00:45:39
and especially because of a a traumatic
00:45:42
death that seriously affected the um the
00:45:47
remaining spouse obviously has an effect
00:45:49
on a child. And I think over the years,
00:45:51
sort of looking back at the personality,
00:45:54
maybe I developed um as a shield to some
00:45:58
of my mother's trauma that I wasn't
00:46:02
aware of. Um I've done a lot of reading
00:46:04
about fatherless children and also mom
00:46:08
tried her best, but sometimes was quite
00:46:11
emotionally absent and that certainly
00:46:14
has effect on children
00:46:15
>> for sure.
00:46:17
>> Can you remember? Yeah. Can you remember
00:46:20
your mom telling you about how your
00:46:22
father passed away? Like what age you
00:46:23
were or was it something that just sort
00:46:24
of gradually said?
00:46:26
>> She never really did. She spoke about
00:46:28
the accident, but that was sort of in
00:46:30
general terms never about how your
00:46:33
father died.
00:46:34
>> So I was never actually told. What I
00:46:35
what I did learn was through books and
00:46:38
film.
00:46:38
>> So you just sort of slowly pieced it
00:46:40
together as you were old enough to
00:46:42
absorb the information.
00:46:43
>> Yes. Yes. M
00:46:44
>> which I think you know which is better
00:46:47
or worse I can't say because I was never
00:46:50
told directly. There was never that
00:46:53
sharp emotional shock. But sort of layer
00:46:56
upon layer perhaps sort of grew upon me
00:46:59
over the years. But what happened
00:47:01
happened and and I've come out
00:47:04
reasonably okay the other end.
00:47:05
>> Well, it's just how how parenting was at
00:47:07
the time. It was very secretive. E like
00:47:09
>> it was very very different. you know,
00:47:10
children should be seen and not heard.
00:47:12
And and you know, it took me
00:47:14
>> 25 years to learn to talk to somebody
00:47:16
older than myself because it just wasn't
00:47:18
how it was back then. And and you know,
00:47:21
children didn't go to dinners. They
00:47:23
didn't go to funerals. They didn't go to
00:47:26
adult things. And that was the time they
00:47:29
were the age they were um when they had
00:47:32
me and and how they'd been brought up.
00:47:35
And so, you know, I don't blame my mom
00:47:38
for the way she did it. She did the best
00:47:40
she could.
00:47:41
>> You know, yes, with hindsight, some of
00:47:44
it was definitely lacking,
00:47:46
>> but that was she didn't have a good role
00:47:48
model as she grew up. Her mother had
00:47:50
died when she was very young, and she
00:47:52
didn't particularly get on with her
00:47:54
stepmother, and so, you know, she did
00:47:56
the best she could with the tools she
00:47:58
had
00:47:59
>> and um Yeah.
00:48:01
>> Yeah. So, just how parenting was at the
00:48:03
time, even with ad adoptions back then,
00:48:05
it was all closed and shroud and sort of
00:48:07
secretive. It was just how it was. What
00:48:09
What kind of stories did your mom or
00:48:11
others share about Bruce as a husband
00:48:12
and a father and a man as you were
00:48:14
growing up?
00:48:15
>> Well, I look back at the pictures of me
00:48:17
and a lot of them with with them with
00:48:19
him. A lot of them are quite staged in
00:48:22
that they were often promotional shots.
00:48:24
He was at home. They wanted the family
00:48:26
photos, but he's playing with me on
00:48:30
this. We had a little swing slide set at
00:48:32
home in the garden at Murray and he's
00:48:34
out there with me and he's always just
00:48:36
got this beaming smile on his face and
00:48:38
he's really engaging with me. And then
00:48:40
there's other pictures of me sitting on
00:48:42
a tree stump in in a big park outside of
00:48:45
London where we used to go because I
00:48:47
love anything with four legs. I say it's
00:48:49
got to have four legs or four wheels.
00:48:51
[laughter]
00:48:52
And there were deer in this park and
00:48:54
there were horses and and one of my
00:48:57
first words apparently was pony. and I
00:48:59
never grew out of of of loving ponies
00:49:01
and horses. Um, and he'd take me there
00:49:03
and just that
00:49:05
just the look on his face when he's
00:49:07
interacting with me. I think he was a
00:49:09
really doting father and he just loved
00:49:11
spending time with me when he could. And
00:49:14
people say what a lovely man he was.
