‘A Tribute To The Very Beginnings:’ McLaren Rebuilt Its First Road Car To Absolute Perfection

You may think the McLaren F1 was the first road car from the Formula 1 team turned automaker, but what if we told you the company actually built a road-legal car several decades prior? In the late 1960s, Bruce McLaren took an M6A race car and attempted to turn just three of them into a road car called the M6GT. One actually became McLaren’s personal vehicle.

The M6GT never entered production, but more than half a century later, the McLaren Special Operations (MSO) division has brought the car to life using original drawings, molds, and photographs. Just a single one-off example has been built and will be displayed at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. Jon Simms, Director of MSO, describes it best:

‘The M6GT has been a labor of craft and care for the team and served as both a technical education and a living reminder of Bruce’s ambition to take McLaren beyond the race track. This car occupies a unique place in our collection—a tribute to the very beginnings of the company and a spiritual education for its future.’

M6GT: The Details

Like the original, the M6GT uses a 5.7-liter small-block Chevrolet V8 producing around 370 horsepower, routed through a five-speed manual transmission. This engine was notable for having unique cylinder heads with a double “camel hump,” which this MSO model retains.

This being an MSO project, every detail is fastidious. The chassis is from an original M6A race car, while the bodywork was formed from Bruce McLaren’s original molds. Much of the hardware used to fasten down the marks, including the original-style dome rivets, required imperial measurements, which the United Kingdom stopped using back in the 1960s.

Creating the windshield was particularly tricky, requiring scans of the original that were sent to a specialist who created the new glass.

Photos by: McLaren

MSO finished this particular car in Colnbrook White, a cream color named after the factory where Bruce McLaren developed the idea for his first road car. The building was located conveniently under the flight path to the London Airport (later known as Heathrow) because he wanted to lose as little time as possible between races.

Inside, the green interior is a nod to the first McLaren F1 car, the 1966 M2B. That car was finished in white with a green stripe. The rest of the interior is simple with a walnut gear shift, vinyl seats, and some basic gauges.

Motor1’s Take: Of all the recent MSO projects, this is easily the coolest. Instead of another way too fast race car that will never be driven to its limit, this is an epic homage to history that continues the legacy of McLaren’s founder.

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