GENEVA - McLaren launches the personalised new 720 S - and this is beautiful.

• Bespoke McLaren 720S personalised by MSO is unveiled in Geneva just 24 hours after global debut of second-generation Super Series
• Visual dynamism of McLaren Special Operations’ ‘Velocity’ theme celebrates extreme performance credentials of new McLaren supercar
• Fusion of Volcano Red and Nerello Red paint colours showcases the ability of MSO to create uniquely sophisticated, bespoke McLaren cars

Just 24 hours after the new McLaren 720S was revealed in all its glory at the 87^th Geneva International Motor Show, McLaren Automotive is highlighting the level to which buyers of its new Super Series will be able to personalise their car by unveiling a dramatic, bespoke 720S, created by McLaren Special Operations.

The McLaren 720S ‘Velocity’ by MSO signals the almost limitless scope of personalisation possibilities available to buyers who opt to commission their new Super Series car from McLaren Special Operations, the bespoke vehicle division of McLaren Automotive.

“The MSO mission is to fulfil customer desire for exclusivity in their choice of McLaren,” explained Ansar Ali, Managing Director of McLaren Special Operations. “The lean, sculpted beauty of the new 720S provides the perfect starting point for owners to be creative and the specification of this MSO 720S ‘Velocity’ showcases a taste of the customisation options that are possible.”

The striking ‘Velocity’ paint theme comprises two pearlescent hues of red; a newly formulated shade, Nerello Red, is used on the front and upper body panels of the car – including on the red-tinted visual carbon fibre bonnet – and fades into a vivid Volcano Red that covers the sides and rear of the car.

The unique paintwork is complemented by lightweight alloy wheels, finished in a subtle shade of metallic bronze by MSO. A range of exterior carbon fibre parts selected from the MSO collection also features on the 720S ‘Velocity’, further enhancing the bold and purposeful appearance of the new Super Series. In addition to the red carbon fibre bonnet, a gloss carbon Rear Deck Vent, gloss carbon fibre Service Cover, gloss carbon rear aero bridge and satin carbon Full Length Sill Cover are also fitted.

Step inside the spacious, light and airy cabin of the 720S ‘Velocity’ and you are greeted by Carbon Black Alcantara® trim throughout, providing a technical, sporting feel with a luxurious tactile finish and contrasting with Harissa Red leather details. Complementing the exterior ‘Velocity’ theme, Harissa Red highlights are continued throughout the interior, including on the fascia, steering wheel, doors and across the sports seats fitted as standard on the 720S, further enhancing McLaren’s most luxurious Super Series interior to date.

The McLaren 720S ‘Velocity’, which as a complete vehicle costs in the region of £335,000 as a McLaren Special Operations commission, is one of five MSO themes for the new McLaren Super Series that are explored in a boutique area of the McLaren stand at the 87^th Geneva International Motor Show. The other themes, ‘GT’; ‘Pacific’; ‘Track’; and ‘Stealth’, are displayed on screens, further demonstrating that MSO can fulfil almost any request to ensure that each personalised McLaren perfectly delivers the customers’ initial ideas and vision.

The portfolio of MSO enhancements featuring on the McLaren 720S ‘Velocity’ comprises:

