Gene White's Atlanta Chassis?

[Pelican Joe]

I've heard bits and pieces of the story behind this chassis, but never the whole story in one place.

I was once told the story starts at OMS in 1971. A pair of McLaren mechanics had been instructed to watch over the team's new M16 chassis, but went to the beach instead. This allegedly allowed Dan Gurney's AAR squad a chance to pour over the M16 unhindered.

McLaren boss Teddy Mayer was understandably very upset and this led to the 2 mechanics parting ways with McLaren.

This is where it gets very murky. I've heard stories of M16 plans being stolen. I've heard stories of possible charges being pressed and individuals fleeing to escape potential charges, and some other crazy stuff.

I even heard that Gene White (who financed the Atlanta) had his guys take pictures and measurements on the sly while visiting the McLaren Engines facility in Michigan on other business.

All I know for sure is that eventually the Atlanta is built and it looks an awful lot like the M16.

[Eaglenindy]

The story I always heard, was that Chalkie and Rabbit were left behind at Ontario after a 1971 test at OMS to work on the car and to stay and keep an eye on the cars until the 1971 CAL 500. After a couple of days, they were caught up on the work and decided to instead of babysitting the cars, with nothing more to do versus heading out to one of the local LA County beaches for eye candy and possible "PT"

Reportedly, the AAR team "picked the lock" and "examined" the M-16 in detail, taking pix and chassis, suspension and Offy outside measurements that went via the perps to DSG to his brain trust to Roman Slobodynskj then onto Phil Remington and then onto John Miller and Phil Leary. Reportedly, Teddy Meyer (the Wiener) caught wind about it and made life miserable for Chalkie and Rabbit. So they quit. Gene White with Firestone $ dropped the bucks and decided to make an M-16 Turbo Foyt/Ford and have "Rube" and Cale Yarborogh and Foyt driver run them.

Remember how AAR all of a sudden closed the gap and became faster after the 1971 Cal 500 into 1972? Well here's why.

Reportedly, Chaulkie kept a copy of the "build" print of the M-16A in his tool box and when he and Rabbit were fired, he used it as a trump card and thus Atlanta cars were born. Basically 1971 M16A chassis converted to accecpt a "Foyt turbo Ford 4 Cam" motor instead of an Offy and updated to 1972 wing spec's. No idea who the engineers were. But that's the story I've heard for 50 years.

[Glass Half Full]

That’s some real detail, Eagle! Out of curiosity, were you in the business at the time where you might be personally familiar with these two fellas who apparently screwed up?

It makes me wonder to what degree today’s teams might take similar recon actions, though obviously with the spec nature of things there may not be nearly as much to learn.

[JBH]

FWIW, here's some more information on the histories of the three Atlanta 72's that were built.

[Pelican Joe]

The story I always heard, was that Chalkie and Rabbit were left behind at Ontario after a 1971 test at OMS to work on the car and to stay and keep an eye on the cars until the 1971 CAL 500. After a couple of days, they were caught up and decided to instead of babysitting the cars, with nothing more to do versus heading out to one of the local LA Cty beaches for eye candy and possible "PT"

Reportedly, the AAR team picked the lock and "examined" the M-16 in detail, taking pix and chassis, suspension and Offy outside measurements that went via the perps to DGS to his brain trust to Roman Slobodynskj then onto Phil Remington and then onto John Miller and Phil Leary. Reportedly, Teddy Meyer (the Wiener) heard about it and made life miserable for Chalkie and Rabbit. So they quit. Lindsey Hopkins with his Coca-Cola $ dropped the bucks and decided to have an M-16 Turbo Foyt/Ford and have "Rube" and Cale Yarborogh rive them.

Remember how AAR all of a sudden closed the gap and became faster after the 1971 Cal 500 into 1972? Well here's why.

Reportedly, Chaulkie kept a copy of the "build" print of the M-16A in his tool box and when he and Rabbit were fired, he used it as a trump card and thus Atlanta cars were born. Basically 1971 M16A chassis converted to accecpt a "Foyt turbo Ford 4 Cam" motor instead of an Offy and updated to 1972 wing spec's. No idea who the engineers were. But that's the story I've heard for 50 years.

Thanks for the info. This pulls together the bits and pieces I've heard. I can understand why Teddy was upset, but then the Atlanta didn't turn out to be very successful, so I guess it turned out okay for McLaren.

[Pelican Joe]

After the Lotus 64 debacle in 1969, Chalkie was retained by Andy Granatelli after Colin Chapman had packed it in. I've read that it was Chalkie's idea to place a radiator under the seat of the Hawk to help with the overheating issues they had been having.