Limited-edition McLaren 720S gets famous Gulf livery

McLaren Special Operations (MSO) has created a limited-edition based on its 2021 McLaren 720S supercar that celebrates the return of Gulf sponsorship to the British car-maker's Formula 1 team.

Celebrating a partnership that dates back to Bruce McLaren days, the oil firm first sponsored McLaren in both Formula 1 and Can-Am racing and then again in the 1990s on the F1 GTR.

After rekindling its relationship last year, McLaren has now announced that as well as the special Gulf-inspired livery worn on the 720S, the entire F1 race team will rebrand with a one-off race livery at the upcoming Monaco Grand Prix (May 20-23).

The special McLaren 720S, meanwhile, is said to sport a hand-painted exterior in Gulf's traditional blue and orange livery. Instead of applying stickers, MSO craftsmen painstakingly recreated the oil company's logos by hand, a process that took an incredible 20 days to complete.

The blue and orange colour combination also stretches to the brake callipers, sills, embroidered head restraints and the seat belts.

The steering wheel, meanwhile, gains an orange centre band and a carbon-fibre centre that's painted solid blue.

Under the rear boot lid the regular 720S' 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 carries over unchanged, which means it produces the same 527kW and 770Nm of torque that's enough to launch it from standstill to 100km/h in just 2.9 seconds, 0-200km/h in 7.8sec and a top speed of 341km/h.

MSO has not yet revealed how many examples of the Gulf-livery McLaren 720S it plans to build, nor the premium it will carry over the standard supercar.

"This project is a showcase of MSO’s capabilities and echoes the recent full restoration of the McLaren F1 GTR 25R, a car raced in the 1990s,” said McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt. 

“The 720S in such an evocative livery and interior finish, created in close association with Gulf, which perfectly shows the potential for our customers to work with MSO’s skilled team to personalise their McLaren."