[2] Hulme showed versatility by dominating the Canadian-American Challenge Cup (Can-Am) for Group 7 sports cars.

Hulme was nicknamed 'The Bear', because of his "gruff nature" and "rugged features"; however, he was also "sensitive (...) unable to express his feelings, except in a racing car".

[1][tone] During the early part of his career, Hulme preferred to race bare foot as he believed that it gave him a better feel of the throttle.

Hulme won the 1960 Gran Premio di Pescara for Formula Juniors, but the newspapers back in New Zealand made no mention of this, as they wrote only about Bruce McLaren.

However, the year, 1960 ended in disaster, when Lawton crashed during a race at Roskilde (Denmark) dying in Hulme's arms.

[4][5][6] Once there, basing himself in London, he worked as a mechanic in Jack Brabham's garage in Chessington and began to pave his way on his motor-racing path.

During the 1963 season, he won seven International Formula Junior and after some impressive performances there, it was his old boss Jack Brabham who gave Hulme the call and he joined the Australian legend's F2 team.

In 1964, the pair set about dominating the Championship that year, resulting in a one–two finish in the FFSA Trophées de France series.

During this spell in F2 between 1964 and 1966, Hulme won three races in the series, plus two non-championship events (the 1964 Grote Prijs van Limborg and the 1965 Spring Trophy).

The second Motor-sponsored Six-Hour, a round of the European Touring Car Championship, saw the pre-race favourite, a 7-litre Ford Galaxie driven by Dan Gurney and Jack Brabham flounder in the wet and the Jaguars dominated the race.

Finishing a fine fourth that year (with Jack winning the Drivers' and the Brabham team the Constructors' Championship), the highlights came with a third place at Reims in France, a second behind Brabham at Brands Hatch, and the fastest lap at Zandvoort, before ignition problems put paid to his race there.

Whilst his boss won the World title, Hulme made it to the podium four times during season, finishing fourth overall in the standings.

[1][7] The 1967 Championship was essentially an internal affair within the Brabham Racing Organisation team for most of the year, but the new Lotus 49 gave Jim Clark and Graham Hill the opportunity to bite back.

Although the 'Bruce and Denny Show' dominated the North American Can-Am sports car series from 1966, their time in Formula One was less successful.

[1][7] By the Spanish round at Jarama, the Cosworth DFV V8 engine was installed in the brand new M7A chassis and the performances improved.

After victory in the BRDC International Trophy, Hulme picked up second place in Spain, before taking two more wins that year at Monza and in Canada, leaving him with an outside chance of retaining the Championship crown against Graham Hill and the young Jackie Stewart.

The finale, in Mexico City, determined the champion that year, but Hulme suffered a suspension failure on his McLaren.

[7] Beauty, fragrance and men's products company Yardley took over title sponsorship of a new McLaren in 1972, and it paid dividends for Hulme.

Partnered with good friend Peter Revson, Hulme was back on winning ways taking victory in South Africa, and a few fine podiums elsewhere, finishing 1972 in third place with 39 points.

Amazingly, Hulme scored only one pole position in his F1 career aboard a McLaren M23, in 1973 at Kyalami—he appeared to have a good relationship with the South African venue.

However, Hulme was outshone by friend and teammate Peter Revson in 1973, and he finished a place down on the American in sixth, 12 points adrift.

By the 1973 Belgian Grand Prix, Hulme and McLaren had taken F1 safety forward, when his car introduced the Graviner life-support system to Formula One, supplying the driver breathable air in the event of fire.

However, other than winning the Argentine event (he inherited the lead when his now teammate Fittipaldi inadvertently knocked-off the electrical "kill-switch" on his steering wheel, on the penultimate lap) and coming second in Austria, he did not make much of an impact on the season, and retired at the end of the year and stepped away from the sport and returned to New Zealand.

In the lead half-hour of the race, the Fords bunched up together in a pre-arranged plan for Bruce McLaren and Miles to cross the line, headlights ablaze, in a dead-heat.

Hulme won the Can-Am Championship in 1968, taking three victories in the six race season, earning 35 points in the McLaren M8A.

Hulme scored five victories in eleven races in 1969, earning 160 points to finish second to teammate McLaren in the championship.

During this time, he won a total of 12 races, mostly in a Lola T70, including three RAC Tourist Trophies, one of which was a round of the 1965 World Sportscar Championship.

He then retired to New Zealand, returning to touring cars to race occasionally in the Benson & Hedges 500 race at Pukekohe Park Raceway in the late 1970s first in Chrysler Chargers then later a Volkswagen Golf, partnering Stirling Moss on occasion for the 500 kilometre endurance format.

In the 1992 event he was driving a semi-works supported BMW M3 for Benson & Hedges Racing when after complaining over the car-to-pits radio of blurred vision (originally thought to be because of the heavy rain) Hulme suffered a massive heart attack at the wheel whilst driving along the high-speed Conrod Straight.

According to his sister Anita, Hulme's health began deteriorating after the death of his 21-year-old son, Martin Clive, on Christmas Day, 1988, at Lake Rotoiti in the Bay of Plenty.