McLaren Unveils Retro-Inspired McL 6GT With Its First Manual Since the F1

Just weeks after showing off a freshly built M6GT using original 1960s blueprints, McLaren is now going further with the new McL 6GT, a limited-edition supercar featuring the brand's first noticeably retro design and its first manual transmission since the F1.

The car, which pays obvious homage to the M6GT that Bruce McLaren envisioned as a roadgoing coupe based on the M6A Can-Am racer, looks unlike any other modern McLaren. It's a real six-speed manual, with the shifter's shape chosen for "maximum feel and throw," and the Speedy Kiwi logo etched into the upright.

The interior also features unique switchgear and a slim portrait-oriented touchscreen.

McLaren says the McL 6GT uses a latest super-lightweight carbon-fiber monocoque and V8 internal combustion power, likely sharing its tub and twin-turbo engine with the W1. It's rear-wheel drive, and the company emphasizes it "celebrates a form of driving connection that is increasingly rare: tactile, analogue, and deeply mechanical," suggesting it won't use the W1's hybrid system.

Seen in person nose-to-nose with a red M6GT, the new car's wedge-like proportions, kammback tail, and '60s greenhouse are a strong design connection. Stacked headlights (with an intake inside the lower circle), racing-loop taillights echoed in exhaust tips, vents, and interior details, plus clean surfacing and straked side skirts, define its look.

Digital gauges remain, however.

McLaren stresses the McL 6GT is not a preview of future designs, though some details may carry over. CEO Nick Collins calls it "a modern icon of driver connection" and symbolic of a bold future. Pricing, production numbers (a rumor suggests fewer than 100), and a full reveal are still to come, it won't appear at Monterey Car Week events, only at private viewings at McLaren House.