Alain de Cadenet raced a wide variety of machines from the second half of the 1960s, including a Ferrari Dino and Porsche 908. He not only drove himself but also regularly fielded cars for others, included the talented Chris Craft. To compete in the 1970 season, he commissioned the unique DFV-engined McLaren M8C. Built around the first chassis constructed, De Cadenet's M8C was slightly different compared to the Can-Am specification cars built later in the year. Like many of the DFV engined sports cars, the Ecurie Evergreen M8C was not often reliable but certainly very quick. It did win in the Swedish Grand Prix at Karlskoga with Craft behind the wheel. Following the 1971 Buenos Aires 1000 km, it was sold to Argentinian, who raced it with a small-block V8. Following a sojourn in North America, the unique McLaren M8C Cosworth is back in Europe and was raced this year at two CER events by the current owner.
For the 1971 season, De Cadenet campaigned a year-old Brabham for Craft in Formula 1 but for 1972 set his sights back on sports cars. He asked a very young Brabham engineer, one Gordon Murray, to build him a new DFV engined sports car using the the Brabham's suspension and other salvageable parts. The result was this Duckhams LM Cosworth, which was named after De Cadenet's primary backer. This striking and again unique machine was campaigned by Craft, often joined by De Cadenet for the better part of three seasons. It was raced at Le Mans three times but, sadly, with little success. Later in the decade, the chassis was fitted with a VW Beetle style body for British club racing. It has since been restored and as can be seen in our 41-shot gallery, it has regularly been raced in historic events.

Enjoy the links:

1970 McLaren M8C Cosworth - Images, Specifications and Information

1972 Duckhams LM Cosworth - Images, Specifications and Information