• McLaren revealed a new car called the McL 6GT, although this is only a pre-production prototype, with deliveries not starting until 2028.
• The McL 6GT differs from other recent McLaren products by utilizing a six-speed manual transmission.
• The design is inspired by the M6GT, a road car prototype developed by Bruce McLaren in the late 1960s.

We’ve been beating this drum for a long time, and it seems as though manufacturers are finally starting to understand the need to introduce more manual transmissions. Ferrari, probably the oldest proponent of the “an automatic is faster” adage, has its pseudo-manual 12Cilindri coming, Porsche reintroduced a manual for its 911 Carrera S, and now McLaren joins the budding field of three-pedal builders with its McL 6GT.

But now is a bit of a tease. The production model won’t actually arrive until 2028, when it will carry a price of about $1.5 million. What you see here is a “pre-production prototype.” The 6GT follows a function formula—except for the manual trans—that’s familiar to McLaren, meaning a carbon-fiber tub and body with a mid-mounted engine.

McLaren wouldn’t get into specifics on the engine, but we know this prototype was runner. If the shift pattern on the rather bulbous shifter is to be believed, it’s a six-speed. It’s probably a safe bet to assume the production car will have a V-8 of some variety.

The form of this new car, of which McLaren will build 500 units, is breaking new ground, or at least treading ground McLaren hasn’t in decades. It doesn’t have the scalloped headlights of a 750S. It doesn’t have a lot of exposed scoops. Just a single, low intake on each side with horizontal strakes. A keen eye will clock the well camouflaged intakes just behind the side glass.

A tiny low-profile wing that’s mostly integrated with the body is out back above a diffuser and a pair of ovoid exhaust tips. That wing is fixed, but there is some active aero that manipulates the downforce happening underneath the skin. Ultimately it looks like a modern mid-engine supercar, albeit with more reserved styling than what we’re used to seeing from McLaren.

There’s a bit more McLaren familiarity inside the cabin, though it isn’t the carbon-fiber cocoon we’re used to. Quilted Alcantara covers, though not completely, the doors, sills, and seats. Between those seats is arguably the most important part of the car. The shifter has exposed linkage with large-diameter bushings. It’s an interesting take. Not gated or booted, the setup reminds us most of an older Spyker.

The 6GT’s name and whole ethos, really, takes its inspiration from McLaren’s first attempt at a road car. Back when Bruce McLaren was running the race teams, he had the vision of developing the early Can-Am M6A for the road. McLaren died while testing the M8D in 1970 before the road-car division could take off, but a few M6GTs were developed. McLaren recently rebuilt one.

It was utter dominance until Porsche found success with its open-top 917 variants, the last of which, the 917/30, pumped out 1100 horsepower. Turns out that is the amount of power needed to see the competition walk away. The 1973 season was Can-Am’s last in that unregulated form. If you want a visual history of that era, check out Can Am: The Speed Odyssey on YouTube. It’s worth a watch.

It’s hard not to think we had something to do with this renaissance of three-pedal gearboxes. After all, we started our Save the Manuals campaign when Obama was in office. It’s also hard not to wonder if the Ferrari-McLaren beef is alive and well. The second bullet point of its press release for the McL 6GT starts with “authentic manual transmission,” some clear shade thrown the Italians' way. Now we just need to wait for the McL 6GT to come to fruition.

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K.C. Colwell, the executive editor at Car and Driver, is a seasoned professional with a deep-rooted passion for new cars and technology. His journey into the world of automotive journalism began at an early age when his grandmother gifted him a subscription to Car and Driver for his 10th birthday. This gift sparked a lifelong love for the industry, and he read every issue between then and his first day of employment. He started his Car and Driver career as a technical assistant in the fall of 2004. In 2007, he was promoted to assistant technical editor. In addition to testing, evaluating, and writing about cars, technology, and tires, K.C. also set the production-car lap record at Virginia International Raceway for C/D's annual Lightning Lap track test and was just the sixth person to drive the Hendrick Motorsport Garage 56 Camaro. In 2017, he took over as testing director until 2022, when was promoted to executive editor and has led the brand to be one of the top automotive magazines in the country. When he’s not thinking about cars, he likes playing hockey in the winter and golf in the summer and doing his best to pass his good car sense and love of '90s German sedans to his daughter. He might be the only Car and Driver editor to own a Bobcat: the skidsteer, not the feline. Though, if you have a bobcat guy, reach out. K.C. resides in Chelsea, Michigan, with his family.