Meet Albert, The McLaren Speedtail That Took 12 Weeks To Paint

If you're rich, you can buy a McLaren. But if you're wealthy, you can have one thatMcLaren Special Operationshas fiddled with. Like the bespoke departments of so many other high-end automakers, MSO makes your imagination come to lifewith custom stylingand design. It even created a special versionof the Mercedes SLR 722back in the day, and now it has turned its attention to the three-seaterSpeedtail. Commissioned by McLaren Beverly Hills, the 'Albert' Speedtail "is inspired by the first attribute testing prototype vehicle" and features one of the "most complex paint themes ever completed by MSO".

This paint job took an astonishing 12 weeks to complete and was designed to reflect the "extreme aerodynamic prowess of the Speedtail". If you're wondering why it has the name Albert, that's because it's an homage to the first attribute testing vehicle from 2018. In 1992McLaren F1test mules were named after the Albert Drive premises where the legendary supercar was designed and built. So this car was christened such as a "respectful tribute to its three-seat predecessor," although the cars themselves share very little in common besides their seating layout.

In any case, the Albert prototype vehicle was developed to determine whether a central driving position could work in the 21st century and remain ergonomic. Basically, McLaren used Albert (fitted at the time with front panels from a 720S) to figure out if a driver could access all controls and see out of the car with ease. Thus, it was the first Speedtail to be driven on public roads.

What's so special about this paint job? Well, that original test car featured basic camouflage that featured a two-meter vinyl body wrap with design lines printed to represent the optimized airflow over the car, and that's the theme that the new Albert carries. This homage is finished in Magnesium Silver (the color of the F1 road car when it was first shown at the '92 Monaco GP) and Ueno Grey (the color of the F1 GTR that won Le Mans in '95). With a gloss visual carbon fiber body, the paint had to be special atop it. But because the design is so complex, renders, test paintings and other feasibility processes had to be carried out.

两周的掩蔽,6周的绘画,和then another four weeks for drying and assembly make this a truly spectacular finish. If you'd like to see it in person, Albert makes its public debut at Sunset GT, a cars and coffee event in Beverly Hills on Sunday, August 8th.