This is the new McL 6GT: the first manual McLaren since 1992’s F1

If your knowledge of McLaren stretches beyond ‘F1’, then you’ll likely remember founder Bruce McLaren’s odyssey with the gorgeous M6GT – like the Koenigsegg we featured recently, it was a machine built to take on the sportscar world, but kiboshed at the last minute. Bruce actually went ahead and made a road car.

Well, here’s New McLaren reconnecting with its heritage. It’s called the McL 6GT, and it’s a new type of supercar that’ll result in a version you – well, maybe not all of you – can buy in 2028.

It’s also the first McLaren with a proper manual gearbox since that aforementioned F1 supercar, and while details on this car are short, we know it’s matched to a V8, sending drive to the rear wheels, packaged inside a lightweight carbon fibre shell.

So… very McLaren, then. “The McLaren McL 6GT imagines what our inspirational founder had wished to complete but with six additional decades of innovation and passion woven through every element, creating a modern icon of driver connection,” said McLaren boss Nick Collins.

We’ll circle back to the looks momentarily – you will have opinions, no doubt – but first, the drive. McLaren promises something a bit more analogue: “Every shift, throttle movement and steering input is intended to feel deliberate, physical, and rewarding, connecting the driver to the machine,” it said.

“This mechanical character extends beyond the drivetrain. Hydraulic steering, tactile switchgear, and visible engineering details all contribute to a sense of purity of involvement for the driver.”

And because this is a McLaren, the details are brilliantly nerdy. The gearshift design, for example, has been engineered for “maximum feel and throw”, and even gets a 3D ‘Speedy Kiwi’ set within it. Bruce was from New Zealand, don’t forget.

So, the style. Looks unlike any new McLaren, that’s for sure. There’s a definite sweep of classic M6GT about the thing, but it’s more doe-eyed than its stablemates. It’s low, wide, features a Kamm tail, and of course, has been honed for low-drag aero.

From the close-ups of the interior – there’s no wide shot of the full cabin, annoyingly – it does look proper, and features digital instruments, ‘boxed quilting’, that sort of thing.

Like we mentioned, a production version of this will arrive in 2028, but McLaren also said it “lays the foundation for a newly positioned and highly exclusive type of McLaren supercar beyond the core and expanded portfolio”. So, there’s that.

Still don’t remember the M6GT? TopGear.com drove one a while back in the States. Here’s how we got on…