KEEPERS OF THE FLAME; Preserving the legacy of New Zealand's most famous racer.(Revs)(Obituary)

Byline: John L. Stein

In the busy little hamlet of Remuera, New Zealand, sits the filling station, apartment and garage of the late Bruce McLaren. The main drag, just two blocks long and boasting a single traffic light, is where the country's most famous race driver spent his early years and developed an interest in motorsports. Built in 1927 and still in substantially original condition today, the two-story structure at 590 Remuera Road now houses a working auto-repair business on the ground floor and the offices of the Bruce McLaren Trust above. Formed in 1997 by Bruce's younger sister Jan and a small board of directors, the nonprofit trust is committed to preserving the legacy of the pioneering race driver and engineer who died testing a McLaren M8D Can-Am car at Goodwood in 1970.

Although he was successful as a driver in both Formula One and Can-Am, McLaren's lasting impact came through his development of the Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Team, which produced race cars for both series, along with Indy cars and Formula 5000 racers. The McLaren name still thrives in F1 today.

The McLaren family garage and apartment was first leased by his father, Les McLaren, in 1935, with the family living above and a working garage paying the bills below. Young Bruce learned to drive an Austin 7 in an orchard behind the shop, and as he grew older and began competing, the garage became his first race shop.

"Bruce would weigh pistons on the butcher's scale across the road,'' Jan McLaren says, laughing. "Everything ended up on the street, and there are stories of him on all the roads around here. Can you imagine you're sitting at the lights at Ladies Mile, only to see a Maserati 8CLT Indy car, a huge beast of a thing, coming around the corner? The police would turn a blind eye in those days.''