Five Beautiful Machines
In 1995, the Le Mans 24 Hours race saw the McLaren F1 dominate. McLaren’s F1 finished in four of the top five places. There were five F1s in that race, though. To commemorate this impressive feat, McLaren created five LeMans liveried cars.
The cars are all matching Senna GTR LMs. They were commissioned by five different owners. Each of the cars is based on one of the vehicles that raced at the event. They feature hand-painted liveries by McLaren Special Operations. The folks at MSO have put in 800 man-hours.
The cars’ logos, sponsorship decals, and color variations have been painstakingly recreated on the Senna’s complex bodywork. Each of the cars features the five-spoke ML-style wheel design from OX Racing. They also get a bespoke twin-pipe, high -mount exhaust outlets. The brake calipers and suspension wishbones are anodized in a gold finish, which is also inspired by those seen on the racecars from 1995.
Mechanically, the cars are similar to other Sennas. However, things get a little crazier. The cars all feature the 4-liter twin-turbo V8, but these cars are tuned to 833 hp. This power comes from new valve spring retainers made from a special metal matrix composite. The engines also get higher-grade valve springs and ported cylinder heads. The new rev-limit is 9,000 rpm.
These are some truly impressive cars, and it’s cool to see McLaren pay homage to the F1 like this.