Off the blocks

The McLaren M23 Emerson Fittipaldi drove to victory in the 1974 Canadian Grand Prix will race in Europe for the first time in 29 years during the Monaco Historic GP in May.

Chassis 8, which has spent most of the past 25 years in America, has now been rebuilt by Simon Hadfield for new owner Joaquin Folch. After Fittipaldi’s 1974 victory, the car was upgraded for ’75 when Jochen Mass won the shortened Spanish GP at Montjuich Park. Coincidentally, the car’s new owner lives within sight of Montjuich Park in Barcelona.

A major accident at the Nürburgring with Mass at the wheel ended the car’s grand prix career, and M23/8 was rebuilt as a show car and later sold to America. “It is an incredibly original car,” explained Hadfield. “It has an original McLaren Cosworth DFV and Hewland gearbox.”