Cars

Déjà-vu in red

Hand-built at the Gaydon chocolate factory

Star of the 1982 Geneva Salon

The D-type, on the other hand, was a fully fledged racer from the start, with a design brief that essentially demanded ‘functional efficiency at all costs’.

While form came second to function in terms of the brief, the result was extraordinarily beautiful – with one of the best-loved silhouettes in the whole of motoring history. That characteristic fin, however, wasn’t present on the earliest D-types, but was a later product of wind-tunnel testing, an aerodynamic approach then in its infancy.

After beginning his automotive career with famous Bentley and Rolls-Royce dealer Jack Barclay, Graeme Hunt set up his eponymous mews-based classic car dealership in 2001.

Bringing back such an iconic name is a brave move for McLaren – and at first glance, that ‘tail’ transformation isn’t anywhere near as dramatic as that of the famous McLaren F1 GTR from which the moniker is borrowed. However, a look over the spec-list suggests the British manufacturer might have reason.

Another British legend reborn