The 675LT was limited to 500 Coupés and 500 Spiders. The MSO HS was rarer still, with just 25 built. But in 2017, McLaren created something almost nobody talks about: one MSO R Coupé and one MSO R Spider, commissioned together for a single customer.
The McLaren 675LT hardly needs an introduction. Launched in 2015, it became one of the most celebrated cars of McLaren's modern era, with production limited to 500 Coupés and another 500 Spiders.
But McLaren wasn't finished exploring what its first-generation Super Series platform could do.
In 2016, McLaren Special Operations unveiled the MSO HS, an even more extreme creation featuring additional aerodynamic development, more power and extensive bespoke detailing. Just 25 were built.
Then, in October 2017, McLaren quietly revealed something considerably more unusual.
Not another limited-production model. Not a new version of the 675LT. Instead, a single customer had commissioned two unique cars: the McLaren MSO R Coupé and MSO R Spider.
One of each, built as a matched pair.
And while the MSO R shared some of the engineering and visual language of the HS, the story behind these cars is fundamentally different.
To appreciate how unusual the MSO R is, it helps to understand the cars that preceded it.
The 675LT Coupé debuted at Geneva in March 2015 with production strictly limited to 500 examples worldwide. The 675LT Spider followed later that year, also capped at 500.
Both were limited-production cars, but neither was an individually commissioned one-off.
Then came the MSO HS.
Revealed in August 2016, the MSO HS was a much more exclusive proposition. Built on the Super Series coupé architecture, it featured an aggressive aerodynamic package inspired by the P1 GTR, including a prominent rear wing and carbon roof scoop.
Its 3.8-litre twin-turbocharged V8 produced 688 PS (679 bhp), up from the 675LT's 666 bhp.
Only 25 were made, and every example had already been spoken for when McLaren publicly released the details. The project reportedly began with an individual customer's request before expanding into a small production run to help cover development costs.
For collectors, the HS represents one of the more unusual and desirable creations from McLaren Special Operations during this period.
But the MSO R took a different path entirely.
In October 2017, McLaren announced that a single customer had commissioned two bespoke cars through its MSO Personal Commission service, the highest level of customisation offered by McLaren Special Operations.
The result was one Coupé and one Spider, sharing a specially developed specification but each entirely unique in its body style.
There was no production allocation to fill, no additional customer cars and no broader MSO R series.
Just two cars, created together for one owner.
Source: McLaren's October 2017 announcement
At first glance, the MSO R looks like something between a 675LT and an HS. There's the familiar McLaren Super Series silhouette, aggressive exposed carbon fibre and an enormous rear wing.
But the details reveal just how extensively these cars were personalised.
Both wear Liquid Silver paint, although the Coupé has a satin finish while the Spider is finished in gloss. Their five-spoke wheels follow the same theme, satin black on the Coupé and gloss black on the Spider.
A carbon fibre centre stripe runs the length of each car, while Delta Red pinstripes highlight the front splitter and side blades.
Exposed carbon fibre features throughout the exterior, including the front bumper, bonnet, louvered front fenders, rear deck, mirror arms and casings, and even the windscreen wiper cover.
Both cars also feature front dive planes and a dramatic twin-element rear wing (McLaren release, reproduced by The Speed Journal).
Inside, it's Alcantara throughout: black with red stitching, reversed on the seats, which are red with black stitching and an MSO R logo on each headrest. The steering wheel has carbon at the top and bottom, black Alcantara grips and a Delta Red 12 o'clock stripe. Each car starts with an MSO R key, has its own screen and instrument graphics plus shift lights, and carries a dedication plaque marking it as an MSO Personal Commission (McLaren release, reproduced by The Speed Journal).
The R uses McLaren's M838TL 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 with the same treatment as the HS: blueprinted, with hand-polished heads and exhaust ports. McLaren rates it at 688 PS (679 bhp) and up to 700 Nm (516 lb ft), 13 bhp more than a regular 675LT. The exhaust uses a "crossover" silencer to lengthen the pipes and finishes in titanium tips (McLaren release, reproduced by The Speed Journal, Autocar, Motor Authority).
Some coverage says "688 hp." That's the metric PS figure with the wrong label. McLaren's own figure is 679 bhp.
McLaren's release doesn't name a starting car, and the press filled the gap in different ways: evo described the pair as built on the previous-generation Super Series from "cherry-picked parts from the 650S, 675LT and the extensive MSO options list" (evo), Top Gear called them 650S-based (Top Gear), and others said 675LT.
Either way, the R comes at the end of McLaren's first Super Series family, which started with the 12C and ran through the 650S and 675LT, and that it borrows heavily from the 675LT and HS. In his walkaround, Shmee150 points out 675LT launch-style wheels with MSO R detailing and front canards like the HS's. He also says the rear quarter panels are shared with the HS, not the LT (video).
The MSO HS and the MSO R Coupé both wear a carbon roof scoop. For the HS, McLaren described it as an air induction scoop (Autocar). For the R, McLaren lists the scoop as a carbon part but doesn't say what it feeds. It's a Coupé item: Shmee150 describes the Coupé as having "a fixed roof with scoop," while the Spider has the folding hard top (video). The scoop is part of what makes the R Coupé look different, but it isn't what makes the pair rare. The number of cars does that.
In December 2017, before delivery, Shmee150 filmed a 12-minute walkaround of the MSO R Spider at Topaz Detailing, where it was in for paint protection film. He covers the carbon details, the red cabin, the three-camera track telemetry pack, the MSO R Spider lettering in the engine bay and, at length, the wing. The Coupé is mentioned but isn't the car on camera (Shmee150).
Watch on YouTube: Shmee150, "My Friend's New McLaren MSO R! | FIRST LOOK"
The launch release did not name the customer, disclose a price or give weight and performance figures, and we could not verify chassis numbers for either car. We also found no verified public sale or listing of the Coupé or the Spider. As far as public records show, the pair has stayed out of view, which suits a commission built for one person.
Our editorial view: the HS is the MSO car of this era that enthusiasts are most likely to know. There were 25, each specified by its owner, and a couple have sold at public auction. We think the R is the deeper cut: the same 688 PS, a wing of its own, and a commission that asked for a closed car and an open car built as one. That pairing, more than the scoop or the power, is the heart of its story.
What it means for buyers: should either car ever come to market, McLaren's factory records and documented provenance from a recognised specialist are what would establish it. Plaques, badges and trim alone wouldn't. HS results aren't a guide to an R either: they're different cars with a different kind of rarity, and we found no public R sale to compare with.
A public owner registry counts about 70 600LTs delivered with the roof scoop, the only LT that pairs one with top-exit exhausts. An owner says the scoop transforms what you hear and feel from the driver's seat. Collectors argue that could make it one of the most desirable LTs over time. None is for sale today.
Two finished customer W1s, one in Crystal Blue exposed carbon and one in orange-and-black MSO Carbon Tarocco, have been photographed at the end of the line in Woking. McLaren's 1,258 hp hypercar is finally about to reach owners.
We've been invited to a private McLaren preview in New York on Nov 21, 2026, a first look at the company's newest supercar before it debuts in 2027. We can't say for sure, but we think this could be the 820 — and we can't wait to see it.
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