By now, you would've thought that McLaren would've milked everything to be milked out of their (admittedly fabulous) 570S range.
It started with a capable giant-knifing coupe and 540C base model in 2015, then a softer, more subtle GT variant a year later. And in 2017 they added the GT4-spec race car, and the highly acclaimed 570S Spider convertible.
And you'd think that'd be it ... all major bases covered.
Nope.
McLaren — well, their McLaren Special Operations division — have revealed a new model called the MSO X. The special group (think, McLaren's equivalent of BMW's M Division) were commissioned by McLaren Newport Beach to make just 10 of them. So, by the time you've finished reading this story they'll probably all be accounted for. Sorry.
What are they? In brief, they're a splitting image of the GT4-spec race car, but made to a road-legal standard.
The cars themselves aren't GT4s with bits attached, but are standard 570S models with GT4 bits added. These include the wanton rear wing, roof snorkel, front canards, and a titanium sports exhaust. There are also modifications to the bodywork, like cut outs in the rear bar to help improve air flow in the mid-mounted engine bay.
The interior retains its floor carpets, but loses the carpets that formerly covered the surrounding Monocell 2 carbon-fibre structure. Driver and passenger also gain racing belts to keep them in place during track circle work.
“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,” said McLaren's Jolyon Nash.
“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?”
Sadly, unless some keen person here orders one, we'll most likely never see one. No matter, though. We've already got a few actual GT4s on our shores ... if you know where to look.
