McLaren Special Operations (MSO) will give its one-off McLaren M6GT restoration its first public appearance at the 2026 Goodwood Festival of Speed.
The car has been constructed around a period-built McLaren M6A racing chassis, using original body moulds, archive drawings, photographs and surviving reference material. Restored period components have been combined with newly fabricated parts where original items were unavailable.
The McLaren M6GT was developed from the M6A that Bruce McLaren and Denny Hulme drove during the 1967 Can-Am season. Designed in 11 weeks by a team including Bruce McLaren, Robin Herd, Gordon Coppuck, Tyler Alexander and Don Beresford, the M6A was McLaren’s first monocoque racing car. More than 2000 miles of testing were completed before the start of the season.
Bruce placed the M6A on pole for the opening round at Road America, lowering the circuit record by ten seconds, although Hulme won the race. Denny followed that result with victories at Bridgehampton and Mosport before Bruce won at Laguna Seca and Riverside. The M6A therefore won five of the six rounds, with Bruce securing the 1967 Can-Am drivers’ championship.
The season began a sustained period of Can-Am success for McLaren. The team won the first of five consecutive championships in 1967 and took 37 victories from the 43 Can-Am races held between 1967 and 1971. The customer M6B followed, with 14 examples sold before production had begun.
McLaren subsequently investigated a closed-cockpit version of the M6 for Group 4 competition. A regulations change made the required production programme financially unviable, but Bruce continued to develop the design as a road car. He used the first McLaren M6GT prototype for journeys to work, meetings and race events.
The proposed programme called for 250 production cars, but it did not proceed following Bruce McLaren’s death in June 1970. McLaren regards the M6GT as its first road car, although another 25 years passed before the McLaren F1 entered production.
MSO’s McLaren M6GT uses a period-correct small-block V8 and gearbox. The engine has the same type of ‘camel hump’ cylinder heads specified during the original programme, while its suspension consists of restored M6GT hardware. Replacement imperial bearings had to be sourced for components produced to standards no longer commonly used.
The body was made from original moulds found in the UK. McLaren says changes made to the moulds during the initial project remained visible, providing evidence of how the M6GT’s shape developed over time.
An original 1970s race-derived cockpit forms the basis of the interior. MSO fabricated the roll hoop, rear supporting frame, internal clam reinforcement and wiring harness. Closed aluminium dome rivets of the original pattern were installed by craftspeople from the aerospace industry. The windscreen was recreated after its shape was digitally scanned and sent to a specialist manufacturer. The cabin includes a solid walnut gearknob and green vinyl seats with heat-seamed detailing.
The car is finished in Colnbrook White, a cream-based colour named after McLaren’s former premises near Heathrow Airport. Its white exterior and green interior refer to the colour scheme of the McLaren M2B, the team’s first Formula 1 car, which competed in 1966 with a white body and green stripe.
“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,” said MSO director Jon Simms.
The McLaren M6GT will form part of the McLaren House display at the Goodwood Festival of Speed alongside an M8A Can-Am car, Bruce McLaren’s Austin 7 Ulster and a McLaren F1 GTR. Current models will include the W1, Artura, Artura Spider and 750S.
McLaren will also show the MCL-HY developed for its return to the Le Mans 24 Hours and the World Endurance Championship in 2027, together with the MCL-HY GTR customer track car. A further McLaren supercar is due to be announced on July 9, 2026 before its public debut at Goodwood on July 10. More details can be found here.
Racer Justin Bell tested an original McLaren M6GT for Magneto in 2024. You can read it in issue 24, available here.
