McLaren MSO 650s at Goodwood
I was fortunate enough to catch the McLaren MSO 650s Spyder at Goodwood, and my, what a car it is! The new 650, successor to McLaren’s highly rated 12C has been warmly received by the motoring press and captured the imaginations of the general public. Even our own Editor-in-chief Paul raved about the 650 in his wet (as in rainy, not as in soppy) review and boy, did it sound fun!
However, it seems McLaren have excelled itself in the design department creating a truly beautiful lid-less version. Coming out of McLaren’s very own ‘McLaren’s Special Operations’ skunkworks or MSO as it is more commonly known, the concept of the Spyder was previewed at Goodwood. With the distractions of the LaFerrari, 918 Spyder, One:1 and even it’s big brother, the P1 out of the way, we can concentrate on some of the real beauties that graced the show.
The bespoke McLaren Special Operations division was launched in 2011, and offers a full personalisation service for McLaren owners. The dedicated division grew out of McLaren’s Customer Care programme, which goes back 20 years to the days of the McLaren F1 roadcar, and continues to look after servicing and maintaining cherished F1s for owners, as well as undertaking personalisation work for all McLaren models.
The MSO 650S carries many of the styling cues over from the original concept, and the team at MSO has worked closely with McLaren Automotive Design Director, Frank Stephenson to further enhance the visual appeal. The exterior of the MSO 650S is fitted with a number of carbon fibre styling upgrades with a satin finish, including extended MSO Side Blades giving a subtle and purposeful look. The three-piece rear bumper includes a carbon fibre centre section, and sits above a more aggressive rear diffuser.
Words & Photos by Ross Jukes
