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A racecar that's street legal? Yes, please

For many car-loving youngsters (and many older, young-at-hearts), an ultimate dream is to have a street-legal race car. Few things are cooler than cruising around town in a track-focused, purpose-built, speed machine.

McLaren Automotive made those four-wheeled fantasies a reality, creating 10 special vehicles. Renderings of the final products surfaced at last year's Goodwood Festival of Speed, held in July in England, and this week, the happy new owners took delivery at an exclusive customer event held near Las Vegas, Nevada.

The vehicles are McLaren sportscars that emulate the look and feel of a McLaren 570S GT4 race car but are fully road-legal. Commissioned as an MSO Bespoke project — the service from McLaren Special Operations (MSO) that allows almost limitless enhancement and personalization of McLaren cars — the 10 MSO X cars were ordered by the US market's largest McLaren retailer, McLaren Newport Beach.

Designed to mirror the external appearance of the McLaren 570S GT4 race car as closely as possible, the MSO X cars are deliberately finished in accordance with race car design practice and all have liveries inspired by McLaren F1 GTR endurance race cars of the mid-1990s.

The revised design of the MSO X cars optimizes aerodynamic efficiency, with each car featuring a 570S GT4-inspired, pylon-mounted rear wing that provides tons of extra downforce. A fully functional ‘goose neck' carbon fiber roof snorkel for enhanced induction airflow, inspired by the 1997 F1 GTR Longtail. An added benefit is it delivers a unique cockpit sound. The transformation is completed by the inclusion of front dive planes, an MSO Titanium Super Sports Exhaust, Pirelli P ZERO™ CORSA tires and a 570S GT4-style hood with specially constructed air intakes that work in conjunction with the roof snorkel and rear wing. Extensive use of satin finish carbon fiber across the entire bodywork, including roof, hood, side skirts and engine cover, as well as a unique rear bumper with ‘cutouts', helps to reduce weight.  

Inside, each cabin features a track-oriented, minimalist design and is visibly different to any other McLaren Sports Series road car. The carbon fiber Monocell 2 chassis is deliberately exposed, complementing carbon shell bucket seats, exposed carbon fiber sill panels and a bespoke carbon fiber bulkhead that features stowage space for a race helmet. Practicality took a back seat and as such, the center tunnel storage bin was removed to save weight. The MSO X cars are also equipped with a color matched harness bar to hold 6-point racing harnesses for track driving (in addition to regular three-point belts) and McLaren Track Telemetry with a full suite of cameras.

Knowing that customers are going to be on public roads before they reach a track, McLaren made sure the cars retained real-world usability, fitting them with parking sensors, rear view cameras, vehicle lift and air conditioning. All ten were quickly spoken for and there is no word on official pricing. On the plus side, the new owners can skip buying a transport truck or trailer; they can just drive to whatever track they like.

• Share your car's story with Matt Avery at auto@dailyherlad.com.

The roof snorkel is sure to turn heads but it is functional and provides a unique sound inside the interior. Courtesy of McLaren
Courtesy of McLarenIf the heavily bolstered seats don't keep passengers in place for those spirited jaunts around town, the six-point race harnesses will.
Courtesy of McLarenThe cockpit features lots of carbon fiber accents as well as a few creature comforts, like AC and a backup camera.
Courtesy of McLarenCar #10 MSO X is painted Ueno Grey, highlighted by black accents. It's inspired by the F1 GTR chassis #01R which raced and finished 1st overall at the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1995.
Another paint scheme offered is Car #08 MSO X, which is painted in Anniversary White with Red & Blue Accents. It's inspired by the F1 GTR Longtail chassis #26R which placed 3rd overall at the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1997. Courtesy of McLaren
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