Luxury supercar maker McLaren Automotive today premieres the McLaren Elva Gulf Theme by MSO, a celebration of the renewed relationship between McLaren and the Gulf Oil brand and another example of how designs from McLaren’s racing history are inspiring the brand’s modern-day customers.
McLaren has been enjoying great success with its recent models from the Ultimate Series, be it the Senna / Senna GTR or the three-seater Speedtail.
The McLaren Elva Gulf Theme harkens back to the original partnership from the late 1960s and early 1970s when the Can-Am, Formula 1, and Indy cars had the attractive livery. In the 1990s, we saw the iconic F1 GTR racing at Le Mans with a Gulf look, while in recent years, we’ve seen the 675LT and a road-legal Lanzante P1 GTR dressed to impress in a Gulf livery.
The unbelievable McLaren roadster in blue and orange Gulf colors makes its worldwide debut at Goodwood SpeedWeek, a private closed doors live broadcast event bringing together the past, present and future of motoring and motorsport at the Goodwood Motor Circuit in the UK.
McLaren and Gulf recently established a new partnership that rejuvenates a historic association between the two brands that originated in the 1960s together, a decade when both companies made their first forays into motorsport. Gulf branding appeared on McLaren’s Can-Am, Formula 1 and Indy cars from 1968 to 1973. Two decades later McLaren F1 GTRs run by customer team GTC carried the famous Gulf livery in global GT racing, including at Le Mans.
Following this ravishing partnership, the McLaren Automotive’ previous customers will have a chance to commission Gulf ensembled cars directly from MSO. These particular cars inspired by the famous facing livery designed and produced by MSO earlier to the renewed relationship being agreed. Most recently, a McLaren Senna GTR LM paying homage to the #24 McLaren F1 GTR that finished fourth in the 1995, 24 Hours of Le Mans race was completed as one of five MSO-designed customer cars celebrating the McLaren F1’s domination of that race.
Although the production run has been cut not once but twice, going down by 250 units compared to the initial plan, there are still cars up for grabs. The 804-horsepower specialty vehicle plays in an elite league of other roofless cars, including the Ferrari Monza SP1 / SP2 and the Bentley Bacalar, with a track-only Lamborghini Essenza SCV12 Speedster to follow.
Regards to this wonderful partnership taking place, Ansar Ali, Managing Director, McLaren Special Operations says, “The McLaren Elva Gulf Theme by MSO is a striking celebration of both McLaren’s history in sports car racing and our new partnership with Gulf Oil. McLaren Special Operations is committed to pushing the boundaries of the ‘art of the possible’ and projects like this showcase the increasingly extensive range of personalization options we can offer customers – in this case, enhancing the authenticity of the livery by incorporating Gulf brand logos into the design.”
In continuation with the McLaren’s proceeding commitment to super-lightweight engineering, the new Ultimate Series roadster retains the lightweight construction philosophy of its forebear and is at the cutting-edge of automotive technology. The body design of the screen less, roofless Elva, for example, incorporates another innovative tech piece, Active Air Management System (AAMS) that creates a virtual canopy over the seamlessly-integrated cockpit. The 815PS and 800Nm developed by the 4.0-litre, twin-turbocharged V8 engine ensure that the Elva delivers astonishing performance and incredible levels of driving enjoyment.
The Elva, which follows the McLaren P1TM, McLaren Senna and Speedtail in McLaren’s Ultimate Series, links McLaren’s heritage to its present and future with a name and style that recalls the McLaren-Elva sports racers of the 1960s. These were among the first sportscars designed and raced by Bruce McLaren and the company he founded, and the new Elva evokes the true spirit of driving enjoyment symbolised by this era. With continuous deliveries of the Elva commencing this year, MSO has already completed the specification of the first cars and is well-advanced in discussions with customers to create further dramatic paintwork and liveries. Just 149 examples of the Ultimate Series roadster will be available to customer order, making it one of the rarest McLarens ever produced and, with an almost-limitless degree of personalization available from MSO, each car will have its own unique and special identity which will help the model not lose its forte.
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