Kiwi race car legend Bruce McLaren set for the big screen

Bruce McLaren of New Zealand won the 201.7-mile Grand Prix for sports cars at Monterey, California, driving a McLaren Chevrolet, 1967. Photo / NZH

Production has started on a new film about the life of legendary race car driver Bruce McLaren.

Roger Donaldson, who directed The World's Fastest Indian, is directing the documentary McLaren.

New Zealand Film Commission funded General Film Corporation to make the feature documentary about McLaren's life and work.

"My enthusiasm for making a film about Bruce McLaren comes from my long held passion for motorsports - a passion that was passed down to me from my father and grandfather," ScreenDaily website quoted Mr Donaldson as saying.

ScreenDaily said Images and Sound, Giltrap Group Holdings, ANZ Bank and the New Zealand government's Screen Production Grant also helped fund the documentary.

The start of production comes five years after British feature documentary Senna, about former McLaren driver Ayrton Senna, won critical acclaim and screened at festivals including Sundance.

McLaren was born in Auckland in 1937 and established his own racing team before he died in a 1970 accident testing a Can-Am car at Goodwood, England.

"Although he never ruled as Formula One's World Champion, that did not diminish his greatness one bit," the International Motorsports Hall of Fame said.

The McLaren team went on to win eight Formula One constructors' championships from 1974 to 1998.

McLaren Technology Group, founded in 1985, produced the acclaimed McLaren F1 production sports car.