In 1975 young designer John Barnard came to McLaren, and prepared yet another evolution of McLaren M16 which first appeared in 1971. In Barnard’s “E” specification the car featured a longer wheelbase and revised rear suspension. In the 1975 edition of the Indianapolis 500 Lloyd Ruby joined Rutherford as a works entry. The race was stopped early due to heavy rain. At that time Bobby Unser was leading in his Eagle and Rutherford was second. Ruby was already out of the race on lap seven with a burnt piston. The works M16E appeared again in 1976 for Rutherford. He managed to clinch pole ahead of an earlier Penske entered M16 driven by Tom Sneva, and was leading when race was stopped after 102 laps due to heavy rain. This was the last year of the M16 as a factory entered car, as McLaren introduced its replacement, the M24. However, several M16s continued racing by other teams until 1981.
| Season | Series | Event |
| 1976 | USAC National Championship | Indianapolis 500 |
| Driver | No. | Entrant |
| Johnny Rutherford | 2 | Team McLaren |
| Chassis | Engine | Car Name |
| McLaren | Offenhauser | Hy-Gain |
| Scale | Manufacturer | Collection |
| 1:43 | Spark | |
| Cat. No. | Quality | Rarity |
| 43IN76 | 
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