- Commissioned by McLaren Beverly Hills,
- ‘Albert’ Speedtail is inspired by the first attribute testing prototype vehicle
According to McLaren, ‘Albert’ is one of the final vehicles in the 106-car Speedtail production run. So the British supercar maker is paying homage to the first Speedtail attribute testing vehicle from 2018 with this – the ‘Albert’ Speedtail – with a very unique paint scheme that takes 12 weeks to complete.
It started with the original 1992 McLaren F1, the test mules of which were named after the Albert Drive premises in which the F1 was designed and built, in Woking, England. And, the original MVY02 Speedtail prototype vehicle was christened ‘Albert’ as a respectful tribute to its three-seat predecessor. Originally built with the front panels from a 720S, the ‘Albert’ prototype was the first Speedtail to be driven on public roads.
The exterior design ‘camouflage’ on the prototype was achieved by a simple two-metre vinyl body wrap. The ‘Albert’ Speedtail thus sports one of the most complex paint themes ever completed by MSO. It’s a combination of Magnesium Silver – the colour that the F1 road car was first shown in at the 1992 Monaco Grand Prix – and Ueno Grey, the colour of the F1 GTR that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1995.
The paint blend effect was located on the door applique’s outer body panels with the front painted in Ueno Grey and the rear in Magnesium Silver. After the first paint application, all body panels were treated and refitted to ensure perfect alignment and only after this the final clear coat was applied.
‘Albert’ was built in the McLaren Production Centre (MPC) with a 1K gloss visual carbon fibre body. In total, it would require a 12-week post-build modification at MSO’s facility to reach completion; this included two weeks of masking, six weeks of painting and the remaining time to dry and reassemble the vehicle after spraying.
