McLaren has unveiled its 2027 FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar, named the MCL-HY.

In keeping with McLaren's corporate image since Zak Brown took over from Ron Dennis a decade (!) ago, the car is papaya orange, with white and black highlights.

It looks substantially different to the showcar the manufacturer unveiled at Le Mans in 2025. It'll be the British team's first ever bespoke Le Mans prototype, as the McLaren F1 GTR which won Le Mans 31 years ago, in 1995, was a GT1 car built initially for the road, then converted to a racing car for the GT1 class.

Alongside the prototype, McLaren have also unveiled the MCL-HY GTR, a track day version of the car which customers can "buy" and drive at various circuits around the world. It's not unlike Ferrari's 499P Modificata programme, which has been a success for the Italian manufacturer, with over 30 cars sold. McLaren will be hoping to emulate this success.

The team have signed two drivers to the programme so far, both experienced prototype drivers in Mikkel Jensen and 2024 world champion Laurens Vanthoor.

McLaren sign Mikkel Jensen as first 2027 Hypercar driver
Mikkel Jensen, formerly at Peugeot, has signed with McLaren as the team’s first Hypercar driver as development ramps up ahead of the 2027 debut.
On The ApexPhil Oakley

The engine will be manufactured for McLaren by Italian form Autotecnica, while the car itself will be based on the LMDh ruleset, using a Dallara chassis. This is the same as what the existing BMW M Hybrid V8 and the Cadillac V-Series.R use, and have done since 2023.

The programme is currently in the testing phase now, at various tracks around Europe, before a scheduled debut in the FIA WEC in 2027.

In the meantime, enjoy a series of images of the new car, compared against the legendary McLaren M8D, the Can-Am car which Bruce McLaren and Denny Hulme drove to so many victories in the Canadian-American sports prototype series in the mid-late 1960s.

All images credit McLaren.