Bruce McLaren was born in 1937 in Auckland, New Zealand and in 1963 founded Bruce McLaren Motor Racing in order to develop and race sports cars alongside his commitment as lead driver in the Cooper Grand Prix team. He had arrived in the UK in 1958 with the ‘Driver to Europe’ scheme that was designed to encourage antipodean drivers to compete with the cream of the world’s drivers.  His mentor was Jack Brabham who introduced Bruce to Cooper Cars, the small Surbiton (London)-based team who were poised to create a revolution with compact, lightweight Grand Prix cars powered by an engine behind the driver.  Following an auspicious start to his F2 career in 1958 he joined the F1 team for 1959 and stayed with Cooper for seven years. Rent McLaren New York today!