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Primarily founded as the branch of McLaren to perform the upkeep of the legendary McLaren F1 road car, MSO now stakes its claim as the bespoke customization division of McLaren Automotive. Over the road car company’s history, MSO has left its mark on every model to leave Woking’s facility, from extravagant options packages to building bespoke models from the ground up. To highlight and celebrate how this process has come to the forefront of the brand experience, clients were invited to “An Evening With MSO” at McLaren Philadelphia.

When McLaren Philadelphia achieved the highest MSO aftersales numbers in its region and clinched a trip to Pure McLaren at The Thermal Club for one representative, I assumed it would be just another weekend at the track for me. After all, this had simply become my normal life after a summer of IMSA, GT4 America and a little historic racing mixed in. My initial thought was, “cool, The Thermal Club looks pretty nice for photos.”

 

Well, I definitely wasn’t wrong. But this time, the experience was for more than just a photo gallery.

With technology and regulations shifting at a rapid pace, it’s difficult for storied brands to stick to what they’ve been successful with for decades. Transitioning market demands for the 21st century have drastically reimagined the landscape of performance motoring, and some brands have abandoned tradition altogether.

 

But McLaren’s history is much too rich to leave it in a time capsule never to be opened again.

With a GTLM Manufacturers’ Championship on the horizon, and anguishing disappointment from August of 2018 in the rear-view, Porsche’s GT team attacked Virginia International Raceway on a mission. The objective was clear: either capture the championship as early as it could, or at least build on the cushion between them and Ford and Corvette.