Tag Archives: McLaren

News

McLaren Reveals New Brand Identity Connecting Bruce McLaren’s Legacy With Its Future

McLaren has unveiled an evolved global brand identity designed to connect the company’s racing heritage, road-car legacy and future ambitions under one unmistakably McLaren expression.

More than a cosmetic redesign, the new identity looks back to the origins of the company founded by Bruce McLaren while providing a visual framework for where McLaren Automotive and McLaren Racing are heading next. The updated identity brings together historic symbols, colours and design cues with a new McLaren wordmark inspired by the family service station in Remuera, Auckland, where Bruce McLaren began building the cars that would establish his racing career.

At its core, the new McLaren identity is about continuity. The company says its evolution is rooted in the same restless ambition that has defined McLaren for more than six decades: the belief that there is always another way to go further.

A New Chapter for McLaren

McLaren’s history has always been defined by a willingness to challenge convention. From Bruce McLaren’s early racing exploits to the technological extremes of Formula 1 and the development of legendary road cars such as the McLaren F1, the company has consistently positioned innovation at the centre of its identity.

The new brand direction aims to carry that philosophy into a new era.

David Woodhouse, Chief Creative Officer of McLaren Automotive, describes the evolution as a physical expression of the company’s ambition, creativity and forward momentum.

Rather than abandoning the visual elements that have become synonymous with McLaren, the new identity develops them. The result is intended to create a more unified expression across McLaren Automotive and McLaren Racing while also supporting a broader vision of McLaren ownership and fandom.

That means the brand is increasingly looking beyond the cars themselves, with greater emphasis on personalisation, experiences and community.

The McLaren Wordmark Returns to Its Roots

One of the most significant elements of the new identity is the redesigned McLaren wordmark.

Its inspiration comes from a particularly important piece of Bruce McLaren’s personal history: the sign above the McLaren family service station in Remuera, Auckland.

Owned by Bruce’s parents, Les and Ruth McLaren, the service station was more than a family business. It was a place where Bruce developed his mechanical skills and built the car that would eventually take him to his first racing victory.

McLaren has now reinterpreted that historic visual reference for the modern era.

The decision gives the new identity a direct connection to Bruce McLaren rather than relying solely on the company’s more recent history in Formula 1 and high-performance road cars. It also reinforces the idea that today’s McLaren is an evolution of the same ambition that existed at the beginning.

The Speedmark Remains

Despite the changes, McLaren is not walking away from the symbols that have defined the brand for generations.

The Speedmark remains a central element of the identity. One of McLaren’s most recognisable visual signatures, it continues to provide a direct link between the company’s past and its present.

For fans, the decision to retain the Speedmark is significant because the symbol has become almost inseparable from McLaren’s racing and automotive identity.

Papaya also remains at the heart of the brand.

The distinctive orange has been closely associated with McLaren since the company’s early racing history and has enjoyed renewed prominence during the team’s modern Formula 1 era. The updated identity expands the palette around papaya with additional colours inspired by important moments in McLaren’s history.

Another historic symbol also survives: the Speedy Kiwi.

The reference pays tribute to Bruce McLaren’s New Zealand heritage and preserves a visual connection to the founder whose name remains at the centre of the company more than 60 years after McLaren was established.

From Bruce McLaren to the McLaren F1

McLaren’s new identity arrives at a particularly significant point in the company’s history.

The marque’s transformation from a racing organisation into a global automotive brand has been one of the most remarkable stories in the performance-car industry.

While McLaren Racing established its reputation through Formula 1, the McLaren F1 changed perceptions of what a road car could achieve. Developed under Gordon Murray and launched in the 1990s, the F1 became a technological benchmark and remains one of the most influential supercars ever produced.

Bruce McLaren’s original ambition to build road cars is now being revisited as part of the company’s broader storytelling.

During 2026, McLaren has placed greater emphasis on its founder’s story, including the M6GT, an early expression of Bruce McLaren’s vision for a road-going car.