00:49:18
>> The afternoon he was killed, everybody
00:49:21
who was at the factory was told to take
00:49:24
that day and the following day off as a
00:49:26
mark of respect for him. and they all
00:49:28
defied orders and went back in. They
00:49:31
said, "Bruce wouldn't expect us to take
00:49:33
the day off. We want to build cars and
00:49:35
win races just as he was wanting to do
00:49:38
and we all back here for Bruce." And
00:49:41
there are still some alive today who
00:49:43
worked with him. And they say, "We
00:49:45
didn't actually work for Bruce, we
00:49:47
worked with Bruce."
00:49:50
And
00:49:52
Hen Gandley, New Zealander, who was one
00:49:54
of dad's early mechanics, great family
00:49:56
friend, said, "You know, if Bruce had
00:49:58
asked us to down our tools and go out to
00:50:00
the desert to build a brick wall, we all
00:50:02
would have done that. No question
00:50:04
asked." He had this innate ability to
00:50:06
inspire people and be a great leader.
00:50:08
And I I mean, I did a master of nursing
00:50:11
leadership. um learned some tools and
00:50:14
things like that through that course,
00:50:16
but he did it without any formal
00:50:18
instruction or or
00:50:21
people telling him what to do. It was
00:50:24
just an incredible ability he had. And I
00:50:26
think that's sort of the the person as I
00:50:29
grew up. I wish I'd known him better
00:50:32
>> and and learned some more of those
00:50:33
skills and traits from him
00:50:35
>> for sure. Do you remember um what age
00:50:38
you were when you realized your dad was
00:50:40
this, you know, special larger than life
00:50:42
character, not just dad, [laughter] like
00:50:44
your dad was like a VIP?
00:50:46
>> And I do. And the reason I'm laughing,
00:50:48
so as I growing up, we used to go to the
00:50:52
British Grand Prix and I'll be honest, I
00:50:55
would run around the pits pretending to
00:50:57
be pony jumping over piles of tires. I
00:50:59
mean that would not happen today because
00:51:01
one you just can't get out to the into
00:51:03
the pits and two it's far too dangerous
00:51:05
for kids to be doing that sort of thing.
00:51:07
But [laughter] that is what I did
00:51:09
>> and really you know there's a few
00:51:10
pictures of me with sort of Emerson
00:51:13
Feraldi and various drivers but 1976
00:51:16
comes along and
00:51:19
a driver called James Hunt signs for
00:51:21
McLaren and James Hunt's quite the pinup
00:51:25
boy. James Hunt's really rather gorgeous
00:51:27
and a lot of young women had him on
00:51:30
their bedroom wall as their pinup. Not
00:51:32
because he was a racing driver, just
00:51:34
because he was really rather
00:51:36
good-looking.
00:51:38
And so I go to the British Grand Prix in
00:51:40
1976 and I get to meet James and big
00:51:44
wide eyes and like wow. Um,
00:51:46
>> so how old are you at the time?
00:51:47
>> So I'm 10.
00:51:48
>> Yeah. So I go back to school the
00:51:50
following morning and we're doing the
00:51:53
what did you do over the weekend and I
00:51:56
tell you if you want to go to zero from
00:51:58
zero to hero in the popularity stakes
00:52:00
you know if anyone met Oscar Orlando
00:52:02
over the weekend and they're 10 years
00:52:04
old and they go back to school and they
00:52:05
tell their classmates similar sort of
00:52:07
thing all these girls turn and pivot and
00:52:12
look at me and say you did what? And I
00:52:15
said, "I met James."
00:52:17
And they said, "Because up, you was
00:52:20
Amanda. They were Susan and Tina and
00:52:23
Natasha and Sally." And again, we did.
00:52:26
We just ignored each other's surnames
00:52:27
cuz they weren't important.
00:52:29
And so they're like, "Well, how did you
00:52:31
get to meet James Hunt?" And I sort of
00:52:34
drew myself up really proudly and said,
00:52:36
"Well, he drives for the team that my
00:52:39
father founded." And so they look at me
00:52:41
and they started asking me questions and
00:52:43
I couldn't answer any of the questions.
00:52:45
Oh well your dad came from New Zealand.
