At its very first race, the Yardley-liveried dart-like M23 grabbed pole position – an extremely impressive feat for an untried brand-new car. Designer Gordon Coppuck had conceived a sharp-edged, neat and drivable machine that incorporated plenty of influences from some of the era’s best cars, but it worked and was clearly quick. Indeed, it propelled Denny Hulme to pole on its debut, the New Zealander’s first and only pole – achieved at his 85th grand prix!

1973 South African Grand Prix

It only took five races for the M23 to win its first race. Hulme revelled in the car’s simplicity and mechanical sturdiness, but it was its drivability that ultimately made it such a hardy perennial. The M23 clearly borrowed its arrow-shaped layout from the similarly successful Lotus 72, and this great shot showcases both models – including Ronnie Peterson photobombing Hulme with some great opposite-lock in the background…

1973 Swedish Grand Prix

Into 1974, the M23 adopted a new red-and-white livery and suddenly looked a lot meaner. With 1972 world champ Emerson Fittipaldi also onboard, the car was suddenly a title contender. The fight went right to the wire, the Brazilian taking three wins en route to a showdown at Watkins Glen, USA. Emmo claimed he was so nervous on the night before the final race that he couldn’t sleep. He stayed cool, braved-out a first-lap attack by title rival Clay Regazzoni, and won the title by three points.

1974 US Grand Prix

Given his huge points deficit to championship leader Niki Lauda, McLaren’s James Hunt had thrown caution to the wind and was driving each race until the finale as if it were his last. That certainly worked to his benefit in Canada and the USA, where he nailed back-to-back wins to arrive in Fuji, Japan just three points off the lead. While James is remembered as a hell-raiser, he was mightily quick, and his pedigree during ’76 (eight poles and six wins) really speaks for itself. Victory at Watkins Glen was the 16th and last of the M23’s illustrious career.

1976 US Grand Prix

One race later, Hunt was in Japan for one of the most exciting championship showdowns in Formula 1 history. He was pitted against Ferrari’s Niki Lauda, who had been forced to miss three races after suffering a life-threatening fiery crash at the Nurburgring in the summer. Lauda refused to race in the monsoon conditions and pulled out at the end of the opening lap; Hunt endured an eventful afternoon, but finally came home third to put the title out of the Austrian’s reach by just a single point.

1976 Japanese Grand Prix

McLaren had turned its collective attention to the newer M26 by the time of mid-summer’s British Grand Prix – indeed, James Hunt won from pole with the newer car. But the team still had plenty of old chassis knocking about, and the time, confidence and belief to run a young rookie called Gilles Villeneuve as a third-car entry at Silverstone. The little Canadian qualified ninth and immediately made his mark on Formula 1…

1977 British Grand Prix

The M23 was decidedly long in the tooth in 1977, but that didn’t stop Hunt from wringing its neck, taking three successive poles in the season’s first three races, in Brazil, Argentina and South Africa, at Kyalami. The Englishman proved that, despite the phased introduction of the new M26 car, the older model could still be driven to the limit extremely succesfully.

1977 South African Grand Prix

McLaren finally fully migrated away from the M23 midway through 1977. Yet, incredibly, the car would still be making regular privateer appearances more than a year after it had been officially abandoned. In 1978, Brett Lunger, Tony Trimmer, Emily de Villota and, most significantly, Nelson Piquet were all still racing the M23. The curtain finally fell in the 1978 Italian Grand Prix, where Piquet finished an impressive ninth in the race. That was some innings…

1978 Italian Grand Prix