• MSO Exterior Paint Theme (Nerello Red/Volcano Red)
• MSO Bronze Wheel Finish
• MSO Carbon Fibre Bonnet (red tinted gloss finish)
• MSO Carbon Rear Deck Vent (gloss finish)
• MSO Carbon Service Cover (gloss finish)
• MSO Carbon Fibre Rear Aero Bridge (gloss finish)
• MSO Carbon Full Length Sill Cover (satin finish)
• MSO Carbon Face Vents (satin finish)
• Full Carbon Black Alcantara® Facia with Harissa Red Leather IP Topper Centre and IP Topper Driver Side (Harissa Red contrast stitch on all stitch lines)
• Full Carbon Black Alcantara® Tunnel and Door Bin Lid with Harissa Red Contrast Stitch (including Black TPE Cup Holder and Key Fob Holder)
• Full Carbon Black Alcantara® Steering Wheel with Harissa Red Leather Centre Band (Harissa Red contrast stitch on upper and grips)
• Full Carbon Black Alcantara® Door Casings with Harissa Red Contrast Stitch and Harissa Red Leather Door Speaker Surround Inner
• Full Carbon Black Alcantara® Seats with Carbon Black Leather Large Insert Panels (cushion/seatback) and Harissa Red Leather Minor Insert Accent Panels. Harissa Red Contrast Stitch on all stitch lines
• Full Carbon Black Alcantara® Headlining with Harissa Red Contrast Stitch
• Full Carbon Black Alcantara® Quarter Panel Rear and Bulkhead Finisher (Harissa Red contrast stitch on decorative stitch lines)
• Carbon Black Carpet Rear Shelf and Bulkhead (Harissa Red contrast stitch on decorative stitch lines)
• Carbon Black Alcantara® B Pillar Lower with Harissa Red Contrast Stitch

Jaguar launches new Heritage driving experiences, get them now, they wont be around for long.

• For the first time, Jaguar fans from all over the world will have the opportunity to drive models from a unique collection of Jaguar heritage vehicles
• The programme launches in November at the Fen End test facility, near the home of Jaguar Land Rover in the West Midlands
• A variety of experiences will be available, from one-hour drives to half-day Le Mans 24 Hours race-themed specials and a full-hospitality ‘Grace and Pace’ driving programme

Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations today announces the launch of the Jaguar Heritage Driving Experience. This range of exciting driving experiences gives participants the unique opportunity to take the wheel of cars including Le Mans-racing legend Jaguar D-type, legendary E-type and Jaguar’s most potent sports car ever, the F-TYPE R Coupé. Details of the new Jaguar Heritage Driving Experience may be reviewed at: www.jaguarheritagedriving.com

From November 2014 the Jaguar Heritage Driving Experience opens at an established 200-acre testing facility, Fen End, in Warwickshire, where visitors will be offered the chance to drive some of these icons of Jaguar’s rich product history.

Many of the vehicles in the collection will be driven by members of the public for the very first time, having been prepared for high octane test action following Jaguar’s recent purchase of over 500 outstanding British heritage cars from a private collector.

Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations Managing Director, John Edwards, said:

“This is the first experiential offering from our new division and is the first time in Jaguar’s history that we have made a collection of vehicles of this calibre available for ‘arrive and drive’ experiences. It’s an extremely exciting new project that underscores the very essence of what Special Operations is all about – celebrating heritage with our eyes firmly on the future.”   

The collection includes many iconic Jaguars, charting over 100 years of beautiful, fast cars from pre- and post-war road racers and Le Mans champions, to later sporting saloons and grand tourers. A variety of drive packages will be available, allowing visitors to experience a particular era or to journey through Jaguar’s history right up to present day heroes such as the F-TYPE R Coupé .

Example packages include:

Jaguar Experience (ranging from £95 to £250):

From passenger rides to driving alongside a seasoned professional (including some recognisable faces from the world of motorsport), visitors can choose from individual models – including an XK150 or Mark 2 saloon – or selected pairings such as the Series 1 and Series 3 E-type. There’s also the option to drive heritage cars alongside their modern counterparts, such as an E-type with a factory-fresh F-TYPE.

Le Mans Experience (£750):

Re-live the experiences of legends such as Mike Hawthorn and Duncan Hamilton for half a day, with drives in the iconic C and D-types that dominated the world famous 24-hour endurance race in the 1950s.  This package will also feature drives in the XKSS and F-TYPE R Coupé, and includes lunch.     

Grace and Pace Experience (£2,000):

A full day of driving Jaguar Heritage legends, from post-war racers to sports saloons, coupés, roadsters and much more, including the new XFR and F-TYPE R Coupé models.  The Grace and Pace day will also feature opportunities to drive creations from the company’s Special Operations division, and includes chauffeur-driven transfers in classic Jaguar saloons to a lunch venue.

