McLaren Legacy Models:
The Cars

The Austin Ulster was the car Bruce McLaren drove in his earliest competitive driving experience — together with his father, Bruce transform the Austin Ulster into a race car. This restoration project proved vital for the future racing driver and designer, who was involved in every aspect of the restoration.

After two years, the car was ready and a 15-year-old Bruce set the fastest time in the 750cc class at the Muriwai Beach hill climb in the Austin Ulster.

The Group 7 McLaren M1B 1965 was designed and built by Bruce and Robin Herd, and therefore became the official 1965 McLaren team car. Painted in distinctive red, it made its debut at the Canadian Grand Prix.

The Can-Am McLaren M6A 1967 was the most successful racing car that Robin Herd designed for the McLaren team. It helped Bruce and Denny Hulme’s win five out of six races at the 1967 Can-Am series.

The Formula 1 McLaren M7A 1968 was designed again by Robin Herd, with the help of Gordon Coppuck, and powered by the Ford Cosworth DFV engine.

The Road Car McLaren M6GT 1969 was the first car that allowed Bruce to truly test his skills as an innovator, designer and entrepreneur, thanks to previous racing success that brought lucrative funds into the company. The aim was to make the ultimate sports car built to the highest specification — to which the same approach continued a decade later in the Formula 1 project.

The wedge shape, which was recognized from the Formula 1 and the Gordon Coppuck design, was ideal for continuous high-speed that was required for Indy Racing.

One of the most significant models in McLaren history, the McLaren F1 MP4/1 was the first carbon composite car in the Formula 1, and was strong, stiff and light. The British Grand Prix was McLaren’s first victory in four years, and the first ever win in a carbon composite car.

Winning 15 out of 16 races, and then achieving 199 points in the Constructor’s Championships (nearly three times the number of the runner up), the Formula 1 McLaren MP4/4 was the perfect package.

As the first carbon-fibre road car, it soon became the world’s fastest production car and the fastest naturally aspirated road car to ever be built. Designed by Gordon Murray and his handpicked team, they deliberated over every millimetre of the car.

A modified version of the road car, the McLaren F1 GTR was the race-ready version of the F1 that entered the Le Mans in June 1995. It both won and dominated the podium occupying four out of five of the top places.

Designed by Adrian Newey and Neil Oatley, the car was on another level compared to the rest — with Mika Hakkinen winning the Melbourne Grand Prix.

Work begin in May 2007, the car spent over 3,000 hours in the wind tunnel at the McLaren Technology Centre, and the aerodynamic development continued throughout the series to create an innovative four-deck front wing and nosebox winglets.

With the aim to defend the 2008 Driver’s Championship title, the McLaren MP4-24 had a new battery incorporating new technologies and featured the most sophisticated kinetic energy recovery system.

A pure McLaren through and through, the McLaren 12C was the first model to be created following the ‘legendary’ McLaren F1. Combining innovative design and state-of-the-art sophisticated technology, the McLaren 12C was the most capable supercars on the road.

This model showed McLaren stepping outside of the usual regulations to out-think the competition. Simple, fast and effective, the car incorporated a conduit running from the front to the rear of the car.

The McLaren P1 was the ultimate supercar delivering aerodynamic expertise in every aspect. Inspired by the McLaren F1, the P1 was sculpted to perfection, to become the most adaptive and exhilarating road car to deliver a thrilling driving experience.