Meet three pairs of limited edition McLarens. They’re part of a new collection the company has unveiled called ‘Racing Through The Ages’. Thusly, all these cars have been festooned with cues and additional, often bespoke, kit inspired by the company’s heritage in motorsport.
Plainly, these care are all based on the 570S coupe and 570S Spider, but interestingly have all been commissioned through the McLaren’s Beverly Hills showroom. Unsurprisingly, given the concentration of wealthy potential clients, the dealership is poised to become the most highest earning of its ilk for 2018.
MSO are a less conspicuous cog in contrast to McLaren’s more high profile efforts and performance-minded divisions, but McLaren Special Operations can and indeed does have the authority and expertise to command major alterations to cars upon special request from a buyer; one that’s paying top dollar for the preferential treatment.
In this case, however, no changes were detailed for any of these cars’ powertrains, meaning they all retain the same M838T E 3.8-litre twin-turbocharged V8 with 419kW and 600Nm. Power is sent to the rear wheels via 7-speed dual-clutch transmission.
Here, these 6 examples all gain a fixed carbon fibre rear wing, exclusive blacked out 10-spoke forged wheels, and a new titanium exhaust system. Those just about cover all the potentially drive-enhancing additions fitted. Longer is the list of visual or performance-benign enhancements.
Each set of 570S’ were given a specific new coat of paint, each with a significance to a particular period in McLaren’s racing history: a blueish grey ‘Muriwai’, the bright ‘Papaya Spark’, and the ominous ‘Sarthe Grey’.
In the own words: “The collection, which commemorates McLaren’s racing heritage, features three distinct themes: Muriwai, which celebrates Bruce McLaren’s early racing exploits in New Zealand; Papaya Spark, which honours victories in orange throughout the 1960s and 70s and the continued use on modern McLaren Formula One cars; and Sarthe Grey, inspired by McLaren’s dominant Le Mans victory in 1995 – the only time a manufacturer has won Le Mans on its debut.”
Muriwai: “The Muriwai theme is represented by MSO Defined Muriwai White exterior paint, a colour inspired by the white and blue waves crashing on Muriwai Beach, New Zealand, where Bruce McLaren competed in his first race at the age of 15. Muriwai was also the name of the house he later built in Woking, which he painted white with blue shutters. The color extends to the endplates of the fixed rear wing, which also feature the “Speedy Kiwi” logo in McLaren Orange.”
Papaya Spark: “The Papaya Spark theme is represented by MSO Defined Papaya Spark exterior paint, which is an evolution of the papaya colour Bruce McLaren chose for his racing cars in the 1960s and 1970s. Major successes across Can-Am, Indy500 and Formula One were achieved with cars in this colour. The fixed wing is finished in Burton Blue with Papaya Spark endplates, paying honour to the iconic blue spoilers featuring on the original racing cars.”
Sarthe Grey: “The Sarthe Grey theme celebrates McLaren’s dominant 1995 Le Mans victory, where the McLaren F1 GTR took first, third, fourth, fifth and thirteenth place. The cars are finished in MSO Defined Sarthe Grey, which emulates the colour of F1 GTR#01 and is named in honour of Le Mans’ Circuit de la Sarthe. The rear wing endplates are also finished in the paint, with “24 HEURES DU MANS – WINNERS 1995” in white lettering.”
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