LONDON: The in-house bespoke arm of luxury supercar maker McLaren Automotive, McLaren Special Operations (MSO), has unveiled a bespoke Gulf Oil-liveried McLaren 720S decked out with the brand’s racing colours.
The project is part of the renewed relationship announced last summer when McLaren confirmed Gulf’s return as an official strategic partner and a demonstration of the personalisation possibilities available on McLaren’s supercars
McLaren first partnered with Gulf in both Formula 1 and Can-Am from 1968 to 1973. The association was revived in the 1990s with the GTC Competition team’s legendary McLaren F1 GTRs, with victory in the 1996 BPR Global Endurance Series and the GT1 Class at the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1997.
Having reunited again in 2020, this year Gulf became the preferred lubricant supplier to McLaren Automotive, with all cars to be filled with Gulf oil and fuel optimised for high performance engines.
A limited number of customers will exclusively have the opportunity to have their McLaren supercars hand-painted by MSO in Gulf livery. The 720S revealed this week is the culmination of a joint project between MSO and Gulf to ensure a perfectly colour-matched range of paints in metallic and solid finishes that capture both of their unique identities.
Having trialled several iterations to create the perfect finish from McLaren Automotive paint technology partner AkzoNobel’s pallet of premium automotive paint hues, the definitive version alone is the product of 20 days of work by MSO’s craftsmen and women.
In addition to the iconic racing blue and orange colours, MSO has echoed the Gulf solid orange colour on the brake calipers, with the bespoke interior of this 720S featuring matching blue and orange stitching with Gulf logos embroidered on the headrests and painted on the sills.
The famous McLaren steering wheel incorporates a centre band to match the exterior stripe in Gulf solid orange and Gulf solid dark blue on the visual carbon fibre spokes.
