His mentor, Jack Brabham, introduced him to Cooper Cars, a small team based in Surbiton, Surrey.

Its successor, the M1B, allowed McLaren into the Can-Am championship, where it dominated with 43 victories, almost three times more than rival Porsche.

The merger brought back designer John Barnard, who was interested in using carbon fibre composite.

McLaren pioneered the use of carbon fibre in motor racing with its new car, the MP4/1, bringing new levels of rigidity and driver safety to Formula 1.

In August 1988, Dennis, Team Principal and Gordon Murray started to develop a new car and in 1992, the F1 was launched with a total production run of just 106 units.

The company debuted a car for children, the P1TM, after the P1, in September 2016[10] and announced the same month that they are developing a powerful battery for Formula E.[11] In October 2016, councillors were reported to be looking at a proposition for land opposite the McLaren Technology Centre for construction[12] and announced the "Pure McLaren Arctic Experience" the same month, an event where a participant was trained to drive a 570S in the Arctic Circle.

[13] On 10 December 2024, it was reported that CYVN Holdings have acquired the automotive business of McLaren from Mumtalakat, a deal which will see the high-performance automobile company weathers through the financial woes and builds its first electric supercar.

The two facilities are connected by a subterranean walkway, with the MPC built partially underground to minimise its presence.

[16][17] McLaren's first purpose-built road car was the F1, based on a concept developed by Gordon Murray that he convinced Ron Dennis to back.

McLaren launched its current three-tier product structure in 2015, dividing their range of cars into the Sports, Super, and Ultimate Series.

The P9 was to be a mid-engined baby supercar with a less expensive model, with the P8 (or "SLS") competing with cars such as the Ferrari F430, Bentley Continental GT, and Aston Martin DB9.

All three cars were aborted in 2005, with Mercedes rumoured to have considered the projects simply too costly to turn into a solid business case, although Mercedes' AMG subsidiary produced a flagship sports car called the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG.

[21] A total of 19 McLaren GT customer teams contested the 2013 season, entering 108 races across 15 championships globally.

In total, the teams claimed 27 pole positions, 23 victories, a further 39 podium finishes and three championship titles.

Following the successful 2013 season, McLaren GT expanded its customer support with the competitive debut for the 12C GT3 car in the Pirelli World Challenge championship in North America.

In February, Australian team Tekno Autosports won the 2016 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour at the Mount Panorama Circuit in Australia with drivers Álvaro Parente, Shane van Gisbergen and Jonathon Webb.