Most exotic car companies get into racing as a way to promote their road-going vehicles. McLaren went about things in the opposite direction, gathering decades of racing experience before building a single street-legal car. Today, McLaren is just about the only high-end automaker left that doesn’t build a sport-utility vehicle—the company’s 2024 lineup is made exclusively of two-door, two-seat, mid-engine supercars. Here’s everything you need to know about this hyper-focused British brand. A British Company Named for a Kiwi McLaren Automotive is named for Bruce McLaren, a New Zealand-born racing driver and engineer who spent most of his career in England. Bruce McLaren became a Formula 1 driver in 1959, and launched McLaren Racing in 1963. A talented and successful driver, McLaren and co-driver Chris Amon drove the Ford GT40 that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966, part of Ford’s iconic 1-2-3 photo finish. The McLaren Formula..
