A McLaren M6GT lands at McLaren Newport Beach!

As every Formula 1 and automotive racing enthusiast knows, McLaren has a rich history of being one of the most competitive automotive racing teams to ever exist.  Founded by Bruce McLaren, his aim was to produce state-of-the-art racing vehicles using the highest technology available and in 99% of those cases, that meant pioneering technology on their own creating new benchmarks along the way.

The McLaren M6GT is a road race car that never was. Give our video above a look above to see this legend start up and give us a few revs.  At the time, the M6A chassis dominated in the Group 7 league. It was proposed by Bruce McLaren for McLaren to entertain the idea of entering the Group 4 GT race where the big racing names competed in. Big names such as Porsche, Ferrari, and Alfra Romeo were the targets of Bruce for McLaren.

The idea was to produce a Coupe version of the M6A which would be the M6GT.   The added rigidity of a Coupe version was more fit for a racing chassis. Unfortunately, the FIA has changed rules regarding homologation regulation for the World of Championship of Makes.  The new rules stated that competition vehicles must meet a minimum requirement of 50 cars before being entered into the racing series.

An expensive and large project had now grown considerably more expensive and much larger in terms of costs.  Disregarding that, Bruce had a personal prototype car built for himself that he would drive like any other road-going vehicle.  It's been said that he drove to and from work, to business meetings, and many others places in the low-slung wedge-shaped race car.

Ultimately, only 4 M6GT examples were with only 1 of the 4 actually built at the McLaren Racing factory while the remaining 3 built by Trojan-Tauranac Racing.  The 1,600lb 41" tall M6GT was so low that it was almost impossible to see at a glance.  With what little road visibility it had was more than compensated in the volume department as the M6GT was an absolute monster at making noise.  Unfortunately, the M6GT never got to echo its howls on racetracks as the M6GT project died with Bruce McLaren.  The M6GT example in our showroom definitely lives up to the rumors as we heard the V8-powered M6GT fire up and breathe again just before heading into our showroom where it currently rests.

The condition of this M6GT is quite remarkable.  The paint, body work, tires, lightweight lexan windows, and even cloth of the interior is fitting of a collector's piece.  It truly is an honor to have such a prime piece of McLaren history in our showroom.

Click here to view our McLaren M6GT Gallery