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McLaren 720S MSO Apex Collection celebrates high-speed grip

McLaren continues to toy with the 720S while we wait for the supercar's next major revision. A little too late for Fashion Week but just in time for the fall/winter season, the MSO division has released the Apex Collection for the coupe. The collection name refers to apexes at five famous European grand prix circuits, the same tracks McLaren has used to test and reaffirm its brand values for more than 50 years. A crowning touch is that each car is identified with the high speed that a McLaren performance driver achieved through a particular apex. The speeds, corners, and tracks are: 103 miles per hour through Eau Rouge at Belgium's Spa-Francorchamps, 85 mph through Mobil 1 Kurve at Germany's Hockenheim, 110 mph through Abbey at Great Britain's Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit, 104 mph through Signes at Circuit Paul Ricard in France, and 90 mph jinking through the Ascari Chicane at Monza in Italy. The Apex Collection builds on the 720S Track Pack, which sheds about 50 pounds and adds carbon fiber exterior trim, a sports exhaust, and the McLaren Telemetry System. Further customization involves MSO extended side sills, extended shift paddles behind an MSO steering wheel marked at the 12 o'clock position with a dual-color Alcantara, and an MSO throttle pedal and key shell. Visual identifiers outside are limited to MSO Apex logos on the rear fenders. McLaren will make three of each theme, for 15 cars total, six of them in right-hand drive, all reserved for the European market. They'll each command GBP288,813 in the U.K. ($355,641 U.S.) to take home, before options. That's a GBP36,000 ($44,200 or so) premium over the standard 720S Track Pack, but MSO throws in a few extras beyond the exclusivity. Every buyer gets a Formula 1 Paddock Pass to a grand prix, and a shotgun ride in a 720S for a Pirelli Hot Lap during the weekend.  And as a sly way to goose participation in the Pure McLaren track driving events, the English carmaker invites Apex Collection buyers to learn how to increase their skill at apex speeds at one of the courses held across Europe. Of course, a Paddock Pass and Pure McLaren combined cost a whole heap less than GBP36,000, but exclusive clubs cost exclusive money.

Watch a young Elon Musk take delivery of his McLaren F1

Years before Elon Musk was launching rockets into space or trying to revolutionize the auto business with Tesla, he was just another Silicon Valley geek, albeit already a very successful one. This vintage video catches Musk in 1999 celebrating some of that triumph, as he takes delivery of none other than a McLaren F1. As the million-dollar supercar is lowered from the transporter Musk intones, "It is the moment of my life." We also get a snapshot of an interesting time in Musk's life. According to the clip, he had already sold the company Zip2 for $400 million in cash and had started at the online banking business X. After a merger, it eventually became PayPal, and the entrepreneur later walked away from the website with another massive check. Watch this brief moment of happiness as Musk takes delivery of the McLaren, because by the end of the video, his focus already seemed to have turned to his next business venture. News Source: EveryElonMusk Video via YouTube, Car and Driver Auto News Green McLaren Tesla Car Buying Green Culture Coupe Performance Supercars Videos paypal

Race recap: 2015 British Grand Prix is a testament to timing

In front of his home crowd, Lewis Hamilton actually had to work for pole position at the British Formula One Grand Prix. The World Champion couldn't get on top of the setup for his Mercedes-AMG Petronas on Friday, lapping behind teammate Nico Rosberg and the two Ferraris. Come Saturday, after a few alterations and a whole lot of wing to clamp down on understeer, Hamilton returned to his regular program at the front, taking pole position by just over a tenth of a second from his teammate. Williams, thought to be headed for another stretch in the weeds a few races ago, showed its best strength all year. The Grove team got both cars on the second row and in front of the Ferraris, Felipe Massa qualifying ahead of teammate Valtteri Bottas, but they were eight and nine tenths behind the Mercedes'. Kimi Raikkonen out-qualified Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel for the second time this year, and only the first time in a straight-up battle with two healthy cars. But more than a second behind the two cars at the front, and with two nearly-impossible-to-pass Williams' in front, neither the Finn nor the German is happy with where they are. Daniil Kvyat claimed seventh, his side of the garage at Infiniti Red Bull Racing having got through the weekend to that point without a single complaint about their Renault power unit. Carlos Sainz, Jr. put a single Toro Rosso inside the top ten in eighth position, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg who did the same for Sahara Force India by slotting in ninth. The second Infiniti Red Bull driven by Daniel Ricciardo did have an unspecified engine complaint – his car kept "bleeding power" on the straights – but even so he managed to qualify tenth with his second-fastest lap. The stewards deleted his best lap because he ran three centimeters outside the track limits at Copse, an infraction that stung a few other drivers as well. Up in front, what would sting the Mercedes-AMG Petronas drivers the most was the start. That's when a dearth of grip struck both Hamilton and Rosberg, allowing Massa and Bottas to slide right up the middle between them and take the first two places. The leapfrogging was so surprising that it looked like the Mercedes drivers were giving the Williams drivers a head start. They diced through the first corners, Hamilton sliding past Bottas into second place halfway through the lap. And then the safety car reported for duty.