Legacy Metrics

1972 McLaren M21

2 [See text]racingUnited Kingdom
Engine
Ford-Cosworth BDA/BDE/BDF inline-four, 1.6–1.9L, five-speed Hewland LG gearbox
Colour
Papaya orange

The McLaren M21 was a Formula 2 car designed by Ralph Bellamy for the 1972 season, powered by Ford-Cosworth BDA/BDE/BDF engines and fitted with a Hewland five-speed gearbox. This example, designated chassis '2', was reconstructed in the late 1990s by Kerry Adams using components from two Formula Atlantic chassis previously raced by Steve Prior and Tony Trimmer, plus a spare monocoque. McLaren International subsequently assigned it the chassis number corresponding to Jody Scheckter's 1972 race-winning car, and it is finished in period Papaya Orange livery.

Ownership

  1. Auction sale
    Sold €172,500 (≈ $190K)

    RM Sotheby's catalogue lot →

  2. Date unknownAcquisition unknown
    Kerry Adams
    partial documentation

    Conducted a restoration project in the late 1990s using two chassis previously raced in Formula Atlantic and a spare monocoque, ultimately constructing three cars including this one.

  3. Date unknownAcquisition unknown
    Jody Scheckter
    partial documentation

    Sole owner of chassis 2 since the late 1990s following the completion of the reconstruction project; car is finished in Papaya Orange reflecting his 1972 campaign.

Competition

  1. 1972Formula 2
    Crystal Palace Formula 2 race
    Driver: Jody Scheckter1st

    Scheckter took victory at Crystal Palace, London, driving an M21 during the 1972 season.

Maintenance & restoration

  1. Restoration

    Three M21 cars were built by Kerry Adams during a restoration project in the late 1990s, drawing on two ex-Formula Atlantic chassis and a spare monocoque held by MacAllister and McLaren International. On completion, McLaren assigned chassis numbers to all three cars.

    Chassis numbers were issued retrospectively by McLaren upon completion; chassis '2' was designated as corresponding to Scheckter's 1972 Formula 2 car.

Are you the owner of this car?

This car's public record is built from its auction and competition history. Register your ownership and privately add your own records to make it a verified Legacy Metrics passport — provenance that backs your car's value at sale and gives your insurer evidence to price against. Roy reviews and verifies every registration personally.

Each chassis record is compiled from public auction archives and links to its source material. Ownership, competition and maintenance entries are extracted from those catalogue listings by an LLM, which can make mistakes — please contact us with any corrections. The summary is Legacy Metrics’ own writing; we do not reproduce catalogue text.

“Full” and “partial” documentation labels indicate how well each entry is corroborated in the underlying sources, not an audit of the car’s physical paperwork. Names of recent or living owners are withheld for privacy.