00:52:47
When did he found the team? No idea. So
00:52:50
I went home
00:52:52
and I thought mom gets motoring news
00:52:54
every week. She gets motorsport. She
00:52:57
gets these magazines. She and I kind of
00:52:59
had a look at them but I wasn't
00:53:00
particularly interested. And then I had
00:53:03
a look at all the books in her
00:53:05
bookshelf. They had big trophy cabinet
00:53:07
and bookshelf underneath that had been
00:53:09
made. And I'm like,
00:53:12
Denny Holm, but that's the man's who
00:53:16
bonfire night thing we went to. And
00:53:18
Chris and and and Jackie Stewart and
00:53:21
Graeme Hill and Jack Brabam and these
00:53:23
are all mom's friends. So I'm like, so I
00:53:27
start reading and I start asking a few
00:53:29
questions and and then I start keeping a
00:53:31
big scrapbook and I wish I had it. I I
00:53:34
don't know what happened to it. of the
00:53:36
rest of the season between 1976, James
00:53:38
Hunt, Nikki Lauder, McLaren versus
00:53:40
Ferrari, the good old rivalry. Um, and
00:53:43
it was really from then on that I
00:53:47
started reading and following Formula 1,
00:53:50
following the M McLaren team. And it was
00:53:55
a real Yeah. penny drop, light bulb
00:53:57
moment. Um, my school friends asking me
00:54:00
about James.
00:54:02
Oh,
00:54:02
>> that's so cute. [laughter] That's the
00:54:04
greatest story ever. How cool. Um I've
00:54:08
heard um in what I've read about your
00:54:10
dad, he's been described as like humble
00:54:11
and brilliant. Um yeah. How did how did
00:54:14
your mom and family describe him to you?
00:54:18
>> Similar, I think. I mean,
00:54:21
everybody says he was just the nicest
00:54:23
person. Um,
00:54:26
you know, he just was innately nice,
00:54:31
which I think is is a fantab fabulous
00:54:34
thing for a child to have in a father.
00:54:37
Um,
00:54:39
and it it it still continues on to this
00:54:42
day. You know, you've got men who
00:54:47
went through the war, the Blitz, went
00:54:51
through seeing people killed regularly
00:54:54
in motor racing. And yet they all and
00:54:58
and and boys don't cry. The stiff upper
00:55:00
lip, especially for the British um and
00:55:02
and talk about sort of, you know,
00:55:04
parental upbringing in generations, boys
00:55:07
do not show tears. um especially from
00:55:09
that that um generation, they all cry
00:55:12
when they talk about June 2nd, 1970. My
00:55:14
dad had such an effect on them and his
00:55:17
death still does
00:55:19
>> and and so you just think gosh and and
00:55:21
you try to
00:55:23
nail it down what exactly it was and
00:55:26
they're lost for words.
00:55:27
>> They can't explain
00:55:30
what it is that actually
00:55:33
had that huge effect, but he did. And so
00:55:36
again to see that and just think, you
00:55:38
know, he must have been incredible. Not
00:55:40
just what he did on paper or on the
00:55:42
circuit or forming the team, but the man
00:55:45
he was underneath that.
00:55:48
>> Yeah. Knowing that, does that make it
00:55:49
even more bittersweet for you growing up
00:55:51
without him? You knowing that he was
00:55:53
such a nice man?
00:55:54
>> I I think it does. I mean, you know, had
00:55:57
everyone said, "Oh, he's a grumpy old so
00:55:58
and so." And you probably [laughter]
00:56:00
it would have been maybe easier,
00:56:02
>> but you know, you can't undo what
00:56:04
happened.
00:56:05
>> No. Um, no point looking back. The
00:56:08
legacy lives on. You know, I'm really
00:56:10
proud to sort of be a part of that, to
00:56:12
see McLaren still out there, you know,
00:56:14
backto-back constructive champions last
00:56:16
year and this year.
00:56:17
>> Um, so, you know, if we can't have dad,
00:56:20
we've got the second best thing.
00:56:23
>> Yeah. And you you your mom did an
00:56:25
incredible job and now you're doing an
00:56:26
incredible job. Um, yeah. Keeping this
00:56:28
name alive, which I think it's really
00:56:30
cool. So, not just the name on the car,
00:56:32
but the Yeah, the Bruce part as well.
