McLaren from the Inside: Photographs by Tyler Alexander - Hardcover

Tyler Alexander

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1935007181 ISBN 13: 9781935007180

Publisher: David Bull Publishing,U.S., 2013

Synopsis

As a founding member of the McLaren racing team, Tyler Alexander has seen motor racing up close for more than half a century. McLaren from the Inside collects the best of Alexander's behind-the-scenes photographs from two very different eras.

Part I covers the team's formative years in the 1960s, while Part II captures the high-tech, hypercompetitive atmosphere of today's Formula One scene. Along with such great drivers as Bruce McLaren, Denny Hulme, Kimi Raikkonen, and Jenson Button, Alexander's images also show the designers, engineers, and mechanics who have made McLaren such a successful motor racing team for so many years.

About this title

About the Author:

Born in Hingham, Massachusetts, in 1940, Tyler Alexander became interested in cars, and photography, during his teens. In 1964 Alexander became a founding member in Bruce McLaren Motor Racing as a mechanic. He soon became an essential element in the team's success, and was eventually named chieft engineer and a team director.He went on to lead McLaren's Indy Car program, which produced victories at the Indidanapolis 500 in 1974 and 1976.

Alexander left McLaren in 1982, and soon joined another founding member, Teddy Mayer, at his new Mayer Motor Racing Indy Car team. This led to the launch of Carl Haas's Formula One Race Car Engineering (FORCE) team, which Alexander helped manage before returning to Indy cars with Newman/Haas Racing in 1987.

In 1990 Alexander rejoined McLaren International as Special Projects Manager, serving in a variety of roles until his retirement in 2009. That year he received the first McLaren Fellowship, which recognizes individuals who have made notable contributions to the team. Alexander's photographs have appeared in exhibits and other books, and his autobiography is planned for release by David Bull Publishing in 2014. He lives in England.

Review:

As you can read in this issue, Tyler Alexander is one of the privileged few to have worked closely with Bruce McLaren. It turns out he is also a talented photographer, as this wondrous book proves.

Alexander's interest in taking pictures blossomed while growing up in Hingham, Massachusetts. By the time he was working in racing, the mechanic was clearly accomplished behind the lens.

Lovely shots include Carroll Shelby grinning in a Yamaha-sponsored kimono dressing gown beside Dan Gurney at Indy, and Mini van fitted with the spindly rear wing from an M8B Can-Am car. The team used the van to test wing shapes at 60 mph on the public road ... and downforce was measured with a set of bathroom scales. Fittingly, his shots of Bruce stand out the most. Our favourite is one of a moody McLaren behind a 'dreadful' Ford V8 his young team used in Formula 1 during 1966. You'd struggle to find a better image of the great man.

Alexander found less time for photography as the 1970s progressed, but returned to his hobby in his second stint with McLaren in the 1990s and 2000s. The results are less striking than his work in the earlier era, but some are still memorable. Ron Dennis lecturing a grim-faced Pierre Dupasquier of Michelin is fabulous, just like most of this book. --(Motorsport)

About this edition

• Publisher: David Bull Publishing,U.S.
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1935007181
• ISBN 13: 9781935007180
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 144