We bet that no one thinks of SUVs and four-seater automobiles when hearing the term “radical McLaren”. Well, except maybe McLaren and its customers.
When your business is concentrated around manufacturing extreme machines, a completely radical approach would be building earthly cars, especially as the continuously-growing SUV and high-end GT markets are flooded with offerings that customers can’t get enough of.
The only thing is, if McLaren were to build such contraptions, the Surrey-based car manufacturer won’t make them available for large series production, but instead manufacture the vehicles through its McLaren Special Operations division, as chief designer Robert Melville said to Autocar:
“Over the last few years, most people at McLaren have at some point been asked about SUVs, four-seaters, motorbikes. With MSO, we did a car a few years ago that was harking back to coachbuilding. If you come to MSO, we could design you an all-new body, a power increase or decrease. We can design you whatever you want, if you have the money for it.”
Still, until now, MSO was commissioned only to create customized and color-bespoke variants of McLaren’s current line-up, but the firm seems open to new ideas, especially if you have very deep pockets. Come to think of it, it appears that MSO offers an exclusive coachbuilding service for anyone willing to invest and create any type of automobile.
Mind you, under the standard McLaren badge, the company won’t stray away from its current path, even though it’s nice to see the car maker prepared for any challenge.
PHOTO GALLERY
