Car of the Week: 1981 McLaren M81 ‘McLaren’s first Mustang’

Marketing Corporation built a single M81 McLaren Mustang in white. With only 863 miles, Kendal Coker is the caretaker of this unique Mustang that had a historic role in reigniting the Mustang’s performance image during the 1980s.

After 10 bleak years of a Ford racing ban, leaving the company without any high-performance engines, a glimmer of hope peeked out from behind the dark clouds in 1980 with the emergence of the Ford Motorsports program. Brainstormed and spearheaded by Gary Kohs’ Marketing Corporation, its first high-profile project was the M81 McLaren Mustang. Ford bought into Kohs’ idea, because it served several purposes: to showcase the 2.3-liter turbo engine, to go racing in IMSA and to create renewed enthusiasm in the youth market for Mustang, which had been revamped in 1979 when it was newly based on Ford’s one-year-old Fox-body platform.

In the spring of 1980, Marketing Corporation built a Mustang 3-Door (hatchback)-based M81 McLaren prototype that appeared on the car-show circuit. Along with the prototype came the prospect of expanding the M81 McLaren into a limited-production offering in the high-performance niche vehicle segment. With wide-body fenders, widened and restructured quarter panels, a front air dam taken from the 1979 Indy Pace Car Mustang, brake ducting and a functional heat-extracting hood fabricated from metal, the M81 McLaren Mustang concept caught Ford brass off-guard when the finished model delighted and thrilled Ford fans who missed the Total Performance days of the 1960s. Encouraged by feedback, Kohs hoped to build 249 fiberglass-paneled McLaren Mustangs for the 1981 model year, thus the “M81” abbreviated from “McLaren 1981.” However, the combination of a projected $25,000 price tag and internal Ford politics ended the program before it got off the ground. Including the prototype, only 10 M81s were produced in McLaren Orange (one was repainted black and the feature car was repainted white), making the M81 McLarens among the rarest Mustangs ever produced.

Due to the high cost and internal politics, M81 McLaren Mustang production abruptly ended. As the 1980 M81s were being assembled, Ford was busy creating its own in-house Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) division, which became the Special Vehicles Team (SVT) in 1993. Shortly after its founding in 1981, SVO began further developing Ford’s turbo-four-cylinder vehicle, the result being the Mustang SVO from 1984-’86. The Mustang SVO was powered by an intercooled turbo 2.3-liter four-cylinder.

The M81 McLaren Mustang was cutting edge for 1980. Ford had introduced the Fox-body platform to the automotive world on the Fairmont in 1978 and expanded its use to the Mustang in 1979, and the industry was taking in the reborn Mustang. Among those who saw the Fox-body Mustang’s potential were Bob Fehan, Rob Fournier and Gary Kohs of Marketing Corporation. Under the leadership of Kohs, who turned his vision for a racy-looking Mustang into reality with the help of Fehan and Fournier, the visionary team of craftsmen seized the opportunity to create what many consider the first specialized custom version of the Fox-body Mustang with the M81.

Everything built under the McLaren name was done so at Marketing Corporation on Delemere Street in Royal Oak, Mich., including the McLaren M81 Mustangs. The facility had a full fabrication shop, body and paint department with spray booths, and other state-of-the-art equipment.

In addition to the McLaren M81 street cars, two Cosworth-powered McLaren Mustang race cars were built and competed at both the Daytona 24-Hour and Sebring 12-Hour races, one car finishing first in the GTP races.

The efforts of Fehan, Fournier and Kohs with the McLaren M81 street cars proved the Fox-body Mustang was capable of great things with its design, handling characteristics and four-cylinder turbocharged power-train. The McLaren M81 Mustangs had a vital role in expanding the capabilities of the new Fox-body Mustang and in promoting its potential.

Fournier and Kohs have since passed away, but Fehan’s work continues through his Bob Fehan Motorsports, which builds award-winning concept automobiles. Following his work on the M81 McLaren, Fehan built several Ford concepts and show vehicles, including the Cosworth Capri, GE Lexan Mustang and the Motorcraft Mustangs. Later, in the 1980s, Fehan competed as a driver in SCCA and IMSA, including a ride in the Mac Tools Trans-Am Mustang. In 1986, he formed Bob Fehan Motorsports, which has produced many specialty vehicles and award-winning show cars for the SEMA Show. Among his many accolades is a prestigious SEMA Design of Excellence award for the Chrysler PT Cruiser Woodie in 2000.

