What's all this then?

This is the launch of the latest limited-edition McLarens. Ten 570S sports cars, built specially by McLaren's in-house special projects team, McLaren Special Operations (MSO). They've been designed with bodywork that mimics the current 570S GT4 racing car, and collectively are known as MSO X.

What's so special about them?

Well, they've all been ordered by one dealer - McLaren's top-selling US franchise, McLaren Newport Beach - and all get special bodywork. There's a unique 'goose-neck' rear wing, which apparently adds 100kg of downforce, a new front aero package, new intakes, a roof-snorkel (which is inspired by the nineties F1 GTR race car) and a cut-out rear bumper that saves some weight.

Anything else?

Oh yes. The cabin has been lightened a bit by removing the centre console, there's space to stash a crash helmet and a rail to which you can mount a six-point harness. There's also a McLaren telemetry and data-logging system that includes built-in cameras so you can bore your friends rigid with videos of your hot laps.

No, I mean anything else really cool?

Ah, you mean the colour schemes. They're inspired by the McLaren F1 GTR racing cars of the 1990s, and include the two cars in the pictures. The white, blue and red one is an impression of the Fina Oils AC Schnitzer F1, and the other is finished in 'Ueno Grey', which is inspired by the Ueno Clinic-sponsored F1 that won the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1995.

Any quotes from McLaren?

Yep. Jolyon Nash, McLaren Automotive Executive Director, Global Sales and Marketing, said: "The MSO X collection is the perfect example of the rich vein of bespoke service offered by McLaren Special Operations. Customers come to us with their thoughts and ideas and MSO works with them to set boundaries within which they can then let their imaginations run wild. What could be better than a McLaren buyer playing the role of 'race engineer' in briefing the MSO team and directing them to test and validate those ideas to create a race-bred road car such as this?"

So how did the MSO X cars come about?

The commission progressed from an initial design discussion to all 10 examples being sold and delivered in just eight months, as McLaren Newport Beach Dealer Principal, Pietro Frigerio, explained. "The aim of this project was to have a serious track car that could still be driven on the road, and this finished project screams 'race car' to the casual onlooker. To have the MSO X project go from renderings at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last July to the 10 magnificent supercars that we handed over to our excited clients, is nothing short of amazing."

Neil Briscoe - 25 Jan 2018