McLaren Automotive used this year’s Monterey Car Week to debut a future addition to their lineup – the McL 6GT. Inspired by the M6GT that was built in tiny numbers as a roadgoing version of Bruce McLaren’s M6A/M6B CanAm race car from the late 1960s, the McL 6GT features retro-influenced styling and will be the first McLaren road car since the F1 from the 1990s to be fitted with a manual transmission.
With an “authentically reimagined heritage design” that connects McLaren’s history to the present, the McL 6GT will go into production as part of a new range of vehicles, separate from McLaren’s main supercar portfolio.
“The McLaren McL 6GT imagines what our inspirational founder had wished to complete but with six additional decades of innovation and passion woven through every element, creating a modern icon of driver connection,” said Nick Collins, Chief Executive Officer, McLaren Automotive. “It is symbolic of the bold, provocative and hugely exciting future that we are preparing to realise.”
Authentically Analogue
For the first time in a McLaren road car since the F1 from 1992, the McL 6GT will feature a conventional manual transmission, matched to a mid-mounted, internal combustion V8 without hybrid assistance. The upcoming car will only be offered with rear-wheel drive, and hydraulic steering, too.
This deliberately analogue approach extends to tactile switchgear, knurled aluminium control knobs and even the design of the gearstick. These elements and “visible engineering details,” like the exposed shift gate, convey what’s been called purity of involvement for the driver.
Ergonomics will aim to reinforce the driver’s connection to the vehicle, too, including quilted seat upholstery and even the throw of the gearstick.
Inspired by History
The release of the McL 6GT in concept form (but said to be close to production spec) at Monterey follows McLaren Special Operations (MSO) assembling an example of the original M6GT that was presented earlier this year and recently featured with JUST CARS (see that article HERE).
Styling is low and wide, like the M6GT, with a roof that flows into the rear screen and terminates in a distinctive Kammback tail. Tail lights feature a modern take on the ’racing loop’ design of the M6GT.
The red of Bruce McLaren’s personal M6GT has inspired the colour of the McL 6GT, with the number plate for that car - OBH 500H - subtly etched into the rear diffuser. There’s also a reproduction of McLaren’s signature added to the trailing edge of the rear windscreen.
Acknowledging Bruce McLaren’s New Zealand heritage, a modern “Speedy Kiwi” graphic that’s inspired by the race team’s original logo features on the fuel filler cap and exterior badging, as well as the steering wheel boss, gear knob and other interior areas.
Modern Spec
For all its retro-inspired design and deliberately analogue elements, the upcoming car will be built around a modern carbon fibre monocoque and bodywork, with visible carbon fibre elements inside, too. Instrumentation will be digital, with a central touchscreen visible in the images presented so far.
While unconfirmed, it’s believed the McL 6GT will take mechanical elements from the 750S supercar. If correct, that would mean a 4.0-litre twin turbo V8 producing around 740hp (550kW), matched to a six-speed H-pattern manual gearbox, instead of the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission that’s in the 750S.
Carbon ceramic brakes from the modern McLaren supercar range will also transfer over to the McL 6GT, as well as modern aerodynamic elements.
2028 Release
Pricing and full specs for the McL 6GT were not announced at Monterey, but McLaren did confirm that the new model will be released in 2028. The McL 6GT is expected to be the first in a new series of short-run models separate from the existing McLaren range, all with a different approach to previous limited editions like the W1 and Speedtail. Further details will be released in due course.
