McLaren McL 6GT Connects Past to Present, Previews Future
At Monterey Car Week 2026, McLaren reveals the McL 6GT concept, its first manual gearbox in 34 years
There was much to see during Monterey Car Week 2026, at the official shows, on the streets and in seemingly every parking lot on the peninsula. On top of all of that, there were the many houses rented out by brands to show off their latest creations away from prying eyes.
One of the most secretive that we visited was The House of McLaren. Up the steep driveway, past the incredible multi-generation Ultimate Series display of the McLaren F1, P1 and W1, we were greeted by friendly faces who promptly placed stickers over the lenses of our smartphone cameras—completely understandable considering what was under the black sheet on the stage McLaren erected in the driveway.
By now you may have already seen images of the McL 6GT concept, complete with McLaren’s first manual gearbox in 34 years. The design language is a big departure from the McLaren we’ve come to know (and love) since Frank Stephenson‘s stunning P1 arrived on the scene in 2013. Sitting nose to nose with a red M6GT, it’s crystal clear that the McL 6GT concept—also cheekily debuted in red—not only connects Bruce McLaren‘s production car dreams of the past to the present, but also gives us a glimpse of McLaren’s future.
An ultra-limited production run of the McL 6GT is coming in 2028, but we imagine that we’ll see versions of this design language applied to all new McLaren models going forward. While we assumed any specific questions about product planning would be met with the customary “well, we cannot discuss future products,” there was a twinkle in the eye of every McLaren team member we spoke with.
It’s not that the current offerings aren’t notable either. A few days of driving the 750S, Artura and 765LT, we were reminded of how far McLaren has come in the 15 years since the MP4-12C went on sale. Viewing the 788 HS Coupe and Spider at the house as well, we felt that it looks to be a fitting final evolution of the 720S/750S platform. Surely it’s an absolute riot to drive, offering that signature McLaren blend of direct feel, high confidence and absurd acceleration. Carrying all of that over into a more generally palatable, “classic”-looking car should alleviate some of the financial strain McLaren has felt in recent years.
This is all speculation on our part, trying to read between the lines and parse out what the McL 6GT means for a brand with “lots of exciting news on the horizon” as CEO Mike Johnstone remarked. Rather than continue to wonder if—or when—we’ll see a McLaren SUV and sedan, we’d like to take you deeper into the design of the McL 6GT with the leader of the team behind it, Kemal Curic. No matter what the future holds for McLaren, in terms of design it’s in good hands.
COOL HUNTING: Let’s start by talking about the M6 GT.
KEMAL CURIC: The design team really took this inspiration from the M6 GT, clearly a car that was ahead of its time.
CH: You can absolutely see the direct inspiration from car to car, but it’s not just an homage, it evolves the design, as you were saying, when the McL first rolled out. We’re excited to get into some of the details, so tell us about some of your favorite elements that have carried over from the M6 GT to the McL.
KC: The purity in the shapes and the forms, particularly the pronounced front fender with its very exuberant shapes and forms, this kind of wraparound windshield that’s sitting within the body. The original car was quite simple in shape and you can describe this vehicle in almost two or three lines. This was really kind of the spirit we wanted to learn from. It has an extreme Can-Am-inspired front end, something that we almost achieved.
CH: Working against the regulations of today, that’s no easy task.
KC: Absolutely. But we didn’t want to create another retro vehicle. We really wanted to learn what makes this car so outstanding for this time period.
CH: So to evolve it and move the design forward to the present and to the future as well.
KC: Exactly.
CH: One thing we always appreciate with these classic cars, when you see them rolled out, is just how mind-blowing the design must have been at the time. In recent years we think that’s been lost in the exotic car segment, even the hyper car segment. So when the sheet came off of the McL we were very surprised by the form; it was very unexpected.
KC: And this is what we hoped for. My favorite part is studying this very carefully. When you sit inside of this vehicle, the original M6 GT, it has these front haunches, the front fenders. They’re so pronounced. They give you this kind of protective feel and at the same time they’re incredibly exotic. So you can see the way we created this in a modern form, this now being a full carbon structure and the carbon body. It really allowed us to pronounce some of these elements. One of the technical challenges is the integration of the aero, because this car keeps the pure forms and sculpture of the M6 GT and to do that, all the aero happens within the body. So it flows through the headlamps and detailed shapes on the lower fascia. There’s a technical purpose behind that as well, not just looking great.
CH: You’re taking heritage design and moving it into a whole new level of functionality and keeping the forms a little more simple compared to what we’ve seen in the past decade or so, not just from McLaren but other brands as well.
KC: I would say it’s more pure and more timeless. That was an essential goal because we really wanted to invent the McL 6GT as a collector’s piece. A car that you’re still going to appreciate in 20, 30, 40 years. A return to the analog desireability 30 years later from the F1. We really wanted to celebrate this, not just from the interior, but also from the exterior, this analog feel.
CH: This car is so good looking from the outside that we haven’t even gotten to the fact that there’s a 6-speed manual inside. Which again, is very unexpected. Beyond the exposed linkage of the gearbox, the seats immediately stood out to us.
KC: We took some of the inspiration from the original car of Bruce McLaren, this box quilting and really took it to the modern era. Not only does it look great, but also feels great. If you realize when we sit inside of the original car from Bruce McLaren it was incredibly comfortable, this box quilting. So we put another twist into the race seats and put something extremely comfortable on them.
CH: In terms of usability—something that you’re gonna get in and out of regularly, looking at the door sill, how much that’s shaved down just for ease of ingress, egress—I think that drives home the idea of “hey, we want you to use this car as a car much as possible.”
KC: That’s right. You can see not just the ease of getting in and out, but also having everything at your fingertips. We really put a lot of effort into how you’re gonna use the gearbox. Obsessing about the right size, what feels really good in your hand when you’re shifting, how it sounds when you change gears, not just the way it looks. And if you look around the steering wheel, everything is at your fingertips. You can see these rockers, which are unique to McLaren, that you can easily access while driving at high speeds to be able to engage the different modes for your suspension and powertrain without your hands leaving the wheel, but more importantly, with eyes staying fixed on the road.
CH: Another detail we’re curious about: the toggle switches on the door.
KC: These are actually meant to be for different functionalities. For example, you have your nose lift and other things that you can engage very quickly. The idea is to feel these buttons, experience the tactility, how they sound when operated. Same as the gearbox.
CH: Let’s talk about the rear of the car.
KC: It’s one of the most important views for McLaren as it’s what a lot of drivers are going to see. It’s this kind of racetrack-inspired back end and it continues the shapes and forms as the air vents on the interior. There’s something we got from the original car, and we call this the “racetrack loop.” It continues with not just the taillights, but with the exhaust outlets, the air vents, the rear end as a whole and gives it a distinctive signature.
CH: That’s obviously a great connection to not just the M6 GT, but the brand’s heritage overall. This pared back, clean and highly technical design feels very appropriate for McLaren, something that surely Bruce would be very pleased with as an evolution of his original vision. Congratulations to you and your team and we look forward to seeing more from McLaren in the next couple of years.
KC: Thank you so much.
What are your thoughts?