The end of this year’s Formula 1 season is nigh, and a champion will soon be crowned. Chances are it’ll be one of the McLaren drivers, Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri, but discount Max Verstappen at your peril, especially when he’s on the back foot. The next race in Las Vegas will be the penultimate round in a 24-race championship, and the McLaren drivers have been saying it’s a track that really doesn’t suit its car. So to lighten the mood a little, McLaren Special Operations have released a one-off 750S with a jazzy livery ‘inspired by Las Vegas’.
Now, there are many, many directions you could take a Las Vegas-inspired livery: spinning roulette wheels, cards, neon lights, old celebrities with lucrative residency gigs and so on. Instead of picking one of those themes for ‘Project Viva’ and running with it, MSO went ‘stuff it, let’s just cram as many Las Vegas references on there are you can’ and set about doodling. On it you’ll find Vegas landmarks like the not-Eiffel-Tower Eiffel Tower and High Roller wheel, the city’s iconic welcome sign and the usual casino paraphernalia. The only thing it’s missing is a portrait of Cher’s face airbrushed down the flanks.
Where it gets quite cool, though, the whole thing has been done with a McLaren twist. The aforementioned welcome sign reads ‘welcome to fabulous MSO’, while the deck of cards spell out ‘750S’. Then there’s the roulette wheel, which features the McLaren kiwi bird, speed marks and F1 cars racing around the outside of it. Even the firm’s F1 drivers have left their mark on it, with personalised messages left on the carbon tub. Norris’s reads ‘I’m all in!’, while Piastri’s says ‘enjoy every mile!’. Very thoughtful.
“Project Viva captures what McLaren Special Operations is all about - pushing beyond convention to create something truly personal" said MSO director, Jonathan Simms. “It’s where craft meets character, and where any inspiration can become a story told through design. Every commission we create is a fusion of vision and skill, resulting in a car that authentically expresses the inspiration behind it. Whether born from brand storytelling or a client’s own passion, MSO exists to turn ideas into something unique and meaningful.” It’ll be on display at the McLaren Experience Centre in Las Vegas during the GP weekend, before it speeds off to its new owner. If you’d prefer your 750S with less roulette, this Serpentine Green Elite Metallic example is available at a hefty discount…
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