Jay Leno Drives Bruce McLaren’s Personal M6 GT And Meets Its Manual V8 Successor
Jay Leno’s latest video just dropped and in this episode he drives the brutally physical 1969 McLaren M6 GT before climbing inside the modern carbon-fiber supercar it inspired. Sitting where Bruce McLaren once sat would be special in any car. Doing it inside his personal 1969 McLaren M6 GT is the sort of experience that can make even Jay Leno momentarily forget about the hundreds of extraordinary machines waiting back in his garage.
McLaren brought the incredibly rare M6 GT to Jay Leno’s Garage alongside its spiritual successor, the new McL 6GT. One is an old race car turned road machine with a Chevrolet V8 and no electronic protection. The other is a carbon-fiber, twin-turbo V8 supercar with something modern McLarens have not offered in decades. A real six-speed manual transmission.
Bruce McLaren’s Personal M6 GT Is Pure Automotive Royalty
Bruce McLaren originally planned to transform the M6 race car into a street-legal production model, with several hundred examples reportedly intended. His death in 1970 ended that dream before it could properly begin, leaving behind only two completed M6 GTs. The orange car driven by Jay was Bruce McLaren’s own personal machine.
Behind the cabin sits a 5.7-liter Chevrolet V8 producing approximately 370 horsepower through a four-speed manual transaxle. That sounds modest beside today’s four-figure hypercars, but the M6 GT weighs only around 1,764 pounds. It also has no traction control, no anti-lock brakes, and no computers waiting to rescue a clumsy driver. Wide tires, heavy steering, a punishing clutch, and a low seating position make every mile feel like physical labor with an excellent soundtrack.
Jay Leno Discovers This Vintage McLaren Fights Back
Jay describes the M6 GT as a 1969 hypercar, and from behind the wheel, that description makes perfect sense. The cockpit feels as though it is resting directly on the pavement, while the enormous American V8 delivers the low-end torque and reliability Bruce wanted from his roadgoing race car. The four-speed gearbox, disc brakes, and ZF transaxle were serious hardware at the time, even if the terrible turning radius makes a simple parking maneuver feel like pit-lane strategy.
The drive stays brief because Los Angeles is roasting at 105 degrees and the temperature gauge begins climbing almost immediately. Jay wrestles with the steering and heavy clutch while carefully watching the engine temperature, eventually joking that this was once called a man’s car. By the end, his final request is considerably less heroic. He wants somebody to help him escape before the McLaren cooks them both.
The New McL 6GT Brings Back The Proper Manual
Parked beside the M6 GT is McLaren’s modern interpretation of Bruce’s unfinished road-car vision. The McL 6GT avoids an obvious retro design and instead borrows the original’s low nose, pronounced front fenders, clean body surfaces, exposed fuel cap, and wonderfully simple attitude. Aerodynamics are largely managed underneath the car, allowing McLaren to avoid covering it with enormous wings and visual clutter.
McLaren confirms that the production car will use a twin-turbocharged V8, a titanium-linked six-speed manual transmission, and a full carbon-fiber structure. Final horsepower and weight figures remain secret, although the company promises it will be one of the lightest McLarens ever produced. Only 500 examples are planned for 2028, and McLaren has already started accepting orders.
Jay immediately approves of the uncluttered cockpit, especially the clean steering wheel without a collection of distracting buttons. The exposed manual linkage gives the driver something mechanical to see and feel, while controls positioned around the instrument cluster remain within fingertip reach. There is no front trunk, but McLaren has provided a cupholder, which Jay helpfully suggests could also carry a toothbrush.
The McL 6GT will never recreate the raw intimidation of Bruce McLaren’s personal M6 GT, and that is probably good news for anyone who enjoys functioning shoulder joints. What it can revive is the idea that involvement matters more than shaving another fraction from an acceleration time. McLaren spent decades building faster automatic supercars. Now it is finally building one that asks the driver to participate again.
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