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McLaren is a British sports car manufacturer. Founded in 1985, the company is headquartered in Surrey, England. Though the company is British, its founder, Bruce McLaren, hailed from New Zealand. With an enormous interest in motor racing, Bruce McLaren took part in a number of moto sports competitions in Europe. He drove for manufacturers including Jaguar and Aston Martin, before founding his own company in 1963.

Bruce McLaren’s company was originally named Bruce McLaren Motor Racing. It produced its first vehicle in 1964- the M1A, a race car meant for motorsports. Less than 25 M1As were produced before the launch of its successors- the M1B and the M2B, McLaren’s first Formula One car. Following Bruce McLaren’s death in 1970, the company introduced carbon fibre into the production of its cars. This move would help McLaren produce a new type of racing cars- a type that was far sturdier and faster.

A collaboration between McLaren and Project 4 in 1981 led to the production of the carbon fibre McLaren MP4/1, a hugely successful Formula One car. About a decade later, one of McLaren’s most iconic cars, the McLaren F1, was released. It set the record for the fastest street-legal car in 1992, reaching a top speed of 240 mph. To this day, it remains among the greatest supercars to have ever been produced. In a collaboration with Mercedes, the SLR McLaren was released in 2003 and remained in production until 2010.

In 2010 the company was renamed from McLaren Cars to McLaren Automotive. Following its collaboration with Mercedes Benz, it once again began to produce its own cars. Today, it produces cars under three categories: Sports, Super and Ultimate. Its 500 and 600 series cars fall under the Sports category while its 700 series cars fall under the Super category. The Ultimate Series category is reserved for more limited-production cars, such as the Senna GTR. McLaren Racing Limited is the company’s motor racing team and a major Formula One constructor.