McLaren will show off five different special-edition cars at the upcoming 2018 Geneva auto show, but only the car seen here will be in physical attendance; the others will be displayed on screens. Tagged the Carbon Theme, this Senna has been liberated of much of its paint, exposing through its gloss clear-coat finish the intricate carbon-fiber weave that makes up the body of the car. The little splashes of color that are applied serve as a reinterpretation of Ayrton Senna’s yellow, green, and black helmet. Because naming the car after the late Brazilian racing legend wasn’t a big enough gesture.
Exposed carbon-fiber bodies have become something of a trend in supercars (just ask Bugatti), but McLaren Special Operations (MSO) gave the Senna a bit of extra pizazz to set it apart. According to McLaren, the Senna’s body is composed of 67 individual parts and takes close to 1000 hours to craft. Just to paint the sills, rear wing, and front and rear aero pieces in Solar Yellow added nearly 250 hours of labor.
Other spots of color include Laurel Green brake calipers and door struts and satin Memphis Red and Vega Blue center-locking wheel nuts (the left side is red, the right side is blue). The combination of the Laurel Green and Solar Yellow are a direct reference to Senna’s racing helmet, but there’s no explanation of the significance of the blue and red. Our best bet would be a nod to his racing suit, which featured red and blue, or perhaps ...