00:56:34
Well, my husband and I are two of the
00:56:36
four trustees of the Bruce McLaren Trust
00:56:38
here in New Zealand. Um, it is a New
00:56:42
Zealand based charity with the aim of
00:56:44
perpetuating the legacy and the history
00:56:47
of dad. We are supporting two
00:56:50
scholarships for students from the
00:56:52
faculty of engineering at Oakland
00:56:55
University. When my father started his
00:56:57
undergrad degree, he never actually
00:56:59
finished it, but he started it. Um and
00:57:02
they the students go to the UK every
00:57:06
year, one to McLaren Automotive, one to
00:57:07
McLaren Racing. Um we also support their
00:57:10
Formula SAE team and the launch of their
00:57:13
2025 26 car is tonight. So we're going
00:57:16
to that um and also the Bruce Mlan
00:57:18
Intermediate School in Henderson. Um and
00:57:21
it's a low desile school, but we would
00:57:24
like to offer children there some
00:57:26
opportunities that maybe they wouldn't
00:57:28
have had before. So again, students from
00:57:30
their STEM program, go to the University
00:57:33
of Oakland and have a look and see what
00:57:34
it is they do over there.
00:57:37
>> So that that's wonderful for us and and
00:57:39
despite the fact that dad didn't finish
00:57:41
his undergrad degree, um the university,
00:57:44
not last year, the year before, sorry,
00:57:47
2023,
00:57:49
awarded dad its first postumous honorary
00:57:52
doctorate and I accepted the award on
00:57:55
his behalf. And so our links with the
00:57:57
university and and what they're doing
00:57:59
over there, they're working on an
00:58:01
exciting new project which unfortunately
00:58:03
I'm not able to um give any more
00:58:05
information about yet, but something
00:58:08
that will have dad's name attached to
00:58:10
it, which is just going to be fantastic.
00:58:13
And so we're actively sort of promoting
00:58:15
that at the moment. And that the trust
00:58:18
is is
00:58:20
doing more work with McLaren UK. Zack
00:58:24
Brown, CEO of Racing, is one of our
00:58:26
patrons. And so, just making that that
00:58:30
history and and and legacy stronger. As
00:58:33
you mentioned earlier, not everybody
00:58:35
knows that Bruce was a Kiwi boy from
00:58:38
Remya. Um, so we're trying to sort of
00:58:42
address that more with our social media
00:58:43
presence and we put out a newsletter.
00:58:46
Um, and so yeah, McLaren are are doing
00:58:51
great and it's wonderful to be a part of
00:58:54
that story
00:58:56
>> for sure. Well, you're the perfect
00:58:57
You're the only person that can do it.
00:58:59
[laughter]
00:58:59
It's on you.
00:59:01
>> Other people could do it, but they just
00:59:03
wouldn't be able to say they were the
00:59:04
daughter. But, you know, yeah. Yeah. I
00:59:06
mean, in the future, you know, I'm not
00:59:08
going to be here forever that the trust
00:59:10
will hopefully live on. We'll have new
00:59:12
trustees coming on board. But what we're
00:59:14
trying to do is put in place things that
00:59:17
will just continue fairly easily like
00:59:19
the scholarships and so on. Um and
00:59:22
Longman McLaren Automotive and Racing
00:59:24
last for sure. If
00:59:25
>> if Bruce McLaren was here today, how do
00:59:27
you think he'd feel about the team, the
00:59:28
brand, and yeah, just the the state of
00:59:31
F1 and motorsport in general?
00:59:34
>> I think firstly, he'd be so proud that
00:59:37
the team has continued on in in motor
00:59:40
racing. As I said earlier, second oldest
00:59:42
Formula 1 team in the history of the
00:59:44
sport.
00:59:44
>> You know, they could have had a name
00:59:46
change over the years for a while there.
00:59:48
There was a single owner of the team who
00:59:51
could have named it after himself, but
00:59:53
didn't um and be doing road cars now as
00:59:56
well. You know, that was the next big
00:59:58
plan for Bruce McLaren Motor Racing had
01:00:00
he not been killed. Road cars. So,
01:00:03
automotive are doing what he was would
01:00:05
be wanting to do. Um Formula 1. I think
01:00:09
my dad was very much an innovator.
01:00:12
Created first nostrils on a a Formula 1
01:00:15
car.
