“Tactile, analogue and deeply mechanical”: V8 tribute to Bruce McLaren enters production in 2028
McLaren has revealed the new McL 6GT as a highly exclusive tribute to its first road car – and its first model with a manual gearbox since the F1.
Shown as a concept in near-production-ready form at Monterey Car Week in California, the McL 6GT will go on sale in 2028 as a spiritual successor to the M6GT, the only road car built by company founder Bruce McLaren.
The production car will be the first of a new line of limited-run models separate from the core McLaren line-up and with a different focus from extreme, highly performant Ultimate Series models like the Speedtail and W1.
“It is presented as an unmistakable signal of how the maverick spirit within McLaren can inform a future-facing approach to McLaren cars that will captivate with character,” said the company.
With a completely new design approach to any of McLaren’s current models, the 6GT is a 1960s-inspired, lightweight, carbon-bodied supercar with a V8 driving the back axle through a six-speed manual gearbox – Woking’s first in more than three decades.
In silhouette, it nods to the M6A Can-Am racer, which was so instrumental in putting McLaren on the global motorsport map and provided the basis for the original M6GT (below).
McLaren highlights the clean, low-drag surfacing and distinctive Kamm tail as features influenced by its forebear. Meanwhile, there are subtle nods to Bruce McLaren – including his signature in the engine bay and the original ‘Speedy Kiwi’ company logo etched into the filler cap.
The company remains tight-lipped on technical specifics, but the McL 6GT is thought to be at least partly based on the outgoing 750S supercar, which follows a similar format, albeit with an automatic gearbox.
That car weighs less than 1400kg, achieves 0-62mph in 2.8sec and tops out at 206mph. But rather than bidding for performance supremacy, the focus of the 6GT is to “celebrate a form of driving connection that is increasingly rare: tactile, analogue and deeply mechanical”, said McLaren.
It added: “Every shift, throttle movement and steering input is intended to feel deliberate, physical and rewarding, connecting the driver to the machine.”
The company said this approach is evident in not just the fitment of a manual gearbox but also in the use of “tactile” switchgear, visible engineering details and, in true McLaren fashion, hydraulic steering.
While a limited-production car, the 6GT is the first new McLaren model line revealed since the company merged with start-up Forseven in spring last year and pledged to substantially renew and expand its model line-up.
This promised range of collector-friendly supercars in the vein of the 6GT will play a key role in this reinvention. But the company has yet to shed any firm light on future mass-produced cars, which are thought to include sports cars, SUVs and possibly even saloons.
More details are expected in the coming months.
