McLaren Teases Its First Manual Supercar In Decades

McLaren is making a manual supercar. Or at least, that’s what the automaker’s latest Instagram post seems to imply.

A short teaser video opens with footage of the McLaren M6GT, the automaker’s first road car, which had a five-speed manual transmission. Only three prototypes were ever made. The video then cuts to showing the new car, ending with a shot of a hand pulling back a shifter.  

The clip includes Bruce McLaren saying:   

‘Somewhere down the line, I think it is bound to happen. I hope it happens.’

Rumors about a manual-equipped McLaren surfaced a month ago when a report alleged that the automaker planned to produce fewer than 100 such vehicles. The supercar is allegedly known internally at the company as the P50, but little else is known.   

There are no clear shots of the new car in the teaser, but the brief glimpses we do get appear to show it taking some design inspiration from the original M6GT. It’s also unclear which powertrain McLaren will pair with its new gearbox, but we suspect it will be the V8.   

The teaser video ends with a date—August 14—during Monterey Car Week. The car is expected to cost more than the McLaren W1, which has a $2.1 million price tag.   

Manual Renaissance  

McLaren’s manual-equipped supercar will debut just weeks after Ferrari put a “manual” in the 12Cilindri. Manual is in quotation marks because Ferrari’s shifter is not a traditional manual transmission.   

Ferrari has introduced a shift-by-wire system, pairing a dual-clutch transmission with a traditional stick shift. It includes both manual and automatic drive modes and even features a clutch pedal and a gated shifter.   

It’s unclear if McLaren will feature a shift-by-wire system or an old-fashioned manual gearbox. Simulated manual gearboxes aren’t new, with Koenigsegg and others using the technology, but not all supercar makers are on board. Lamborghini said it has no plans to build a manual supercar. 

Motor1’s Take: Manual transmissions are having a moment, but it seems like the current renaissance is more concerned about bringing back the vibes of rowing your own with much less hassle. It’s just the way the world is going as software becomes more important than hardware to the driving experience