McLaren M19A

The McLaren M19A is a Formula One racing car that McLaren built and ran across three World Championship seasons between 1971 and 1973. With Gordon Coppuck busy on the M16 Indianapolis car, Ralph Bellamy designed it, and its pear-shaped cockpit sides earned the nickname The Alligator Car because two of its three fuel tanks sat beside the driver. It used a mid-mounted Cosworth DFV V8 and a Hewland five-speed gearbox, and the later M19C swapped the unusual suspension linkage for a conventional system. It debuted at the 1971 South African Grand Prix with Denny Hulme, who finished second in the 1972 Argentine Grand Prix, the first podium for an M19. The next race brought McLaren first win since 1969, and Peter Revson took the first pole position in McLaren history at the Canadian Grand Prix.