 The chassis itself was built by McLaren using carbon supplied by American firm Hercules Aerospace on the advice of McLaren engineer and former Hercules apprentice Steve Nichols and quickly revolutionised car design in Formula One with new levels of rigidity and driver protection and its Carbon-Fibre-Composite (CFC) construction, a first in Formula One.Within months the design had been copied by many of McLaren's rivals.From 1981 until late 1983 the MP4/1 was powered by the 3.0 litre Ford-Cosworth DFV V8 engine, but in late 1983 the team switched to turbocharging, using a 1.5 litre TAG V6 engine built by Porsche.