Key points
- The McLaren Speedtail Albert is a one-of-a-kind car that was given to McLaren’s Beverly Hills dealership as a reward for high sales. The Beverly Hills dealership was paid visit by Jay Leno.
- The car is a Speedtail prototype that has been finished to production-spec, but wearing the same livery used during testing.
- The livery is a unique blend of Ueno Gray and Magnesium Silver, with the lines that connect the two shades representing an optimized airflow pattern.
- It took MSO 12 weeks to complete the paint job alone.
- The Speedtail was billed by McLaren as the spiritual successor to the F1 since it was designed as a road car rather than a track car.
- It also has the F1’s distinctive three-seat arrangement, with the driver placed in the centre.
- Propulsion comes from a hybrid powertrain using a twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V-8 and a single electric motor.
- Peak output of 1,055 hp and 848 lb-ft of torque is sent to the rear wheels, allowing the Speedtail to reach 250 mph.
- Just 106 customer cars were built with an estimated price of $2.2 million each.
- While McLaren didn’t engineer the Speedtail to be street-legal in the U.S., about one-third of the production run is thought to have ended up here. None of those cars look like Albert, though.
Remarkable hypercar
The McLaren Speedtail is a remarkable hypercar and the spiritual successor to the iconic McLaren F1. This particular Speedtail, nicknamed “Albert,” is a prototype given to the McLaren dealership in Beverly Hills as a reward for achieving high sales. While it’s a production-spec vehicle, it sports a unique livery that pays homage to McLaren’s history and heritage.
The livery features a combination of Ueno Gray at the front and Magnesium Silver at the rear. Magnesium Silver was the colour used for the McLaren F1 during its debut at the 1992 Monaco Grand Prix and was showcased on numerous car magazine covers.
Ueno Gray, on the other hand, was the colour of the Ueno-sponsored F1 GTR that achieved an overall victory at the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans. The lines connecting the two shades represent an optimized airflow pattern, which is a nod to the car’s aerodynamics.
Albert
The car was named “Albert” after Albert Drive in Woking, U.K., where the production facility for the McLaren F1 was located. That facility is now home to McLaren Special Operations (MSO), the personalization department responsible for the unique paint job on this Speedtail prototype.
The paint job alone took MSO 12 weeks to complete, and the exposed carbon fibre airflow lines with individual pinstripes add to the car’s distinctiveness.
Design
The Speedtail’s design echoes the McLaren F1, featuring a three-seat arrangement with the driver positioned in the centre, just like in the iconic F1. The car’s hybrid powertrain combines a twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 engine with a single electric motor, resulting in an impressive peak output of 1,055 horsepower and 848 lb-ft of torque. This power is sent to the rear wheels, enabling the Speedtail to achieve a top speed of 250 mph, making it one of the fastest road cars ever created.
106 Customer
Only 106 customer cars of the Speedtail were built, each with an estimated price tag of $2.2 million. Although McLaren didn’t design the Speedtail to be street-legal in the U.S., it is believed that around one-third of the production run ended up in the United States. However, none of those cars have a livery like the unique prototype “Albert” found at the McLaren dealership in Beverly Hills.
Conclusion
The McLaren Speedtail Albert is a special car. It is a one-of-a-kind and fitting tribute to the McLaren F1. The car’s unique livery is both beautiful and functional, and the hybrid powertrain is sure to provide an exhilarating driving experience. The Speedtail Albert is sure to turn heads wherever it goes, and it is a reminder of McLaren’s commitment to building some of the most exclusive and exciting cars in the world.