01:00:16
>> They use now widely across the sport.
01:00:20
>> Wanted to use something lighter and
01:00:22
stronger to build the cars off. So took
01:00:24
Malite from the aerospace industry. Now
01:00:26
they're using carbon fiber. Um
01:00:30
he would love the technology. He'd be
01:00:33
amazed by, I think, the the progress and
01:00:36
and how quick things have changed, the
01:00:39
access to new materials, so things like
01:00:41
3D printing. Um, but he would just be so
01:00:45
immersed in it and just looking for the
01:00:49
next best thing that would enable him to
01:00:52
build lighter, quicker, stronger racing
01:00:54
cars and road cars.
01:00:56
>> Do you reckon he'd be a fan of Drive to
01:00:58
Survive? Are you a fan of Drive to
01:00:59
Survive? [laughter]
01:01:01
I mean, it's a little bit contrived and
01:01:03
and and and they did, you know, who's
01:01:05
the goodie, who's the baddie, but I
01:01:08
think it has been absolutely brilliant
01:01:10
for the sport. Yes.
01:01:12
>> In terms of getting young fans and
01:01:14
especially young females interested.
01:01:18
We've met so many women
01:01:20
>> who are now following Formula 1 because
01:01:22
of that series. I think it's done an
01:01:24
absolutely brilliant job.
01:01:26
>> What about um the F1 movie? I I had Greg
01:01:29
Murphy on the the podcast recently and
01:01:31
he refuses to watch it. He said, "No,
01:01:33
I'm not watching the Brad Pit movie.
01:01:34
It's ridiculous."
01:01:36
[laughter]
01:01:37
>> I I'll be honest, I went with a degree
01:01:39
of skepticism.
01:01:41
You know, how can you have this sort of
01:01:43
50some year old Formula 1 driver?
01:01:46
However, I came away quite impressed.
01:01:48
One, Brad's not bad for an old guy.
01:01:51
[laughter]
01:01:51
and two
01:01:53
>> um they do
01:01:56
>> make a joke about the age of him in the
01:01:59
movie, you know, how can you be a
01:02:01
Formula 1 driver at your age sort of
01:02:02
thing. So, they address it really quite
01:02:04
well. And I have to say some of the
01:02:06
racing scenes are spectacular. The
01:02:09
seamlessness between the real thing and
01:02:13
Brad and and his co-driver and what
01:02:17
wasn't real, you can't tell. And I
01:02:21
actually think again in terms of fan
01:02:23
engagements and just a a little bit of
01:02:25
what's behind the scene. I mean, yes, it
01:02:27
was probably a little bit sort of more
01:02:29
contrived than in real life. However, um
01:02:33
I really enjoyed it. I really enjoyed
01:02:35
it. So, Greg, I mean, he's one of our
01:02:36
patrons, too. Um go watch the movie if
01:02:39
you're listening to this. He's probably
01:02:40
not. He's doing his thing. But, um it
01:02:42
it's worth seeing it. It It's a bit of
01:02:44
fun, and it is a Hollywood. It's not a
01:02:46
documentary. And it's the same with Ford
01:02:48
versus Ferrari. You know, it was a
01:02:50
Hollywood. It's not a documentary. So,
01:02:54
you know, the the
01:02:56
>> differences are there. Um, and on that
01:02:58
note, we are actually going to make a
01:02:59
Hollywood about my my father. I'm
01:03:01
working with a company who are doing
01:03:02
that. But, um, we're going to make sure
01:03:05
it's not quite so contrived. What we're
01:03:07
going to do is explore the relationship
01:03:09
between my father and Teddy May, who was
01:03:12
his business partner. Um, two very, very
01:03:15
different characters, but one of the
01:03:18
greatest pairings in Formula 1 history
01:03:21
to create Bruce McLaren Motor Racing and
01:03:23
and what it became. And so, um, yeah.
01:03:27
Yeah. Hollywood films, I mean, Hollywood
01:03:29
and inverted commas, but they're not
01:03:31
always bad.
01:03:32
>> No, no. Well, there's a bit of creative
01:03:34
license, isn't there?
01:03:35
>> Absolutely. Absolutely.
01:03:36
>> Wow. Who's going to play your dad?
