One of the most popular cars on our roads has, for some time, been the Golf GTI; reliable, iconic but not a GT car.

Going back to the roots of the term, GT stands for Grand Tourer; a car built for high-speed and long-distance driving. Traditionally a two-door coupe with either two or four seats, a big front engine and rear-wheel drive. So the Golf is not a GT car, despite its badge.

A GT car has to be able to cross continents at speed, in comfort and, importantly, with all the luggage needed for the trip. Aston Martin, Maserati, even BMW and Mercedes have developed very good GT cars.

And then we have the McLaren GT. Mid-engine, rear-wheel drive and with the McLaren-standard small front luggage storage.

Let’s look again at those requirements: speed, comfort and practicality. It’s fast, yes, and surprisingly more comfortable than previous McLaren offerings in the sports car category. But try and fit anything other than a small holdall in the luggage compartment and you’re going to struggle. But that’s okay, as there’s some storage space behind the two seats. So it scrapes in on the practicality side of things too. Just.

The McLaren GT really delivers

For me, there are two other requirements for a true GT car: eye-catching looks, and the feeling you get when you start it up. And on both of those, the McLaren GT really delivers.

It’s an experience from the moment you open the dihedral door upwards and get in the hugging bucket seat. Despite the low seating position, it’s remarkably easy to get in and out of without making a fool of yourself, and closing the door is an equally well-engineered process.

Excellence all the way

From that moment, it’s excellence all the way. The materials around the cabin all serve to remind you you’re in something a little bit special. Everything is focused for the driver and the three-button gear selector – drive, neutral and reverse – adds a touch of dynamism. Then you press the starter.

The rumble starts low and grows until the exhausts roar to life. The 3.8 litre twin turbo engine sitting behind you sounds stunning and a blip of the throttle sees the rev needle spike towards the red zone.

But enough of the pointless, childish fun – it’s time to start driving, which is when you realise the experience hasn’t even started yet. The acceleration is simply astonishing, matched by the amazing noise from the two big-bore exhausts.

The handling is incredible and definitely worthy of the GT badge, but it’s also very easy to drive smoothly, eating up the miles and spitting out noise from the back. It’s really an amazing job the engineers at McLaren have done in creating something capable of the two, sometimes conflicting, needs of a GT and a sports car.

It looks the part and performs admirably

So there you go. Initially I thought there was no way that the McLaren could be a true GT car. Yes, it looks the part and certainly performs admirably, but it was (in my head) another example of McLaren’s excellence at making performance sports cars. But as it turns out, they have managed to create a true GT – it ticks all the boxes and in the special deep blue that my test car came in, it looked every part the GT for the discerning customer too.

I want one – and I don’t mind what colour it is, as long as someone else pays for it!