The company has also introduced McL 6GT as a contemporary signal of its design and performance direction.

These projects underline an important theme behind the new identity: McLaren’s future is being presented as an extension of its past rather than a departure from it.

McLaren Racing Enters a New Era

The identity update also brings McLaren Racing into the same broader visual narrative.

The Formula 1 team has entered what McLaren describes as its papaya era, with the distinctive colour becoming one of the most recognisable liveries on the modern F1 grid.

The team has also reached major milestones during 2026.

McLaren Racing has competed in its 1000th Formula 1 Grand Prix, marking a significant chapter in one of the sport’s longest-running stories.

At the same time, McLaren has announced its Hypercar challenger for the FIA World Endurance Championship. The programme puts McLaren into contention for one of motorsport’s most prestigious achievements: the Triple Crown of Motorsport.

The combination of Formula 1 and endurance racing gives McLaren an increasingly broad competitive footprint and reinforces the connection between its racing heritage and future ambitions.

McLaren Is Expanding Beyond Sports Cars

Perhaps the biggest change on the horizon is not visual at all.

McLaren Automotive has confirmed plans for a £500 million investment programme to expand its UK manufacturing and engineering footprint.

The investment is intended to support the company’s long-term growth and will coincide with a significant expansion of its product strategy.

For decades, McLaren Automotive has been closely associated with two-seat supercars and sports cars. That formula is now set to broaden with the arrival of an SUV.

The move represents a major strategic development for McLaren. It will take the brand into a market segment far removed from the lightweight, low-slung supercars that established its modern automotive identity.

Yet McLaren’s new brand philosophy suggests that the company sees this expansion as part of the same underlying mission: taking its engineering, design and performance philosophy into new territory.

One McLaren Across Racing and Automotive

The most important aspect of the new identity may ultimately be its attempt to unite McLaren’s different worlds.

For decades, McLaren Racing and McLaren Automotive have shared a name, heritage and technological philosophy while operating in distinct areas. The evolved identity is designed to bring those stories closer together.

The company says its teams explored shared archives, examining the symbols, stories and design details that have shaped McLaren from Bruce McLaren’s early years in New Zealand to the global organisation it is today.

That historical approach is evident throughout the new identity.

The McLaren wordmark looks back to Bruce’s family service station. The Speedmark continues from the modern McLaren visual language. Papaya connects the company’s racing heritage with its contemporary motorsport presence. The Speedy Kiwi provides a direct link to Bruce McLaren himself.

Together, those elements create a brand identity intended to feel both historic and forward-looking.

McLaren’s Future Is Being Built on Its Past

McLaren’s new identity arrives at a moment when the company is entering one of the most consequential periods in its history.

Its racing operation is expanding its ambitions beyond Formula 1, while McLaren Automotive is preparing for a broader product portfolio and significant investment in British manufacturing and engineering.

The arrival of an SUV will fundamentally expand McLaren’s potential customer base, while continued investment in performance cars will ensure that the company’s core identity remains rooted in engineering and driving excitement.

The challenge will be maintaining the character that made McLaren distinctive as the company becomes a broader global automotive brand.

The new identity provides McLaren with the visual language it believes can bridge those two worlds.

For a company founded on the restless ambition of Bruce McLaren, the message is remarkably consistent: McLaren may be changing, but it intends to keep moving forward.

The new wordmark, Speedmark, papaya colour and Speedy Kiwi are therefore more than branding elements. Together, they form a link between the small New Zealand operation created by Bruce McLaren and the global racing and automotive organisation that carries his name today.

McLaren’s next chapter is beginning with a look back at where it all started.

Source: McLaren

News

McLaren Artura and GTS to Be Retired by 2028

McLaren is preparing for one of the biggest transformations in its modern history, with the Artura and GTS set to leave production over the next two years as the British supercar manufacturer prepares an expanded new-generation lineup.

The planned changes follow McLaren’s recently announced £500 million investment strategy, which is designed to accelerate the development of new models, powertrains and technologies. According to reports, two of the company’s three core production models will be phased out by the end of 2028.

