McLaren’s special operations division, MSO, recently released details of a McLaren F1 restoration. The British company carried out an extensive restoration of a road-legal F1 on behalf of its owner.
MSO left no aspect untouched, also putting the car through its McLaren F1 Certification programme. The car in question is chassis number 63.
McLaren completed the restoration work in June, putting in almost 3,000 hours of work. MSO began the 18-month restoration by removing the body and drivetrain from the car. The interior was then re-trimmed in the original Semi Aniline leather, which was a one-off for this car.
The leather is finished in Woking Grey – a colour reportedly inspired by the often slate-coloured English sky. The dash is covered in Woking Grey Alcantara with the seats re-trimmed in Woking Grey leather with a red perforated Alcantara.
Once the interior was complete, McLaren set about repainting the bodywork. This F1 was originally delivered in the iconic shade of Magnesium Silver. It took MSO nearly 900 hours to complete a perfect respray.
The 6.1-litre normally-aspirated engine was then stripped and rebuilt. To ensure it produced the correct power, McLaren put the powertrain through a dyno test before reintroducing it to the chassis. Finally, the dampers were sent back to Bilstein for refurbishment and the driveshafts and hubs were also sent back to the original supplier for rebuild.
It’s fair to say that this McLaren F1 is as good as new! As part of the process, the car receives a Certificate of Authenticity and the owner, a bespoke illustrated book documenting the history of their car as well as a Genesis Speed Form. It is set to debut at the Hampton Court Concours this coming weekend!
