McLaren 12C Comeback? MSO Considers Heritage Project

The McLaren 12C has a special place in my heart as the first supercar I ever drove – a decade ago in London ahead of my first Goodwood Festival of Speed. That car has gone from cool to dated to cool again in the intervening years, and in that time, I’ve had the privilege of driving the 570S and 750S, experiencing firsthand McLaren’s remarkable evolution from ambitious newcomer to elite supercar and hypercar manufacturer.

A decade later, I found myself back at Goodwood, this time talking with Jonathan Simms about how that original 12C – the car that started it all – may be about to come full circle in the most significant way possible.

Jonathan Simms knows a thing or two about automotive excellence. His last project at Rolls-Royce was the Goldfinger Phantom, and now, just two months into his role as Head of McLaren Special Operations (MSO), he’s already plotting the division’s next heritage project. One of the leading candidates? That very same 12C – the car that launched the modern McLaren era and is experiencing an unexpected renaissance among enthusiasts.

MSO’s Three-Stream Mission

For Simms, MSO operates on a three-stream system. The first stream, MSO Defined, focuses on personal touches – accents, features, colors and bespoke elements that clients can bring to cars like the 750S or Artura while working with McLaren’s craft specialists.

The second stream, Commissions, represents a completely different level of involvement. These can involve touching every aspect of a car, as Simms explains using the Senna Sempre as an example – the striking vehicle that featured different matrix artwork of Senna across its bodywork. “That’s a great example of a commission, because every aspect of that car was touched,” he notes. “It’s incredible. And lots of people assume it’s wrapped, but it’s hand-painted.”

These commissions can extend to unique body styles, exotic materials, and completely bespoke one-off projects that push the boundaries of what’s possible. But it’s the third stream that’s most relevant to the 12C discussion. “The third arm of MSO is the heritage business,” Simms explains – and this is where the potential 12C project would sit.

Strategic Vision for Growth

Simms’ vision for MSO involves expanding all three streams. His strategy focuses on growing the entry-level defined offerings to capture clients who might otherwise buy standard cars, encouraging them to add unique touches that make the vehicle truly their own. At the same time, he wants to ensure MSO’s most exclusive offerings remain compelling for the brand’s most devoted customers.

“We want to have regular significant programs, be it on heritage or on new products, where our most loyal customers have an opportunity to get into programs that there are very few of, that are really unique products.”

The Heritage Workshop Advantage

What sets MSO apart isn’t just ambition – it’s the people who work there. “About 50, 60% of my workshop team were involved in either the original build of F1 or SLR,” Simms reveals.

“The guy that’s restoring the car downstairs is the guy that signed off the car in the factory. And so we have the competence to do anything along that bandwidth that our clients might ask.”

Rebuilding from Scratch

This isn’t just theoretical capability either, “because we have rebuilt cars from scratch in many of our restorations,” Simms states. “In fact, one of the F1s we’ve got in process at the moment is right the way back to the mono, with restructured parts of the mono.”

The depth of this knowledge reveals itself in unexpected ways during restoration work. “What’s fascinating to see with my team is they’ll start restoring it, and they’ll go, ‘this car was going to a hot climate, so it had tinted film on the glass or there was a sticker put under here,'” Simms recounts. “The guys can not only restore it, but they can actually put back in the nuances that were there for that specific car when it was built that maybe are not documented anywhere, but they just know it because they were involved in the commissioning of that car.”

Current Heritage Success: The SLR HDK Project

MSO’s current heritage project provides a blueprint for future endeavors. The SLR High Downforce Kit (HDK) project has demonstrated both the technical capability and market appetite for such ventures. “We’ve done a high downforce kit project built on SLR, which, in total, across coupe and roadster, will be 32 cars once we’re finished,” Simms explains.

What’s particularly interesting about the SLR HDK project is the client motivation behind it. “The SLR is not the most valuable McLaren that there is, and it’s a very niche product, but the clients that have it as part of their collection understand the part that it plays in McLaren’s genealogy, and they wanted to do something to celebrate it,” Simms observes.

The 12C Renaissance: A Retro Revival

The timing for a 12C heritage project couldn’t be better, as the car is experiencing an unexpected cultural moment. Simms has witnessed this firsthand: “I had the privilege of driving a 12C to Le Mans a few weeks ago, but yesterday, I was walking out and in the supercar parking was a 12C, and it had a bigger crowd around it than a lot of the supercars around it.”

This observation struck him as particularly significant. “I just had to take a snap of that because I thought that’s really interesting. A few years ago, it would have looked quite dated… But there’s starting to be momentum behind it.”

The 12C’s journey from cutting-edge to slightly dated to cool retro find represents a classic automotive cycle. For younger enthusiasts discovering the car fresh, it represents something new and intriguing rather than yesterday’s technology. This generational shift in perception, combined with the car’s historical significance as the foundation of modern McLaren, creates the perfect storm for a heritage project.

Why the 12C Makes Sense for Heritage Treatment

The 12C’s significance extends beyond its capabilities – it’s the car that established McLaren’s modern identity. The 12C project fits within MSO’s broader approach to enhancement and modification. When asked about upgrading existing models, Simms is enthusiastic about the possibilities. “Simple answer is yes,” he responds when asked about 12C upgrade requests from owners.

With projects like the 688 HS, MSO has demonstrated how existing platforms can be elevated. “It was more powerful. But it also had full visual upgrades, with elevated components and suspension. It was taking what we turned up to 10-and-a-half already [referring to the 650S-based 675LT], and turning it out to 11,” Simms explains.

The key to successful MSO projects lies in understanding what clients actually want. Simms’ strategy focuses on creating accessible entry points into the MSO ecosystem, using examples like the black 750S that sat on the lawn at McLaren House during the Goodwood Festival of Speed – essentially a car available through the standard configurator but enhanced with subtle bespoke touches that, Simms says, takes it “from a standard car to something much more elevated.”

While enthusiasm for a 12C heritage project is evident, Simms is careful to note that no final decision has been made. “We haven’t decided on the 12C project yet, but it’s amongst a number of other derivatives we’re looking at for the next heritage project,” he explains.

Looking Forward

As MSO continues to evolve under Simms’ leadership, the division represents something unique in the automotive world – a place where cutting-edge technology meets traditional craftsmanship, where the people who built legendary cars continue to work on them, and where client dreams can become reality regardless of how outlandish they might seem.

Whether the 12C becomes the next heritage project remains to be seen, but its growing cultural cachet, combined with MSO’s proven capabilities and the institutional knowledge of its craftspeople, suggests it would be a natural fit. For a car that has journeyed from cutting-edge to overlooked to culturally relevant again, an MSO heritage project would represent the ultimate validation – transforming the machine that launched modern McLaren into something even more special than it already was.

For McLaren enthusiasts, the prospect of an MSO-enhanced 12C represents more than just another limited edition. It’s a chance to celebrate the car that started it all, enhanced by the people who know it best. And for those of us who remember that first drive a decade ago, it would be the perfect way to honor a car that has proven its enduring appeal by becoming cool all over again.