The King of Rock and Roll drives the first McLaren – the Elva M1A group 7 car – in this scene from his 1966 film Spinout. In the clip, found for us by McLaren Design and Development Director, and all round legend, Neil Oatley.
The car itself was apparently raced in the UK and the US by Graham Hill. But here it’s Elvis doing the driving (well, some of it – special effects weren’t quite as good back then!). The gold car, bearing number 5, makes its first appearance at 1:07 secs on the video.
Fashions may have changed since the film was made 45 years ago, but some things stay the same. When Elvis says “that car’s something else,” he’s told: “Imagination built this car and it takes imagination to drive it.”
Sadly the King doesn’t make it into our list of McLaren’s top 50 drivers, due to lack of competitive racing, but we’re happy to make him an honorary member!
Credit: McLaren (mclaren.com)
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