The first visitors to Jaguar’s Heritage Experience days will also be invited to exclusive guided viewings of the ‘Perfect Ten’ exhibition, installed at Fen End for a limited period following its recent launch at the Jaguar XE reveal at Earls Court, London. The ‘Perfect Ten’ is made up of iconic Jaguars selected by a distinguished panel including design director Ian Callum, Lord March of the Goodwood Estate and AC/DC front man Brian Johnson.  The selection includes the ultra-rare SS100 and the one-of-a-kind and priceless XJ13.

Jaguar reveals all-new Lightweight E-type, the 'Missing Six'

• Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations has unveiled its ‘new’ Lightweight E-type – hand-built by highly skilled Jaguar craftsmen in a new facility at Browns Lane
• The new Lightweight E-type is the first recreation to come from Jaguar Heritage, which operates within the Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations division
• Just six customer Lightweight E-types will be built – each assigned one of the remaining chassis numbers originally allocated in 1963 to the intended 18-car 'Special GT E-type' project, of which just 12 were built
• The new Jaguar Heritage customer workshop facility at Browns Lane is now open to offer Jaguar warrantied servicing and restoration of classic Jaguar models
• In recreating the Lightweight, Jaguar Heritage has drawn on Jaguar's unique engineering and design resources, including the company's world-leading aluminium body technology
• The specification includes an aluminium bodyshell with doors, trunklid, hardtop and bonnet also in aluminium, and is assembled to exacting standards
• The six-cylinder XK engine mirrors the original power units, with an aluminium block, 'wide angle' aluminium cylinder head and dry sump lubrication
• The cars will be sold as period competition vehicles and all will be suitable for FIA homologation for historic motorsport purposes
• Only 12 of the original Lightweight E-types were built, all but one leaving Jaguar's Browns Lane competitions department in 1963 (the last car was delivered in 1964)
• A prototype Lightweight – ‘Car Zero’ – has been completed and, on 14 August, will be revealed at the opening reception to the Pebble Beach Automotive weekend, the world’s most prestigious classic car event

“Special Operations’ remit is to indulge our most discerning and enthusiastic customers’ passion for our cars – including those from our past. This is why our Jaguar Heritage division exists, and why the new Lightweight E-type is such an incredibly exciting project.

“The E-type is an iconic car, and the Lightweight E-type the most desirable of all. To be able to complete the intended production run of 18, some 50 years after the last Lightweight was completed, was an opportunity we couldn’t miss.”

John Edwards, Managing Director, Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations

Jaguar has revealed the prototype of its ‘new’ Lightweight E-type – a further six of which will be built and sold.

Jaguar announced in May 2014 that it would recreate six new Lightweights, each built by Jaguar Heritage, part of Jaguar Land Rover’s new Special Operations division.

Each of the six cars will be built to a specification originated from the last Lightweight E-type produced in 1964 and will be hand-crafted at the original home of the E-type, Jaguar’s Browns Lane plant in Coventry, England. The cars will be sold as period competition vehicles and all will be suitable for FIA homologation for historic motorsport purposes.

The new cars are the 'missing' six vehicles from the 'Special GT E-type' project, which originally started in February 1963 with the objective of building 18 cars. Only 12 of the aluminium-bodied Lightweight E-types were eventually built and the remaining six designated chassis numbers having lain dormant, until now. The six new cars will carry those original, historic Lightweight E-type chassis numbers.

A race winner in the hands of a variety of famous drivers during its short competitive career, the car has achieved worldwide fame and original examples are now valued in the many millions. In recreating the Lightweight E-type, Jaguar Heritage has been able to call on the superlative skills and experience of many talented engineers and technicians already working in a variety of departments within Jaguar.

All, when offered the chance to assist with this unique project, leapt at the opportunity. Some even have an indirect link with the E-type when it was new: one master technician calculated that his family – including his grandparents, his father and his uncle – had a collective 170 years' service at Jaguar stretching back to the early 1960s.

The expertise and attention brought to bear on this recreation project is staggering, with the full resources of Jaguar being applied to ensure that the six new Lightweights will not only be authentic, but will also be built to the highest quality standards.

