Recently, McLaren Applied Technologies unveiled “Project Invincible,” a chest shield made from Zylon fibres meant for use in their 2018 Formula 1 car. The shield was a response to a challenge from an anonymous ‘Client X’, who asked the company to design a device to help protect his vital organs after surgery. Since then, another valued client approached McLaren’s bespoke division ‘McLaren Special Operations (MSO)’ requesting two custom-made editions, dubbed the MSO R Coupe and Spider.
Jolyon Nash, the executive director of McLaren Global Sales & Marketing, says: “An MSO Personal Commission is the highest level of partnership between a customer and McLaren Special Operations, undertaken to design, develop and create unique interpretations of McLaren cars, expertly tailored to meet the exact requirements of the owner. A typical MSO Personal Commission extends beyond paint colors and materials and finishes to encompass changes to body and interior design and also dynamic and powertrain enhancements as required. The result is a McLaren personalized by MSO to become a car that is literally one of a kind – or in case of these stunning MSO R cars, one of a matched pair.”
Each MSO R car features a Liquid Silver body colour with a carbon fibre central stripe, and a 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V8 engine, delivering 679bhp and 700Nm of torque. The front bumper, bonnet, louvred fenders, roof scoop and rear deck, are all MSO Visual Carbon Fiber (VCF) components, as well as the side mirror arms, casings and wiper scuttle.
Both interiors sport red Alcantara-trimmed seats with black stitching, with Delta Red pinstriping on the front splitter and side blades. The splitter, side skirts, sill panels, rocker panels and plenum cover carry MSO R branding. Furthermore, both the MSO R one-offs utilise a titanium exhaust system with a ‘crossover’ muffler that increases pipe length to optimise gas flow. They’re finished off with titanium end tips.
