As a follow up, I was recently in Auckland and made a trip to the "Museum." I did not expect much, but was very pleasantly surprised. It is small, but it is truly fantastic and a must see if you get to NZ and have a real interest in the roots of McLaren.
The Trust and its museum are located in the original McLaren family garage, and in the tradition of the day, Bruce lived in the family home above the garage; the garage still operates under separate management to this day. The Trust is in the original family home upstairs, and one of the museum rooms is Bruce's childhood bedroom. Bruce's initiation to all things automotive began there, and he spent much of his time downstairs in the shop learning about the cars being worked on as part of his father's business.
Jan McLaren, Bruce's younger sister, operates the Trust and is the most gracious hostess and guide you could possibly want. I think she spent about 2 hours with my wife and I on a weekend, taking time to meet us when the museum would normally be closed. The Museum is packed with all kinds of fascinating memorabilia, like Bruce's original wooden tool chest and many of his, Denny Hulme's and Chris Amon's trophies.
One tidbit I learned was that the current operation of McLaren Cars in Woking is the result of a merger between McLaren (after Bruce's death) and Ron Dennis' race team then known as Project 4. Well the "MP4" prefix for modern cars stands for "McLaren Project 4," something I never knew.
I will try to post more photos after I get a chance to download them from my camera, but for now here is an iPhone shot of the Museum - the entrance is the small door in the left center that has the logo for the Bruce McLaren trust above it if you look closely.