The first to disappear will be the McLaren GTS, with production expected to wind down during 2027.

McLaren GTS Heads for Retirement

The GTS arrived in 2019 as McLaren’s answer to the growing demand for a more comfortable and spacious alternative to its hardcore mid-engine supercars. Built around a carbonfibre structure and powered by a twin-turbocharged V8, the two-seat grand tourer combined McLaren’s performance-focused engineering with greater everyday usability.

The GTS has occupied a different niche from McLaren’s traditional supercars, competing with models such as the Aston Martin DB12 and Ferrari Amalfi.

However, its successor could take McLaren in a significantly different direction.

The company has yet to reveal the precise composition of its future model range, but the front-engined architecture being developed for McLaren’s upcoming SUV could potentially underpin additional vehicles.

That raises the possibility of a future four-seat grand tourer with a more conventional front-engine layout, potentially giving McLaren a rival to cars such as the Bentley Continental GT.

Such a model would represent a significant expansion of McLaren’s product philosophy while allowing the company to move beyond the two-seat configuration that has defined much of its road-car history.

McLaren Artura Will Follow in 2028

The second major model scheduled to leave production is the McLaren Artura.

The V6 plug-in hybrid supercar is expected to remain in production until 2028, approximately six years after its original launch.

The Artura was conceived as McLaren’s response to the Ferrari 296 and represented a major technological step for the company. Its 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged V6 was paired with an electric motor and battery system, giving McLaren a combination of internal-combustion performance and electrification.

Its introduction, however, was far from straightforward.

Development problems delayed the Artura’s launch, while the global semiconductor shortage created additional challenges for production. McLaren subsequently introduced a series of technical improvements and software updates that transformed the car into a highly capable and competitive hybrid supercar.

Today, the Artura is regarded as one of the strongest performers in its segment and has become an important contributor to McLaren’s production volumes.

Although McLaren does not publish sales figures for individual models, the Artura is understood to sell in broadly similar numbers to the V8-powered 750S.

The end of Artura production therefore represents more than the retirement of a single model. It marks the conclusion of McLaren’s first major modern attempt to combine a compact combustion engine with hybrid technology in a series-production supercar.

A New McLaren Supercar Is Already Taking Shape

McLaren has not officially confirmed a direct successor to the Artura, but the company has made it clear that two-seat, rear-engined supercars will remain central to its future lineup.

The manufacturer is also developing two bespoke hybrid powertrains for its next generation of supercars.

That could allow McLaren to move beyond the traditional V6 and V8 engine configurations that have defined its current range.

McLaren COO Michael Straughan has suggested that developing its own engines gives the company greater freedom when deciding what powertrains will be used in future models.

That flexibility could become increasingly important as McLaren attempts to balance electrification, emissions regulations and the performance expectations of its customers.

Reports have already suggested that one future McLaren supercar could arrive by 2028 with a twin-turbocharged hybrid V6 producing approximately 800 lb-ft of torque.

If accurate, that would give the new car substantially more torque than the current Artura.

The reported starting price is also expected to rise significantly, potentially reaching around £230,000—approximately £30,000 more than the Artura.

However, McLaren has not officially confirmed the model, its specifications or whether it will serve as a direct Artura replacement.

The 750S Is Also Approaching the End

While the Artura and GTS have defined two important areas of McLaren’s current range, the 750S is also approaching the end of its production cycle.

The V8-powered supercar remains available to order, but its roots stretch back nearly a decade to the 720S, which itself evolved into the 750S with additional power and extensive performance upgrades.

McLaren has not announced a specific production end date for the 750S.

However, the introduction of the limited-production 788HS provides a strong indication that the current-generation V8 supercar is approaching its final chapter.

Developed as a hardcore, track-focused special edition, the 788HS combines the extreme performance expected from McLaren with the exclusivity normally associated with a model’s final production phase.

That suggests the 750S may not remain in production deep into 2027.