01:03:38
>> Absolutely. We're not quite at that
01:03:40
point yet. And the interesting thing is,
01:03:42
you know, it's got to be a fairly young
01:03:44
actor because, as you say, he was in his
01:03:46
20s when it all happened.
01:03:48
>> So, um, yeah, we're not quite at that
01:03:51
stage yet.
01:03:52
>> Yeah. Um, yeah. Another guest I've had
01:03:54
on the podcast, Sir Peter Beck. Um, do
01:03:56
you know who Sir Peter Beck is from?
01:03:58
Started a company called Rocket Lab.
01:04:01
>> Rocket Lab. Yeah.
01:04:02
>> There's actually, yeah, there's I mean,
01:04:03
completely different sort of um things,
01:04:05
but I can see parallels between them.
01:04:07
like Sir Peter Beck, kid from Invagle,
01:04:10
never went to university, couldn't get a
01:04:11
job at NASA, so thought he'd build
01:04:12
rockets himself. Just in terms of the um
01:04:14
the innovation perspective and punching
01:04:17
above your weight, there's um definite
01:04:18
parallels between um Sir Peter and your
01:04:20
dad.
01:04:21
>> Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, I mean in
01:04:22
terms of almost everything, New Zealand
01:04:24
punches way above its weight,
01:04:26
>> whether it be in the arts or sport or
01:04:28
[gasps]
01:04:28
>> but I think a lot of that comes from the
01:04:30
fact that back in in the days of of Spa
01:04:34
and my dad,
01:04:35
>> if you wanted to do something, you kind
01:04:38
of had to do it yourself.
01:04:39
>> You couldn't get it on Amazon or eBay or
01:04:43
the internet or get on YouTube and kind
01:04:45
of see how to do it.
01:04:47
>> Um and and that made Kiwis very
01:04:51
ingenious. M
01:04:52
>> and and you know the number eight piece
01:04:54
of number eight fencing wire mentality
01:04:56
but you know that that real
01:04:58
entrepreneurial sort of spirit and that
01:05:00
again is something the university's
01:05:02
going to be working closely on um with
01:05:06
this project that that we're involved
01:05:08
with and and just creating leaders for
01:05:11
the future um with that that Bruce Kiwi
01:05:14
spirit.
01:05:16
>> Yeah. As um the trustee, what project
01:05:18
has meant meant the most to you
01:05:20
personally?
01:05:22
Is there a standout?
01:05:23
>> Um, probably getting the the university
01:05:26
students to McLaren racing. Um,
01:05:30
automotive had had been set up when we
01:05:33
were still in the UK and and was
01:05:35
happening, but um I think racing saw
01:05:39
the benefit to automotive
01:05:42
and the trust wasn't um supporting the
01:05:45
the scholarship at that point. But for a
01:05:49
young student to have the ability to go
01:05:51
over and and for a long time, I think
01:05:54
everybody thought it would be a one-way
01:05:56
street from racing or automotive to the
01:05:58
student, but no. One of the last
01:06:01
students that went over working with
01:06:02
racing, they were talking about a
01:06:04
problem that they had. And this student
01:06:07
said, "I think I can help you with
01:06:09
that." And he came up with a solution.
01:06:11
>> And racing were just absolutely blown
01:06:14
away by the the creative thinking. And I
01:06:16
think that's the thing with young
01:06:17
children these days or young children,
01:06:19
young students, um the ability to not be
01:06:23
constrained by sort of the ideas and the
01:06:25
the the environment that they've been
01:06:26
in. They think outside the square, way
01:06:29
outside the square, and come up with all
01:06:30
these ideas. And for the trust now to be
01:06:35
supporting that with the New Zealand UK
01:06:38
Link Foundation, um is I think a
01:06:42
wonderful thing for us to be doing with
01:06:44
dad's name attached to it. Um and and
01:06:47
it's just such a a wonderful
01:06:49
relationship and a number of the
01:06:50
students who went over with the
01:06:53
internship are now working for racing or
01:06:56
for automotive andor some of the other
01:06:59
Formula 1 teams or other similar type
01:07:02
industries. Um so they're really having
01:07:04
a wonderful experience and that they're
01:07:08
all so thrilled to get the the
01:07:11
internship. We've met a lot of young
01:07:14
students who were looking at other
01:07:15
universities around New Zealand and said
01:07:19
can we have it at Wo and we're like
01:07:21
sorry this is the University of Oakland
01:07:23
because it's dad's alma m but um they
01:07:28
choose to come to Aland
01:07:30
>> and the school of engineering for that
01:07:32
reason so that they're eligible to apply
01:07:34
for the internship. M obviously you you
01:07:37
feel a huge sense of pride when you see
01:07:39
um your name and your family name on on
01:07:42
cars or you see glimpse of of it in the
01:07:44
F1 movie or whatever it happens to be.
