► McLaren brings back the manual!
► Pays homage to Bruce McLaren’s original M6GT prototype
► First look at McLaren’s future direction

McLaren has unveiled its first new car with a manual gearbox since the original F1: the not-so-catchily-named McL 6GT. 

Though the manual supercar has been teased in recent weeks, the end result – revealed at Monterey Car Week – is still somewhat of a surprise for a manufacturer that hasn’t even once toyed with the idea of a manual since becoming McLaren Automotive in 2010. 

Though still a concept for now, McLaren has confirmed a production model will come in 2028 and establish a ‘new type of exclusive supercar’. 

It looks nothing like any other current McLaren but also somewhat familiar?

Yes, the design is quite a radical departure from anything we’ve seen from McLaren since its new era of road cars started in 2011 with the MP4-12C.

Yet its familiarity comes from its reference point, the original McLaren M6GT, hence its name. The 6GT was Bruce McLaren’s original idea for a road car from the late 1960s, when the idea came about to enter Group 4 racing which required homologated road cars to be made. 

Bruce McLaren’s early death in 1970 while testing at Goodwood halted the project, with only a few prototypes having been made. Just last month at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, McLaren revealed a one-off recreation of the original, produced by McLaren Special Operations (MSO), but now the firm is making even more of that important link in road car history with the new McL 6GT. 

Its stance is similar to those 1960s racers, too, being ultra-low and wide with a low nose, and clean, uninterrupted lines. The Kammback tail is very reminiscent of the original M6GT, while OBH 500H, the number plate of Bruce McLaren’s original M6GT prototype, is etched into the carbon diffuser. The founder’s signature is also used on the engine bay, while the original ‘Speedy Kiwi’ McLaren logo is etched into the fuel filler cap. 

A manual gearbox!

It seems to be the year of the manual gearbox making a comeback as supercar buyers increasingly want to look for more driver engagement and not outright power and acceleration figures. Porsche keeps releasing ever-more manual specials, Ferrari has just put a trick manual gearbox into its 12 Cilindri, and now there’s this. 

There aren’t too many finer details on the McL 6GT’s gearbox but it’s described as an ‘authentic manual transmission’, with the photos showing a six-speed box with an intricate open linkage. McLaren says the gearstick’s design has been ‘carefully considered for maximum feel and throw’ while the Speedy Kiwi symbol is also etched into the gearstick itself. 

It’s also been confirmed to send drive purely to the rear wheels and use ‘V8 internal combustion power’, likely with an absence of any hybridisation to get as close as possible to a modern analogue supercar. Other details confirmed are hydraulic steering, along with knurled machined aluminium controls and ‘meticulous ergonomics’.

Despite its more traditional elements, though, McLaren will continue using the same advanced carbon fibre monocoque structures that underpin its current cars, such as the Artura and 750S.

You say it will enter production?

Though the McL 6GT is called a concept for now, McLaren says it will be ‘made real’ with a production version due in 2028. It will be the first truly new model since being acquired by Abu Dhabi investment company CYVN Holdings and installing Nick Collins as its new boss. 

The firm has remained tight-lipped about its future, including rumours about a McLaren SUV, and revealed the 788HS last month as its final ‘Super Series’ car as we know them, somewhat signifying an end of an era.

McLaren says the McL 6GT ‘lays the foundations for a newly positioned and highly exclusive type of McLaren supercar beyond the core and expanded portfolio,’. Whatever that means, it certainly looks to be exciting times ahead.