‘Art in Motion’ by McLaren Special Operations
A McLaren Longtail is a finely honed performance machine. The LT badge always represents the ultimate iteration of any McLaren and the 765LT duly fulfils that promise. However, for McLaren Special Operations (MSO), the 765LT is just the starting point. Their challenge was to find a way of using this incredible car to showcase how bespoke personalised design innovations can underline and enhance even the most extreme DNA. The car featured here is the result of that: the 765LT Strata.
This unique McLaren features an innovative and unprecedentedly complex combination of paint techniques. Created by the skilled technicians at MSO, the Strata’s design uses paint fade blends overlapped by a graphic motif invoking the aggressive, dynamic edge which defines the pure-bred heart of the 765LT.
Inspiration for the paint design began from the idea of ‘art in motion’, which MSO’s design team developed to evoke the illusion that the car is moving even when standing still. From this, further inspiration was drawn from the notion of a city skyline at sunset, in part channelling and evolving a previous MSO treatment specially created on the rear wing of a one-off 720S for Dubai in 2018.
MSO’s inspirations often come from many different sources, all of which are percolated and distilled over a year or more of development, experimentation and testing. The Strata theme is no exception – what makes it unique is its execution. The MSO Bespoke Cherry Black base colour is fused with MSO Heritage Azores Orange and MSO Heritage Memphis Red, the two overlay colours running through the paint scheme in opposite directions (orange from back to front, red from front to rear) to meet and blend on the panels of the 765LT’s dihedral doors.
It is a delicate process of hand painting guided by a hand-applied laser-plotted graphic mask, this technique allowing soft blends and hard edges to weave together seamlessly. In total it took 390 hours to apply. Strata’s unique paint scheme is further enhanced by a cohesive design language across the entirety of the car, both inside and out. The bespoke brake calipers mirror the colour blend, the front calipers being Volcano Red and the rears Azores Orange, while the dual-tinted extended carbon fibre sill covers and debossed Alcantara headrests both riff on the ‘skyline’ graphic which is the Strata’s calling card.
Photos © McLaren Automotive