01:07:46
But do you ever um are there ever
01:07:48
moments where you sort of feel his
01:07:50
presence? Do you think?
01:07:52
Um, [snorts]
01:07:57
I'd like to
01:08:02
I I think
01:08:05
I I don't know. It's there's a hard
01:08:07
question. Um, and it sometimes, you
01:08:10
know, he's all around because you walk
01:08:13
into McLaren Pits and there's a huge
01:08:14
photo of him and you walk into the
01:08:16
paddock and there's a huge photo of him.
01:08:18
So, he is kind of there. So whether it's
01:08:21
through the pictures or just the name or
01:08:23
the feeling or I don't know but I I
01:08:27
would like to think he is there sort of
01:08:29
supporting everybody and giving them a
01:08:31
little push sometimes and yeah. Yeah.
01:08:34
Interesting question.
01:08:35
>> Thanks for that answer. That's such an
01:08:36
honest answer cuz I think anyone that's
01:08:38
lost a loved one um you you'd like to
01:08:41
you'd like to think there's something
01:08:43
>> but maybe there just isn't. You know
01:08:44
it's maybe it's just the memory.
01:08:46
>> Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I I don't I'm not
01:08:50
religious.
01:08:51
>> Um,
01:08:53
however, I know a lot of people do
01:08:56
believe that
01:08:58
spirits live on. I don't know. Um,
01:09:04
but in terms of just sort of carrying
01:09:07
forward
01:09:09
the DNA of mom and dad and and their
01:09:12
moms and dads and and their grandparents
01:09:14
and I think that there's a little bit of
01:09:16
everybody in us.
01:09:19
>> Um,
01:09:20
so in that sense sort of I feel there's
01:09:22
a bit of dad with me. So he's kind of
01:09:25
with us all the time. But um, yeah, it's
01:09:29
it's
01:09:31
It's something I I really don't know the
01:09:33
answer to.
01:09:34
>> What's been your proudest moment as his
01:09:35
daughter?
01:09:37
>> Oh my goodness. Um,
01:09:45
proudest moment.
01:09:55
I I think in terms of
01:09:59
receiving something on his behalf or him
01:10:02
being acknowledged, the honorary
01:10:04
doctorate would be up there [snorts]
01:10:06
>> in that he was recognized
01:10:11
as an engineer. Most people think of him
01:10:13
as a racing driver or the founder of the
01:10:15
team, but for the university to
01:10:17
recognize his contribution to
01:10:18
engineering, I think was was wonderful.
01:10:22
and for it to be the first honorary
01:10:24
doctorate. Until that point, the
01:10:26
university had never rewarded an
01:10:28
honorary drug doctorate. And they
01:10:30
changed the rules um for dad to be able
01:10:34
to receive that. So what they did and
01:10:38
how special they must have thought dad
01:10:40
was to be deserving of it was incredibly
01:10:46
heartwarming. Um and we had a wonderful
01:10:48
ceremony and they gave me that. So that
01:10:50
that's probably be one of my proudest
01:10:52
moments.
01:10:52
>> And when people think of Bruce McLaren,
01:10:54
what's the one thing you hope they
01:10:55
remember most?
01:11:00
>> I think everybody will remember
01:11:01
something different,
01:11:04
>> but I think the people that knew him
01:11:06
actually really knew him remember the
01:11:08
great person he was and the lovely
01:11:10
person he was. And they tell me stories
01:11:12
of, you know, dad paid for one of his
01:11:14
mechanics to go on honeymoon in Fiji.
01:11:17
Team was doing well and he had the money
01:11:18
and they didn't. So he he paid for that.