A New Era for McLaren

The retirement of the GTS, Artura and eventually the 750S would leave McLaren with a dramatically different lineup compared with the one it sells today.

At the same time, the company is preparing to expand beyond its traditional two-seat supercars. Its forthcoming SUV will introduce McLaren to an entirely new segment, while the development of new front-engined and hybrid architectures could create opportunities for additional models.

The most significant change, however, may be underneath the bodywork.

McLaren’s decision to develop bespoke hybrid powertrains indicates that electrification will play a central role in its next generation of performance cars without necessarily replacing the internal-combustion engine altogether.

For enthusiasts, that could mean the next generation of McLaren supercars will continue to combine high-revving combustion engines with electric assistance, but with significantly greater flexibility in engine configuration and vehicle layout.

The Artura’s retirement in 2028 would therefore be less of an ending than a transition point.

McLaren is effectively closing one chapter of its modern product strategy while preparing a broader lineup designed to compete in more segments and operate with a wider range of powertrain technologies.

With the GTS expected to disappear first, followed by the Artura and eventually the 750S, McLaren’s current model family is entering its final phase.

What replaces these cars—and how far McLaren expands beyond the traditional two-seat supercar—will determine the shape of the British manufacturer’s next decade.

Source: McLaren

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McLaren Artura Spider MCL39 Championship Edition

McLaren doesn’t do subtle when it’s celebrating. After bagging its tenth Formula 1 constructors’ championship and handing Lando Norris a long-awaited drivers’ title, the company did what any proper supercar maker would do: it turned a race car into a road car in spirit, then made only ten of them so everyone else could feel left out.

Meet the Artura Spider MCL39 Championship Edition, a hyper-exclusive riff on McLaren’s entry-level hybrid roadster that exists for one reason—to remind the world who won last year. And, because this job was handed to McLaren Special Operations, the brand’s bespoke skunkworks, it’s done with the kind of obsessive attention to detail that makes regular special editions look like rental cars with decals.

The first thing you notice is the paint. This isn’t vinyl wrap or a sticker kit—it’s hand-painted in Myan Orange and Onyx Black, echoing the livery of the title-winning MCL39 Formula 1 car. It’s dramatic without being cartoonish, which is harder than it sounds. Look closer and you’ll find a star-filled “10” to mark McLaren’s tenth constructors’ crown, along with graphic outlines of McLaren’s past championship-winning F1 machines ghosted into the bodywork. It’s history, literally baked into the paint.

The wheels go full stealth mode: Super-Lightweight Dynamo forged aluminum ten-spokes, finished in gloss black with black detailing. Behind them sits a sports exhaust that makes absolutely no effort to hide. Given that modern F1 cars sound like angry vacuum cleaners, this is probably the closest thing you’ll get to a McLaren race-car soundtrack that still stirs your spine.

Inside, McLaren didn’t forget why this car exists. The cabin keeps the light-and-dark contrast going, with Jet Black Nappa leather and Performance Carbon Black Alcantara broken up by Myan Orange accents. A bold orange stripe marks the 12-o’clock position on the steering wheel, just in case you forget you’re in something special. The headrests wear an embroidered “10” in McLaren Orange, and the carbon-fiber door sills are signed by Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri—a rare moment where autographs actually belong on a car.

There’s also a nameplate listing McLaren’s wins, poles, and fastest laps from last season, which feels less like bragging and more like a trophy case bolted to the dashboard.

Underneath all the championship theater, the MCL39 Edition is still very much an Artura Spider, and that’s a good thing. Its electrically assisted 3.0-liter twin-turbo V-6 makes 700 horsepower, launching the car to 100 km/h in 3.0 seconds. It’s fast, yes—but more importantly, it’s the kind of fast that reminds you McLaren knows how to build road cars that feel like racing machines rather than tech demos.

Only ten people on the planet will get one. They’ll get a hybrid supercar, a Formula 1 trophy, and a rolling piece of McLaren history all in the same garage bay.

Everyone else just gets to stare—and maybe dream a little louder.

Source: McLaren