Links / Cars

  • McLaren. Our brand world.

     № 144

    McLaren revealed an evolved identity this month, the road cars and the racing team now sharing the same voice.

    The Speedmark stays, and so does the Papaya colour. What’s new is the wordmark, sourced from the service station that Bruce McLaren’s parents, Les and Ruth, ran in Remuera, Auckland. That’s where Bruce McLaren built the car that won him his first race.

    The McLaren family service station at night in black and white, the McLaren’s sign lit above a row of petrol pumps
    The new McLaren Racing lockup in white over a motion-blurred pit stop, the crew in papaya overalls lifting a tyre
    The service station in Remuera, and the new McLaren Racing lockup, images courtesy of McLaren

    I’m not sure how I feel about the new McLaren Racing lockup—the previous logo, still featured in the navigation bar on the McLaren Racing website, felt more… race-y? The production quality of the film itself, though, is extraordinary. The storytelling is very well done. Restrained, but crackling.

  • McLaren M6GT

     № 138

    The Special Operations team at McLaren restored the McLaren M6GT, a car designed in 1967 by Bruce McLaren, yet never made it past the prototype phase.

    (The rear of the McLaren M6GT)
    (The engine of the McLaren M6GT)
    (The speedometer of the McLaren M6GT)
    (The dashboard of the McLaren M6GT)
    Details of the McLaren M6GT

    This was never going to be a simple rebuild. We took it as an act of custodianship, with an immense responsibility to stay true to the original vision. The goal wasn’t merely to imitate the M6GT, but to bring it back. Honestly. Faithfully. With the same obsession that Bruce channelled into the original.

    There’s a short video of it on YouTube, too. Gorgeous machinery.