The McLaren Speedtail XP2 prototype has inspired the design of a one-off electric guitar. Made by Dean Gordon Guitars in Miami, Florida, the instrument, which was on display at the 2023 National Association of Music Merchants show, incorporates several of the hypercar's styling touches into its design.
The sleek guitar body is made from lightweight alder wood, paired with a master-grade flamed maple neck, a lower horn milled from aircraft-grade aluminium, and an ebony fretboard. The XP2's Saragon Quartz exterior paint influenced the guitar's finish. Dean Gordon, luthier and owner of Dean Gordon Guitars, said the supercar "was the perfect muse."
Gallery: McLaren Speedtail XP2 Prototype Guitar
The back of the headstock features carbon-fibre laminate, matching the car's satin carbon door sills. Gordon also used carbon fibre for the backplate, with leather detailing the guitar's internal wiring cavities. It has laser-etched pickup covers and additional red accents celebrating the XP2's Oxblood Red interior.
McLaren introduced the Speedtail in October 2018, billing it as the company's first "Hyper-GT." The aerodynamic exterior allows it to reach a 250-mile-per-hour top speed, with its cabin featuring a three-seat layout with the driver positioned in the car's centre.
It has a powertrain that pairs a twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 engine with a parallel eMotor hybrid system. The combined output is 1,035 bhp and 848 lb-ft of torque. The car can sprint to 62 mph in 3.0 seconds and stop from that speed in 32 metres. It can hit 124 mph in 6.6 seconds and 186 mph in 13 flat.
Cars and guitars go hand in hand:
The Speedtail XP2 prototype, which hit its top speed more than 30 times on the Space Shuttle runway at the Johnny Bohmer Proving Grounds, played a crucial role in the model's validation process. McLaren finished the prototype's cabin with full aniline leather and aniline nubuck in Oxblood Red, contrasting carbon-fibre interior elements, and brushed and polished machined aluminium trim.
McLaren limited Speedtail production to just 106 examples, all claimed before the car broke cover. Deliveries for the hand-built, seven-figure hypercar began in 2020.
Source: McLaren