Chinetti MacLaren

The Chinetti MacLaren was conceived in November 1968 as an exercise in the transformation of a group 7 sports racing vehicle for high speed road use.

The design for the MacLaren was drawn up by Luigi Chinetti Jr., son of the Ferrari distributor in the United States. He has created a design reflecting function, style and the MacLaren theme of simplicity.

The coachwork was then started by Joseph Randazzo of Randy’s Auto Body, Inc. of Clifton, New Jersey. A General Motors Camaro 302 cubic inch engine aspirated by 4 Weber carburetors was chosen as the power plant, along with Bendix fuel pumps, Air Instro, Inc. instruments, and C.P. Clare Company electronic switches. Air conditioning was supplied by General Motors. As a body material, Fiberglass was chosen for its extreme flexibility and especially because of the known skill of Mr. Randazzo in the production of such endeavors.

The front section of the Chinetti MacLaren is totally different in its treatment of fender lines extending to the comers of the vehicle forming right angles with them. This enables the top portion of each fender to act as replacement for “trim tabs’’ as in normal practice. The single piece forward opening door roof section is extremely light and provides a simple and perfectly secure system for high speed travel. Along each side are positioned air vanes that insure smooth air flow from front to rear.

On the surface of the rear section are positioned three doors, the first two being for carburetor and brake air intakes, while the third and largest is used as a foil air brake.

The tail section features extremely large turn, stop, and reversing lamps for safety.

No effort has been spared to insure the owner the maximum safety and comfort in ultra high speed travel in this type of vehicle.