This one-of-one white McLaren M81 Mustang survives today as a low-mileage and very original example in the hands of Kendal Coker, who has amassed an impressive collection of turbo-four Fords, including SVO and early McLaren Mustangs (not to be confused with the two-seater ASC McLaren convertibles from 1987-’90). Coker’s white M81 McLaren was originally sold to Pete DeSilva through John Glass Ford in Massachusetts. It passed through several other owners before Coker bought it nearly 20 years ago after chasing it down through a classified ad.

With only 863 miles, Coker’s white M81 McLaren Mustang, No. 9 of 10, remains as originally built right down to the paint, BBS wheels and even the Firestone tires. Like all M81 McLarens, Coker’s 1980 Mustang was assembled at the Dearborn Assembly Plant with the 2.3-liter four-cylinder turbo engine and Bright Caramel paint for delivery to the fabrication shop at Marketing Corporation in Royal Oak, Mich., where hot rodder Bob Fehan and fabrication whiz Rob Fournier built the cars to specs very similar to the first prototype. However, while the prototype was constructed with a custom one-of-a-kind front clip, the other nine cars were equipped with a one-piece front clip, and the heat extractor hood was made from fiberglass instead of metal. Air flow passing through the radiator was pushed out the hood openings through aluminum ducting behind the radiator.

Like most of the McLaren M81s, Coker’s white M81 doesn’t have a turbo boost controller. He notes that the four-cylinder in his car appears to be factory stock, other than a chrome valve cover, leading him to theorize that cars without the turbo boost controller came with untouched engines.

Although horsepower remains tame at 135 units, Coker’s white Mustang, like other McLarens, is an able handler thanks to adjustable Koni struts and shocks, higher-rate springs, Ford Fairmont police package sway bars and 255/55R15 Firestone HPR tires on BBS wheels. The interior utilizes Recaro LS bucket seats, a Racemark steering wheel, an SCCA-approved bolt-in roll bar and a Stewart-Warner instrument panel integrated into the factory dash.

According to a contemporary story in Motor Trend, Ford intended to offer the M81 McLaren parts, including the fiberglass body panels and instrument panel, through a dealer DSO (dealer special order) program.

As confirmed by this car’s deluxe Marti Report, the McLaren Mustangs were painted Bright Caramel at the Ford Dearborn Assembly plant, then delivered to Marketing Corporation. After installation of the fiberglass body components, the cars were custom painted by hand in McLaren’s Papaya Orange. Coker notes that there is orange paint underneath his car’s white finish and, upon inspection, there’s orange paint also hiding on the black car.

Today, nearly 45 years after its introduction, the Fox-body Mustang continues to thrive with collectors. It’s become a desirable Mustang with values on the rise. They’re highly sought after for their cutting-edge design, place within the Mustang story, overall value and nostalgic value.

Kendal Coker’s rare, original and low-mileage M81 McLaren takes us back to when the Ford Mustang was getting a fresh start in what would become a new performance era, one that continues to this day.

I met Kendal Coker at one of the Mustang Club of America (MCA) Grand National Shows where he was showing an SVO Mustang. We talked about his SVO collection, then exchanged contact information. Soon after, an assignment came my way from a publisher who wanted to publish an SVO Mustang generational story and asked if I wanted to take the lead. I agreed to take it on and told him about an SVO Mustang collector I’d recently met and who’d be the right person to help. I made a call to Kendal and soon made trip to his home in Alabama where I photographed a few of his SVO Mustangs. It was during this visit that he showed me his original 1980 M81 McLaren parked separately from the rest of his car collection. I told him I’d be returning to shoot it and his Red Varsity Ford Mustang race car later in the year. As promised, I returned a few months later and Kendal transported the Mustangs to and from a private airport for our photo shoot.  — Al Rogers

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