So the six chosen customers will each receive the rarest of things – a brand new Lightweight E-type, hand-built at Browns Lane and just as desirable as one of the originals.

“Operating from a brand new workshop at Browns Lane – now open for the restoration and servicing of customer cars – the building of six new, meticulously crafted Lightweight E-type period competition cars by Jaguar Heritage is testament to the unique skills within the team. To know those same skills can also be utilised to the benefit of existing classic Jaguar owners means this is a very exciting time for Jaguar Heritage.”

Derek Weale, Director, Jaguar Heritage Business

McLaren launches new scheme for pre owned models

• Launch of the first approved scheme for pre-owned models from McLaren
• All models fully upgraded to the latest specification and undergo a full qualification from McLaren-trained technicians
• Preferential rates through McLaren Special Operations enables every customer to create a bespoke 12C or 12C Spider
• McLaren ownership experience offers access to exclusive events and offers
• The latest approved models are available to view at www.McLarenQualified.com

Following the global launch of the 12C and 12C Spider, McLaren Automotive has now launched its bespoke pre-owned car programme, McLaren Qualified. The new service makes entry to the McLaren ownership experience more accessible, with the added peace of mind that each and every vehicle has been checked by a McLaren trained technician, and brought up to date with the latest upgrades.

Attention to detail is key with everything at McLaren. Even during the build phase, every McLaren is different and, for this reason, at each stage along the production line, each 12C and 12C Spider is subjected to rigorous tests and validation checks to ensure that everything is how it should be. Buying a Qualified 12C or 12C Spider will offer peace of mind knowing that, on returning to McLaren, this same attention to detail is carried through to the Qualified programme.

McLaren technicians undertake a comprehensive bumper-to-bumper qualification check. This means that each new owner can be safe in the knowledge that their McLaren has been fully qualified and updated to the latest specification, so it is as good, if not better, than when it first left the McLaren Production Centre.

Further benefits offered through McLaren Qualified include:

Updated with the latest upgrades and software enhancements

McLaren Qualified is the only programme which can guarantee that every car is fully updated with the latest upgrades. As part of the multipoint checks, every 12C sold receives the latest 2013-specification updates. This means each car is presented with the upgrade in power of 25 PS, giving yet more vivid acceleration at track speeds with no loss in efficiency, while the latest calibration optimises the SSG transmission to further enhance responsiveness.

Tailor each and every car through MSO

Buying a McLaren through the Qualified programme allows owners the opportunity to further personalise their 12C or 12C Spider through preferential rates on the extensive range of bespoke options available through McLaren Special Operations (MSO). The upgrades are available to every customer up to four weeks from handover.

Minimum of two years comprehensive factory warranty and roadside assistance

As part of the reassurance that underlines the McLaren Qualified programme is a minimum of two years / unlimited mileage comprehensive factory warranty, covering parts and repairs, and two years McLaren roadside assistance. This service offers owners a direct contact to McLaren Automotive, and a dedicated service which will get you back on the road as quickly and efficiently as possible should there be a problem.

McLaren Qualified – an extension of the McLaren family

Every McLaren owner is given access to an array of opportunities and offers designed to make the ownership experience even more unique, and this extends to McLaren Qualified customers. Invitations include exclusive events, dedicated ‘Pure McLaren’ track days and visits to the McLaren Technology Centre, the global home of the McLaren Group.

Commenting on the launch of McLaren Qualified, McLaren Automotive’s Sales and Marketing Director, Greg Levine said: “The management and tight control of pre-owned vehicles is key to maintaining the exclusivity, customer experience and overall residual values of each McLaren. This is something that is important to us and, more crucially, our customers. Through the McLaren Qualified programme, we are ensuring that the pre-owned McLaren ownership experience is a unique journey, that provides owners with the knowledge and confidence that every pre-owned 12C or 12C Spider is sold to McLaren standards.”

To view the latest models available, and to find your Qualified McLaren, visit www.McLarenQualified.com.