One of the most significant cars in McLaren’s history will make its first public appearance later this week at Goodwood Festival of Speed.
The stunning M6GT has been fully restored by McLaren Special Operations (MSO) and has been rebuilt using original body moulds, archive drawings, period photographs, and authentic reference materials. The result is that Bruce McLaren’s original road car vision has been brought back to life.
While modern-day McLaren is known for producing some of the world’s most capable supercars, it effectively all started with the M6GT. Based on the hugely successful M6A race car, Bruce McLaren built the prototype as a road-going vehicle and even used it as his own transport between meetings and race weekends.
Although it would be another 25 years before the McLaren F1 arrived, many of the ideas first explored with the M6GT would eventually become important features of the brand’s road cars.
For the restoration, MSO started from the ground up. The chassis comes from a period-built M6A racer, while the body has been recreated using original moulds discovered in the UK. Interestingly, those moulds even showed evidence of design changes made during the original development programme, allowing the team to preserve those subtle details too.
The M6GT also has a period-correct engine and gearbox, with the small-block V8 fitted with the correct ‘camel hump’ cylinder heads to match the original specification. The original race-derived cockpit is surrounded by hand-fabricated structural components made by MSO specialists. Even the suspension has been restored using hard-to-find imperial bearings that are no longer commonly produced.
Original-style aluminium dome rivets were installed throughout by aerospace specialists, and the interior has bespoke green vinyl seats with period-correct heat-seam detailing and a hand-turned solid walnut gear knob. Even the unique windscreen had to be recreated from digital scans of the original.
The car is finished in a bespoke cream-based white called Colnbrook, named after the factory where Bruce McLaren developed his early road car ideas. The white exterior and green interior also pay tribute to Bruce’s 1966 M2B Formula 1 car, which had the same colour combination.
“The M6GT: Restored by MSO has been a labour 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 racetrack. 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.”
Jon Simms, Director of MSO
The restored M6GT will be one of the centrepieces of McLaren House at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, where it will be displayed alongside several other important models from across the company’s history.
Visitors will also be able to see the M8A Can-Am racer, Bruce McLaren’s Austin 7 Ulster, the legendary McLaren F1 GTR, and current models including the W1, Artura, Artura Spider and 750S. The Artura will also be shown in a new two-tone Colnbrook and Atlantic Blue finish inspired by the restored M6GT.
McLaren Racing will also be showing off its new MCL-HY, the car that will take the brand back to the FIA World Endurance Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2027, alongside the customer-only MCL-HY GTR track car.
McLaren has also confirmed it will reveal a brand-new supercar at FOS, with the reveal happening on Thursday 9th July, before its public debut on the Goodwood hill the following day.
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