Few names evoke such a storied and successful connection to racing as McLaren. Beginning in earnest with Bruce McLaren’s eponymous racing team that the New Zealand-born driver set up to join Formula 1 in 1966, the name has been a constant among the upper echelons of motorsport ever since. In that time, many of the finest drivers to grace the grid have won F1 Drivers’ Championships with McLaren—among them Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, and Ayrton Senna—totalling seven drivers claiming 12 titles for the second-oldest active and second-most successful outfit in the sport after Ferrari.

Outside of Formula 1, the marque’s most significant competition success of recent years is surely Kokusai Kaihatsu Racing’s race-winning tilt to the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans title, with Yannick Dalmas, JJ Lehto, and Masanori Sekiya sealing victory from behind the wheel of a McLaren F1 GTR. The overall win at the Circuit de la Sarthe came at McLaren’s maiden attempt, while three other F1 GTRs from privateer teams filled the top-five spots in 3rd, 4th, and 5th place, further to another car finishing a credible 13th.

To honour the McLaren F1 GTR, and its famous win at Le Mans, Lanzante teased a limited run of ‘LM 25’ cars in 2020—25 years since the legendary top spot was sealed by chassis 01R. A stalwart of historic racing and a McLaren service centre in Petersfield, England, the company was founded as a race team in the 1970s and was later chosen to run the Kokusai Kaihatsu-sponsored car that conquered Le Mans in 1995, cementing a close bond with the F1 GTR.

The ‘LM 25’ series by Lanzante built upon McLaren’s contemporary supercar line-up from 2020, spanning coupé and spider models from the marque’s Sports, Super, and Ultimate Series. Only seven LM 25-specification models have been built – one to represent each of the F1s that started the 1995 endurance event – and each of the seven models is based on a different model or body style, making each one a one-off example. The McLarens undergoing the Lanzante treatment include the 600LT, 765LT, Senna, and track-focused Senna GTR. Each model was specified in the contrasting dark and light grey paintwork that the Tokyo Ueno Clinic-liveried F1 GTR wore at Le Mans coupled with extensive visual carbon fibre, further to the fitment of five-spoke, lightweight forged aluminium and carbon fibre wheels fitted by a centre-lock mechanism complemented by gold brake callipers featuring red McLaren lettering.

The Senna GTR LM 25 offered here sports discreet ‘LM 25’ decals on its outer body shell, and Tokyo Ueno Clinic sponsor branding tucked behind its dihedral-opening doors on the outer carbon fibre monocoque tub, once more in homage to chassis 01R. The race number ‘59’ is covertly etched through the Senna GTR’s lower door glass, emulating the Le Mans-winning McLaren.

The interior of the newer car is further inspired by its race-going forebear with carbon fibre-backed seats designed to replicate those of the F1 GTR, customised with ‘LM 25’ logos on the headrest, and retaining the driver and passenger with blue Willans race harnesses, as used in the race car. Further details continue to impress with drilled gold pedals, carbon fibre steering wheel with paddle-shift levers, and various other subtle references to the 1995 win seen throughout, including a faithful rendition of the scrutineering decal on the rear bulkhead.

The kerb weight of the Lanzante-enhanced car is understood to be some 41 kilograms lighter than McLaren’s own version of the car, while the limited-run model retains the same awe-inspiring 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V-8 for a return of 814 horsepower.

Ordered by its first owner in August 2020, this car was duly converted by Lanzante, not only elevated to ‘LM 25’ specification, but also to UK road legal compliance (at build, the GTR is intended for ‘track-only’ use hence additional conversion is required). It was then delivered to Germany via McLaren Paris in March 2021. Original purchase invoices are available to view on file including one for comprehensive paint protection film. The car has since returned to Lanzante’s Petersfield workshop for routine maintenance, noted for a 5,000-kilometre service in July 2022 (when the odometer read only 1,620 kilometres) and once more in September 2023, at which point a service was carried out and four tyres were replaced at a total cost of £10,316 (the odometer then read 1,731 kilometres). In June 2023, the McLaren appeared at the London Concours and took the overall winner’s prize on the event’s Supercar Award. The Senna GTR ‘LM 25’ is accompanied by folders containing paperwork and a flight case that includes driver and passenger intercom headsets, and centre-lock wheel removal tool.

As if McLaren’s fire-breathing Senna GTR is not enough to satisfy the most thrill-seeking of drivers, the ‘LM 25’ by Lanzante is a fitting dedication to the marque’s memorable Le Mans win, while offering an added degree of heat for those seeking the ultimate track-day machine which can also be enjoyed on the road.