Yamaha LB80 Chappy with McLaren F1 team history heads to auction
The humble Yamaha LB80 Chappy was a familiar sight in racing paddocks during the 1970s, but few can claim to have been ridden by a reigning Formula 1 world champion.
Heading to auction later this month is a 1975 Yamaha LB80 'Chappy' that spent its working life ferrying around one of the most famous Formula 1 teams of the era, and was reportedly ridden by both Emerson Fittipaldi and Jochen Mass during the 1975 season.
The tiny two-stroke was supplied new to the Texaco Marlboro McLaren Formula 1 team by cigarette giant Philip Morris, which at the time was one of McLaren's principal backers. While McLaren's M23 race cars were busy contesting Grands Prix around the world, the little Yamaha was put to work in the paddock, helping drivers, mechanics and team members get around the sprawling circuits that made up the F1 calendar.
According to the accompanying provenance, the bike was regularly used by reigning world champion Emerson Fittipaldi and his teammate Jochen Mass, alongside McLaren mechanics throughout the season. Once the Chappy had outlived its usefulness to the team, it was purchased by one of those mechanics as a keepsake, remaining in his ownership for the next five decades.
The Yamaha LB80 Chappy itself was hardly an exotic machine. Introduced as a lightweight urban runabout, it featured tiny 8-inch wheels, a simple two-stroke single-cylinder engine and an easy-to-use automatic transmission, attributes that also made it ideal as a paddock hack or motorhome runabout. Its low weight and near foolproof operation saw plenty find homes in race teams up and down the paddock during the 1970s and 1980s.
Offered without reserve by H&H Classics at its National Motorcycle Museum sale on July 22, the McLaren Chappy comes complete with a V5 registration document and a letter of provenance confirming its history with the famous Formula 1 team. It will need recommissioning after several years off the road, although that is unlikely to trouble collectors chasing a genuinely unusual slice of motorsport history.
You can check out the auction for yourself on the official website.
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Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!
