A striking rear-three-quarter view of a yellow McLaren 765LT parked by a calm body of water at sunset, with a man walking away from the car.

Ten Years of LT

LT OWNERS: DRIVING PASSION

On the 10th anniversary of the LT badge, we pay tribute to our committed LT customers

There aren’t many LT customers in the world. All the models – 675, 600 and 765LT, both Coupes and Spiders – were low volume editions. But the impact of the LT badge on McLaren has been huge, and that’s largely down to those few thousand, very passionate drivers.

Because LT customers don’t just like their cars, they love them, and for the last decade LT owners have consistently been amongst the most enthusiastic, most engaged and the most active across McLaren’s global family. From track days to driving experiences, from MSO customisation to attending retailer events, LT owners feel strongly about their cars and they get involved. The dialogue between LT owners and McLaren’s retailers and engineers has helped shape the company and its products into what they are today.

Take just one owner as an example: Qais Sedki is a Dubai-based author, toy shop owner and McLaren customer who personifies the LT customer mindset. His car, a 765LT Spider, was commissioned with lots of bespoke details that were carried out by McLaren Special Operations, including a unique yellow colour, an asymmetric wheel-set (black one side, silver the other) and a full carbon bonnet.

Despite owning the car for a few years, Qais remains constantly surprised by his LT’s ferocious spirit. “If I’m honest, it’s an intimidating car,” he says. “The LT always reminds me of my modest capabilities on the track and challenges me to try and improve. It would be wasted on someone who wasn’t looking to up their game, as it’s far more capable than I will ever be. I’m now seriously considering a home racing simulator, to make progress in my skills and extract even more out of it. I also like to be in the passenger seat with more capable drivers, to see how they extract the most out of my car. It helps me learn.”

Many customers like to use their cars regularly on the road too, and despite their rarity, few LTs are parked up, gathering dust in private collections.

A close-up rear view of a yellow McLaren 765LT, highlighting the large active spoiler, the distinctive quad exhaust pipes, and the curved taillights.

A close-up of a McLaren's metallic accelerator pedal, with the text 'PUSH FOR SPEED' engraved on it, alongside the brake pedal.

A close-up of a McLaren's MSO (McLaren Special Operations) metal plaque, showing the car is a "Ghalya Yellow 765LT" and specifying its limited edition number, "006 of 765."

1 / 4

"I guess that's the hallmark of great engineering - timeless machines that continue to thrill and surprise you day after day"

Qais Sedki

765LT Spider owner

“The 765LT is also surprisingly useable away from the track and I drive it quite frequently in a wide range of different settings,” Qais tells us. “I recently came back from a tour of Oman with my wife, and we managed to pack a lot of luggage in. We were very comfortable, despite having Senna bucket seats!”

LT ownership, then, has proved to be a rewarding experience for many customers over the last ten years – they are cars that stand out, cars that say something about the owner, and cars that other enthusiasts recognise.

“The LT cars are quite rightly McLaren’s most sought-after models,” says Qais. “The only thing they don’t tell you is that such a vehicle tends to take on a personality of its own – beyond my ownership. Recently, with my car club we displayed the cars at the Dubai Opera House for an event and there was a kid telling me in great detail about the car: he knew nearly as much as I did! I guess that’s the hallmark of great engineering – timeless machines that continue to thrill and surprise you, day after day.”

Like many customers, Qais is also adamant that his LT is here to stay.

“I’m never selling my 765LT,” says Qais. "Thanks to all my MSO work, its truly personal and unique, yet still 100 per cent LT.”