Some 25 years ago, McLaren won the Le Mans 24hrs, doing so with the F1 supercar. What made that win so special was that the F1 was a road car, not a racer, and the race was won by a road-legal machine, the last time that that happened. Not only won, but dominated - F1s finished in first, third, fourth, fifth, and 13th places.
Silver jubilee of Le Mans win
To celebrate that silver jubilee, McLaren has taken its current Senna supercar and given a limited number paintwork that replicates the look of those original five finishing Le Mans cars and a new badge - Senna GTR LM. Not only that, but it's also tweaked the Senna for a little more power - way more than that of the racing F1 of 1995 in fact.
So, these special McLaren Senna GTR LM models get an updated version of the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine, now developing 845hp (up by 20hp) and 800Nm of torque. There's also a bit of a torque remap and a higher rev limiter.
Aside from the colour schemes, the LM models also get special alloy wheels designed by OZ, which supplied the wheels for those original racers, and revised exhausts. Brake calipers finished in satin gold are another nod to the F1 and the suspension wishbones are in an anodised version of the same colour.
Inside the car, exclusive LM features include a racing steering wheel with anodised gold gear shift paddles and control buttons (in tribute to the McLaren F1's gold-coloured gear linkage); titanium nitride pedals with LM logos; leather door-pull straps and lightweight carbon fibre racing seats complemented by bespoke headrest embroidery and an MSO six-point racing harness coloured black with body-colour pads.
Making a major statement
"We wanted to make a major statement with this collection,'" explained Ansar Ali, Managing Director of McLaren Special Operations. "In creating these incredible cars to the requirements of some of our most discerning customers, we are showcasing the astonishing array of talent we have within MSO - a team that can visualise, design, produce and deliver products that really do take your breath away. The McLaren Senna GTR LM project has been a labour of love for nearly two years; we have gone to great lengths not only to perfect the engineering aspects of the cars, but also to gain co-operation from brand holders and partners to maximise authenticity."
One of those stakeholders is Le Mans itself, in the shape of the ACO. The famous racing club helped facilitate a breathtaking opportunity for the five GTR LM owners. Each one will enjoy a VIP visit to the 24 Hours of Le Mans race with a chance to drive their own GTR LMs around the circuit on the morning of the race, accompanied by the original F1 GTRs that competed in 1995. "The COVID pandemic has meant that we have had to delay this opportunity until 2021," said Ansar Ali. "But each of the owners of these car will still be able to enjoy an unprecedented experience that reflects the unique customer journey MSO is able to offer."
Re-interpretations of original racing colours
The five Senna GTR LMs that will be made each specifically reference one of the cars from that original 1995 race. 825/1 references the winning 'Ueno Clinic' car as driven by Yannick Dalmas, Japanese veteran Masanori Sekiya and former Formula One driver, JJ Lehto. That gets a charcoal grey colour scheme, specially mixed to match that of the original car, as well as special extra spotlights, which mimic those of the race car. The look is finished off by OZ wheels finished in matching grey.
Senna GTR LM 825/6 copies the look of the number 51 'Harrod's' car, with its green and yellow sponsorship scheme. The original was driven to third place by Andy Wallace, Derek Bell and Justin Bell. The MSO paint team used a vivid colour called Solar Yellow for the body of the car, and that distinctive wide stripe is applied in Heritage Green, shadowed by a matching green pinstripe and green detailing within the front aero diffuser, and McLaren has been given permission to use the iconic Harrods logo too.
Senna 825/2 references the Gulf Oil-sponsored number 24 car, driven by Maurizio Sandro Sala, Mark Blundell and Ray Bellm - Bellm had been instrumental in the creation of racing versions of the McLaren F1. It gets vivid metallic blue and light grey paint, with orange stripes and the Gulf logo (also to be found back on McLaren's Formula One cars at the moment) as well as a recreation of Ayrton Senna's signature on the rear of the car.
The 825/7 car is based on the blue-and-black livery of the original F1 sponsored by clothing brand Jacadi, and driven in 1995 by French drivers Fabien Giroix and Olivier Grouillard - joined Swiss pilot Jean-Denis Deletraz. This one gets a striking bright Le Mans Blue colour, mixed with a 'Polaris' blue metallic, and some contrasting black elements. The finishing touch is the logo of French oil company, and long time motor sports supporter, Elf.
Finally, there's 825/5 which references car number 42, as run by French team Société BBA, and driven by an all-French line-up of Jean-Luc Maury-Laribiere, Marc Sourd and Hervé Poulin. The original car's colour scheme was designed for the car by renowned artist Cesar Baldaccini, and is re-interpreted here, drawing in new elements, such as pole position lap times; contemporary race trophies and Le Mans branding cues. An immensely complex piece of work produced using many techniques - including extensive airbrushing - this was the car that took longest to paint, to the point where MSO stopped recording the time taken.