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McLaren Special Ops murders out unique 650S design concept

Whether you're driving it for the attention or for the performance capabilities, you're bound to get noticed behind the wheel of a supercar like a McLaren. But what if you live in a place like Beverly Hills, Monte Carlo, London, Abu Dhabi or Singapore – communities where supercars are as common as hipsters are in Brooklyn? You wouldn't want to be caught driving the same supercar as the next guy, so you'll want to make yours your own. That's where McLaren Special Operations comes in. McLaren's own in-house personalization division has, until now, only really demonstrated the range of its capabilities on the 12C. Now that the 650S is here, though, Woking's special ops division has wasted no time in showing it can do with McLaren's latest, rolling out this unique design concept. The MSO 650S Coupe Concept is decked out in a deep red-flaked, black paintjob with contrasting satin black details. The alloys, shod with Pirelli P Zero Corsa rubber, get a satin black finish, as do the added carbon-fiber components, including enlarged side blades, diffuser and adaptive rear wing. Inside the concept is fitted with the fixed-back carbon racing buckets and carbon black leather, with more satin carbon trim. The concept is currently on tour in China to drum up some sales, but though it is, strictly speaking, a one-off, many of the components are available to fit to a 650S coupe or Spider (or for that matter an existing 12C) from the MSO catalog. Scope out the details below and the images in the gallery above for a closer look. McLAREN SPECIAL OPERATIONS SHOWCASES MSO 650S COUPE CONCEPT IN CHINA - Unique design concept shown ahead of China tour - Bespoke upgrades developed by MSO offer optimised aerodynamic performance and more dramatic appearance - Range of new styling options available for the McLaren 650S Coupe and 650S Spider many of which can also be fitted to the previous 12C models McLaren Special Operations, the bespoke division of McLaren Automotive, has released images of the MSO 650S Coupe Concept – a showcase of the MSO designed and engineered upgrades available for the McLaren 650S Coupe and 650S Spider, the latest models to join to the McLaren Automotive range. The model is being shown throughout China over the coming weeks and includes an array of bespoke MSO features, including a newly designed carbon fibre rear diffuser and MSO-branded carbon fibre side blades.

We spec a McLaren Senna supercar with MSO

A rarely considered similarity between hypercars: poor or nonexistent configurators. The Ferrari LaFerrari configurator let you choose between three colors. Bugatti once let you change the colors and wheels on the Chiron, but no more. McLaren didn't bother with a configurator for the P1. Only the digital playground built for the Porsche 918 Spyder bucked the trend. That's likely because as soon as an MSRP requires two commas, shoppers become "clients," and clients deserve hosts in Hermes to help them navigate the party. No supercar better demonstrates this trend than the McLaren Senna. And, it just so happens, McLaren invited Autoblog to Beverly hills to roleplay as one of the 15 LA-area residents who bought Sennas. I'd be assisted in the act by two MSO Bespoke Liaison Managers – Katie Newell and Emily Monk – who were on an international jaunt shepherding actual buyers through the process. MSO doesn't send the duo on global tour dates for every offering, only the limited, special ones. When I asked what the personal service accomplishes, McLaren said, "The benefit of working directly with a MSO Bespoke Liaison Manager to spec your car is that they are deeply familiar with the ins and outs of the vehicle, and understand how different fit, finishes and options will interact together. They also understand what is feasible from an engineering, manufacturing and paint perspective given the years of experience they have building P1, 720S, etc." Boiled down, that means institutional knowledge, and they also know when to propose curbing your egregious enthusiasms. There will be no whale penis leather here, thank you, now let's move on. Ultimately, a configurator is a configurator – the mechanics of selection and dialogue boxes apply equally to cars, dress shirts, and pizza. The difference with the Senna is in having oh-so-many-more dialogue boxes, as well as two Ye Olde Worlde assistants, champagne, and petits-fours. And this comes before one casts about for unique electives. I heard a client from a previous car sent half a hair dryer to be color-matched – just the kind of fantastic eccentricity I expect from the word "bespoke". An MSO briefcase on the table in front of me provided abundant starting points: exterior paint swatches, carbon fiber colors, stitch types and thread colors, laser-etched accelerator pedals, different finishes for the rather large key, a sample of the 24-carat gold engine bay heat shield.

McLaren F1 team sets deadline for engine decision amid Renault speculation

BUDAPEST - McLaren says the next five weeks will be the key to deciding which engine it will use next season, with speculation mounting that the former world champions could ditch Honda and switch to Renault. Chief operating officer Jonathan Neale told Reuters at the Hungarian Grand Prix that "everybody is talking to everybody," but time was running out. "We've got to land those decisions in the next four or five weeks," he said, speaking from a design perspective and because drivers like McLaren's Fernando Alonso were waiting to see what engines teams had before committing to new deals. "I think there is a solution out there for everybody and I hope it's one that will be able to retain Fernando in this team." McLaren scored their first double-points finish of the season in Budapest on Sunday with double world champion Alonso finishing sixth, a day after his 36th birthday, and Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne 10th. The nine points lifted McLaren off the bottom of the standings just before the August break and factory shutdown, a result that Neale compared to scoring a goal before halftime. Alonso's future is a key concern, with the Spaniard out of contract and saying McLaren needs to provide a competitive car to keep him. Honda's power unit has been beset with problems since the partnership started in 2015, the engine neither reliable nor competitive. Hungary, the slowest permanent circuit on the calendar, reduced those shortcomings, but the next two races in Belgium and Italy are two of the fastest, where engine horsepower is of critical importance. McLaren is Honda's sole team in Formula One. A proposed partnership with Sauber terminated last week with the Swiss team choosing to stay with Ferrari. A split from McLaren could force the Japanese manufacturer out of the sport, but Neale hinted at an alternative. "You'll have seen the media speculation that there's discussions with Toro Rosso," he said. Toro Rosso use Renault engines, but a switch to Honda — which could bring welcome funding to a team whose Red Bull parent has considered a sale in the past — would free the French units for McLaren. The Renault engine has won a race this season with Red Bull and could satisfy Alonso, who won both his titles with the French manufacturer. The other alternatives to Honda are Mercedes and Ferrari, but Neale recognized that putting a Ferrari engine in a McLaren, the Italian team's historic arch-rivals, was highly unlikely.