01:11:21
Um just a a lovely, generous,
01:11:23
kind-spirited sort of man. Others
01:11:25
remember him as a
01:11:28
creating the race team and and how
01:11:30
fantastic that was
01:11:32
winning Can-Am, you know, the the the
01:11:36
five championships back to back, being
01:11:38
so dominant, creating the cars that
01:11:40
achieved that. Um, so different people
01:11:43
remember him for different reasons,
01:11:45
>> but yeah, I I I like to think the people
01:11:47
that really knew him remember him for
01:11:49
the sort of person he was.
01:11:52
>> Yeah, that's so special. And what about
01:11:53
you? When people think of Amanda
01:11:55
McLaren, what do you want your legacy to
01:11:57
[laughter] be?
01:11:58
>> What they think of me is is probably
01:12:00
something different.
01:12:04
>> I mean, I think that that's twofold. Um,
01:12:07
I mean, I was a registered nurse and you
01:12:11
know, at times you're there at a really
01:12:13
low point in somebody's life and if I
01:12:17
made a difference for some people in
01:12:20
that part of my life through that
01:12:22
journey as a nurse, then that is
01:12:24
incredibly special. Mhm.
01:12:26
>> Um, completely different life now as
01:12:30
honorary brand ambassador and trustee
01:12:33
and sort of perpetuating dad's legacy.
01:12:37
But I think the things that the trust
01:12:39
has set up and that's not just me,
01:12:40
that's my husband and our other two
01:12:42
trustees, Michael Clark and Warick
01:12:44
Mortimer. Um, but the things we've been
01:12:47
able to do, I think a a great part of my
01:12:51
dad's legacy and and so to be a a
01:12:53
quarter of that. um has been incredibly
01:12:57
special. So, it it depends what part of
01:13:00
my life um we're talking about.
01:13:03
>> Your dad never got to know the the woman
01:13:05
that's sitting in front of me today, but
01:13:07
yeah, what do you think he'd make of
01:13:08
her?
01:13:10
>> I hope he'd be proud.
01:13:11
>> Um you know, I I I try to live by the
01:13:16
four agreements. Um you know, and and
01:13:19
one of them is just do your best. Mhm.
01:13:21
>> And
01:13:24
sometimes it's not as good as it could
01:13:26
be because I'm tired or I'm not feeling
01:13:28
well or but always just do your best. Be
01:13:32
nice to people. You know, you sit in a
01:13:36
restaurant or you sit on the plane and
01:13:38
you hear some people being really rude
01:13:41
to the staff and you know, people say,
01:13:44
you know, the measure of a man is how he
01:13:46
speaks to the waiting staff. And it's
01:13:48
like, yeah. Um,
01:13:51
and so I I I think, you know, I'd like
01:13:53
to think dad would pat me on the
01:13:54
shoulder and say, you know, good job.
01:13:57
>> Yeah.
01:13:58
>> Yeah.
01:14:00
>> That's nice. I think that's a good place
01:14:02
to end it. Oh, one more thing. If you're
01:14:04
watching um Yeah. F1 on TV and no one
01:14:07
else is around, do you ever like root
01:14:08
for Liam Lawson? [laughter]
01:14:11
>> He doesn't drive for McLaren. Um
01:14:13
>> I know. I mean,
01:14:14
>> but you're a Kiwi.
01:14:15
>> I'm a Kiwi. I mean what I said before
01:14:18
this weekend was that McLaren first and
01:14:20
second so we absolutely clinch the
01:14:22
championship and Liam can be third.
01:14:24
[laughter] Um you know once the the
01:14:26
driver championship is sorted at McLaren
01:14:29
um you know maybe Liam can be second you
01:14:32
know it is lovely to see a Kiwi driving
01:14:34
in Formula 1 again. Um and so yeah I I
01:14:39
wish Liam all the best and and for his
01:14:41
future career um whatever happens next
01:14:44
year. But it is lovely to see a Kiwi out
01:14:46
there.
01:14:46
>> Yeah. Well, Amanda McLaren, thank you so
01:14:48
much for coming in and being on my
01:14:49
podcast today. I really appreciate it.
01:14:51
It's been really nice to meet you and
01:14:53
really nice to um yeah, get these uh
01:14:55
little insights and learn more about um
01:14:57
your dad and the amazing um your man
01:15:00
that he was.
01:15:01
>> Well, it's been fantastic, Dom, and
01:15:02
thank you for having me here. I've
01:15:03
really enjoyed talking with you.