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The story behind the Bruce Meyers racecar bed

It must have been quite a spectacle to watch as a full-size vehicle trailer pulled up in front of the Schorrs' suburban house and delivered a garish French Racing Blue sports car. But it might not have been all that odd. "My world was the car world, and my dad was the car guy," Stuart Schorr, now Jaguar Land Rover communications chief, recalls of his youth. His father Marty was the editor in chief of high performance car magazines during the muscle-car era of the '60s and '70s. "I was the only kid who had a Plymouth Superbird parked in the driveway, who got driven to school in a hot-rodded Corvette." Yet this vehicle was extraordinary, even by Schorr standards. Made of thick fiberglass, with four-spoke mags and racing slicks, it looked like a McLaren M6 Can-Am racer – wide, voluptuous, and impossibly low. But in place of niceties like the front intake, cockpit, and engine, it had a broad cutout the size and shape of a coffin. Also, it unbolted in the middle lengthwise. Workers hauled it into the house, one piece at a time, through the window, and bolted it together in Stuart's bedroom, finishing with a full-size twin mattress. "When Stuart came home from school, he found the McLaren bed in his room," Marty Schorr says. "I'm pretty sure he slept in that bed until he went away to college." (This may have been the most unusually effective form of teen birth control. "No female ever saw that bed," Stuart confesses.) One of the great mysteries of the bed was its provenance. "If you looked under the plastic tires, it had these stickers that said B.F. Meyers & Company." This was the imprint of Bruce Meyers, creator of the Meyers Manx: the flippant fiberglass wonder that ushered in – and was then summarily ushered out of – the Volkswagen dune buggy conversion market. Did Bruce Meyers build a kids' bed? And, if so, why? Bruce Meyers grew up near the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, surfing and diving illegally off the piers. "That's the kind of life I led as a boy," he says during an extensive interview. "It was one with a lot of intolerance for rules." A thorough iconoclast, he attended art school. He spent time sailing. He lived on a coral atoll in the South Seas and ran a pearl trading post. And then he returned to Southern California and worked in a shipyard. "Boat building at that time was moving over from wooden to fiberglass construction.

McLaren P1 GTR production model debuting in Geneva

The GTR nomenclature has always held a special meaning to the folks at McLaren. The F1 GTR was a racing champion in its day, and the coupe's overall victory at the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans went a long way towards cementing that supercar as a world icon. Now, McLaren is bringing the trio of letters back for the track-only P1 GTR, and the company's latest teaser video reveals this even quicker supercar's production debut is at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show in March. We last saw the P1 GTR as a concept during the Monterey Car Week (pictured below). In that form, it boasted the standard version's 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 but turned the wick up to 986 horsepower, an 83-hp improvement. It also sported a wider front track, lower ride height and mirrors moved to the A-pillars. This latest version appears to further refine the shape of the body, and the gaping front almost looks like it has fangs. As a track-only model, the GTR is somewhat similar to Ferrari's XX programs. McLaren is promising a full support package to drivers, including time behind the wheel in the company's racing simulator. Actual production for these behemoths isn't set to begin until later in 2015, but watch this teaser for a taste of what's to come in Switzerland. Related Gallery McLaren P1 GTR: Monterey 2014 View 29 Photos News Source: McLaren Automotive via YouTubeImage Credit: Related images copyright 2015 Drew Phillips / AOL Geneva Motor Show McLaren Coupe Performance Supercars Videos mclaren p1 teaser video mclaren p1 gtr

McLaren launches new MSO Defined customization program

Unless you keep company with other supercar types, your chances of seeing a McLaren on the road are pretty slim – unless you're the one driving it. But for those looking to set their British supercar apart from others, the McLaren Special Operations division offers a range of personalization options. MSO has demonstrated its capabilities with a series of customized demonstrators based on the 12C, 650S and even the P1. But to give its upper-crust clients a more focused idea of the possibilities in store, Woking has now compartmentalized MSO's activities into five areas. The first is the new MSO Defined catalog, which offers buyers of the 650S and the new Asian-market 625C a full assortment of enhancements, including upgraded aero bits, carbon-fiber components and interior trim packages to make each supercar more unique. There's even an F1-inspired instrument cluster with shift lights available. Those interested in ordering entirely unique paint, leather and trim options (as 20 percent of 650S buyers and 95 percent of P1 customers have opted to date) will find what they need in the MSO Bespoke program, while limited-run models will be handled by MSO Limited. MSO Heritage will handle anything related to past models like the McLaren F1 and Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, while the McLaren P1 GTR will be handled by MSO Programmes. So no matter what you want out of your McLaren, Woking will be ready to handle it. McLAREN SPECIAL OPERATIONS INTRODUCES DEFINED RANGE OF OPTIONS - Five tiers identify the levels of bespoke work available to from MSO as the company embraces an unprecedented period of growth - Differing levels of personalisation offer complete tailoring of any McLaren model through MSO Bespoke, MSO Heritage, MSO Limited and MSO Programmes - New Defined range to include a line of series options available on all new McLaren models McLaren Special Operations (MSO) has announced a range of available series options for the McLaren 650S, and Asia-only 625C, under the newly established 'MSO Defined' division. This forms the first of five tiers of personalisation and support offered by MSO, catering for the needs of all McLaren customers, and joins MSO Bespoke, specialising in one-off models; MSO Limited, producing limited-edition series production cars; MSO Heritage, focused on the maintenance and storage of historic cars; and MSO Programmes which includes the McLaren P1™ GTR.