These special McLaren Sennas celebrate… Ayrton Senna
The McLaren Senna is a carbon-tubbed, 208mph, 789bhp monster. It’s the most extreme road car McLaren has ever built. But then, it was always going to be given who they named it after.
So, how do you make a car like the Senna (of which just 500 were produced) even more special? Well, here’s an idea – take three of the former prototype cars, hand them over to the McLaren Special Operations division, and ask for them to be made just that little bit more… Senna.
And look what we have here. Yep, gracing your screens up above are three bespoke Senna XPs (standing for experimental prototype) that have been commissioned and will subsequently be sold by McLaren Beverly Hills.
Each one celebrates a remarkable achievement from Ayrton’s career, so it’s almost a shame there were only three cars to hand. Still, these really are very cool. Each Senna Senna features a bare carbon fibre body with detailing that matches the hosting countries’ colours from each special Grand Prix. So, first up is the ‘Master of Monaco’ edition, which celebrates the Brazilian’s six wins on the iconic street circuit – five of which were consecutive.
You’ll notice the flags painted on the top of each rear wing and the Ayrton image that’s been airbrushed onto the interior sills too. Apparently, each car took the MSO craftsmen and women 780 hours to complete.
The Master of Monaco is teamed with a red-tinted carbon interior and Monaco flags in the headrests. Then there’s the ‘Lap of the Gods’ edition; designed to celebrate Ayrton’s incredible first lap at Donington Park in 1993. There are blue and white accents, Union Jacks and mad blue carbon.
Last but certainly not least is the ‘Vitória em Casa’ or Home Victory edition. Green carbon meets an awesome little 12 o’clock marker and some Brazilian flags here to celebrate Ayrton’s first home win in 1991. That of course was the weekend where Senna’s gearbox failed with a few laps to go, but he managed to complete the race – and still win it – without changing out of sixth gear. If anyone deserved all the tribute cars in the world, it’d be him…
Images: Robert Grubbs
