Bespoke McLaren Speedtail 'Albert' took 12 weeks to paint

A bespoke McLaren Speedtail called 'Albert' has been commissioned by the British manufacturer's Beverly Hills dealer, resulting in a paint job which took 12 weeks from prep to polish.

Already a unique vehicle with only 106 units produced, the dealer in question wanted something which would make its Speedtail stand out even further from the crowd, requesting a very special paint job for its $3million-plus supercar.

The transitional paint over the one-off Speedtail is a mix of Ueno grey, which was one of the two main colours of the 1995 Le Mans winning McLaren F1, and magnesium silver – the finish of the first F1 road car unveiled in 1992.

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Of the 12 weeks McLaren Special Operations spent preparing and applying the paint to the carbon fibre body, two were dedicated to masking off the panels, a process which resulted in just under two kilometres of tape being used.

The result is a tribute to McLaren's MVY02 Speedtail prototype, which also bore the 'Albert' name, paying homage to Albert Drive in Woking where the McLaren F1 was tested in its pre-production guise before becoming the world's fastest car.

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With its 4.0-litre, twin-turbo V8 and electric motors making a combined 772kW and 1150Nm, the Speedtail sprints from 0-300km/h in just 12.8 seconds, going some way to justify its hefty price-tag – despite not being road-legal in the United States, thanks to its use of cameras in place of physical mirrors.

Despite this, the Speedtail Albert will make its public debut at Sunset GT in Beverly Hills this weekend before next weekend's Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.

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