When McLaren established its Special Operations division in 2011, its original mission was to help extremely wealthy individuals create bespoke versions of their already expensive and limited supercars. This was all well and good, of course - and highly profitable - but fancy paint and new trim materials were never going to be the limit of its aspirations. The MSO HS (for High Sport), which applied P1 GTR components to a limited run of 675LTs, was indicative of its long-term goals.
The much admired M838T 3.8-litre V8 was tweaked, outputting a massive 688hp and 516lb ft at 7,000rpm. Along with the added power, the HS was put on a diet, stripping 19kg from its kerb weight. Carbon fibre has been used on the front bumper, splitter, side skirts, side intakes, rear diffuser and engine bay, as well as those dive planes up front. There is a race-inspired carbon fibre snorkel, the roof is... yep, you guessed it, and there is a massive GT3-spec active rear wing that helps generate 220kg of downforce at 150mph.
MSO didn't stop there, though - much like a boxer before weigh in, it went to every length to keep the weight down, even claiming fitment of the lightest possible windscreen. The P1's carbon fibre seats with four-point harnesses found a place in the cabin as well as a full McLaren Track Telemetry package that deployed three cameras. You know, just in case you want to show your friends how cool you were on that track day.
Only 25 were ever created, and they were snapped up before the car was even revealed to the public. It is therefore easy to see why this car, chassis #007, is up for sale at a snip under £800,000. A number of options were fitted to this car - a lot of which include the words carbon fibre. In this price range, there is very little that can compete with the 688HS. You could save £100,000 and buy a Ferrari 599 GTO or a Porsche Carrera GT. Neither is as limited, or as poised around a circuit, though.
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