c.1979 Marlboro McLaren M29 #4 Side Panel

The McLaren M29 was introduced in 1979 and competed in the 1979, 1980 and 1981 Grand Prix seasons.
Whilst the M29 wasn’t McLaren’s finest F1 car, it was from a fascinating period of the team’s history in which control of the organisation was wrested away from the old guard (Teddy Mayer and Tyler Alexander) and transferred to Ron Dennis of Project 4, ushering in the era of the all conquering, John Barnard-designed carbon monocoque McLaren MP4 cars.

Returning to the McLaren M29, these cars were driven – predominantly – by Alain Prost and John Watson. Four-time F1 World Champion, Alain Prost, made his F1 debut in an M29, at the Argentinian Grand Prix in 1980, finishing sixth and scoring one championship point. Multiple Grand Prix winner, John Watson, also had top six results in the M29, finishing fifth in the South African Grand Prix of 1981 and sixth in the 1980 British Grand Prix.

Due to livery changes during the M29's long F1 career, it is possible to precisely pinpoint when this bodywork was alleged to have last run in a Grand Prix by McLaren – the only event in which the M29 ran with red and white livery (as opposed to the earlier, all white background) and carried both Champion Spark Plugs and Valvoline sponsorship was at the 1981 South African Grand Prix. McLaren ran M29, chassis #4 and chassis #5 at this event, with Watson finishing fifth.

In terms of provenance, our vendor acquired this striking body panel from a stash of ex Colin Bennett Racing parts. The fact that Colin ran Australian amateur racer, Arnold Glass, in five rounds of the 1982 British F1 Series is well documented and we are confident that the side panel was associated with the Arnold Glass car – i.e. McLaren M29, chassis #4.

Our vendor confirms that the bodywork carried the original 'champion' and 'Valvoline' stickers, as referred to above.