One-off McLaren P1 heading to Pebble

Three years ago at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, McLaren announced its cunning plan to rid very rich people of their richness. It was called McLaren Special Operations (MSO), a bespoke tailoring service that can make your McLaren a one-off for the exact price of roughly £Whatever-The-Hell-Big-Ron wants.

MSO's spectrum is pretty vast. From small things like a personalised paint tones, to that massively polarising X-1, the MP4-12C simultaneously inspired by an aubergine and Audrey Hepburn. 

And for this year's Pebble Beach meet, McLaren has announced it will show a one-off P1 created for a very rich North American customer, as well as a special MSOified 650S.

The P1's body and wheels are finished in a stealthy Sterling Grey, accented with McLaren Orange around the areo, brakes and interior. There's no extensive bodywork fabrication, just some mixing up of materials and finishes: a silver finish to the aluminium radiator grilles, a gloss carbon fibre bumper, and custom satin Nickel-finished air vents to look like the P1's blue-flame-spitting exhaust.

The most striking addition to the car is the use of 24-carat gold. Yes, GOLD! The heatshields around the engine bay and inconel exhaust are now made of the precious metal, as a homage to the McLaren F1. The Nineties supercar famously received the Midas touch, as the shiny stuff is very good at reflecting heat. It also looks very pretty, and, should the new owner ever encounter tough times, he can always take it off and post it off in a jiffy bag to Cash4Gold for a couple of quid.

The 650S isn't quite so exclusive. A variant of the MSO 650S, which made its debut last month at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, it's one of a run of 50, and has had its outside slathered in a rich blue paint. The exterior also features chrome on the exhaust as well as new ten-spoke lightweight alloy wheels.

Inside there's carbon black leather with blue stitching worming its way round the steering wheel, dash and doors. They've also helpfully tattooed MSO on the side of the carbonfibre monocell, just to remind that you even though it might not look like it, you did actually pay a lot more money for it than a standard 650S.