{"id":107048,"date":"2026-07-07T14:40:06","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T14:40:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.secret-classics.com\/you-probably-havent-heard-of-this-mclaren-before-the-f1-there-was-the-m6gt\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T14:41:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T14:41:20","slug":"you-probably-havent-heard-of-this-mclaren-before-the-f1-there-was-the-m6gt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.secret-classics.com\/en\/you-probably-havent-heard-of-this-mclaren-before-the-f1-there-was-the-m6gt\/","title":{"rendered":"You probably haven’t heard of this McLaren: Before the F1, there was the M6GT"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Every year, the Goodwood Festival of Speed serves as a stage for world premieres, historic race cars, and rare one-off models. McLaren is using this year\u2019s event to bring one of the most important vehicles in its corporate history back into the spotlight. With an M6GT fully restored by McLaren Special Operations, the brand is paying tribute to the sports car with which Bruce McLaren sought to make the transition from a racing team to a sports car manufacturer in the late 1960s.<\/p>\n\n

When people think of McLaren today, they usually think of the F1, the P1, or, more recently, the W1. In fact, the history of McLaren\u2019s road-going sports cars began much earlier. The M6GT was developed based on the successful M6A Can-Am race car and was the first McLaren intended for public roads. Bruce McLaren used the prototype himself as his everyday car and drove it to meetings and racing events. After his fatal accident in 1970, the project disappeared into the archives. However, the idea behind it lived on and found its most famous continuation 25 years later in the McLaren F1.<\/p>\n\n

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McLaren Special Operations undertook the restoration. The goal was not to create a modern interpretation of the M6GT, but to rebuild the vehicle as faithfully as possible to the original. To achieve this, the team relied on original body molds that were rediscovered in the United Kingdom, as well as historical photographs and extensive archival material. Even today, the molds tell their own story. During their examination, the specialists discovered traces of early modifications that had been made during the development of the original vehicle and were intentionally preserved.<\/p>\n\n

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