McLaren Special Operations has revealed the sixth and final Cabbeen Collection McLaren 570GT during the annual Lunar New Year celebration held in Beverly Hills. The Cabbeen-commissioned 570GT debuted at last year's Beijing Auto Show in April, and only five other examples exist. This special McLaren features the same hand-painted dragon outside and embroidered dragon inside that's seen on the other five Cabbeen models built by MSO. This model has a unique VIN number, and you can actually buy it through McLaren of Beverly Hills

What Makes the 2019 McLaren 570GT Cabbeen Collection Special?

If you've been lusting over the Cabbeen Collection McLaren 570 GT ever since it was presented at the 2018 Beijing Auto Show, now's the time to get up and get one as the only example to hit American shores is up for grabs. MSO built a sixth - there won't be a seventh - car in this specification to celebrate the Lunar New Year, the Year of the Pig. That's why the car also received a special VIN number ending in 888888. It was unveiled at the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce’s Asian Business Connection Committee on February 1st.

The golden dragons are matched by the equally golden 15-spoke wheels which sit in front of Speedline Gold disc brakes. Beyond the unique paint scheme, MSO did nothing else to the exterior of this McLaren.

With that being said, once you'll open the door, you'll be greeted by the same dragon placed in between the seats up front and on the cargo tray in the back. McLaren said that "the dragon motifs are an example of Chao Embroidery, which is recognized as part of China’s cultural heritage." The 570 GT also has MSO Defined carbon fiber door sills.

Cabbeen Fashion is a well-known Chinese fashion house specializing in menswear. Founded in 1997 by Ziming Yang, who is the company's Chairman to this day, it employs over 400 people and has over 840 retail outlets in all and had revenue of almost $140 million in 2017.

The McLaren 570 GT is part of McLaren's Sports Series of models and is powered by the same 3.8-liter M838TE twin-turbocharged V-8 as the more track-focused 570S. In this car, the DOHC 32-valve unit revs up to 8,500 rpm, but the maximum power output of 562 horsepower is readily available at 7,500 rpm while max torque of 443 pound-feet is at your disposal between 5,000 and 6,500 rpm. These figures are the same to those of the 570S which also makes use of the same dual-clutch 7-speed SSG transmission as the GT.

Both cars have double wishbones all around and, in true McLaren fashion, open diffs with brake steer. The weight of the two cars is comparable as the GT tips the scales at 2,976 pounds dry, just 13 pounds heavier than the S. To put it into perspective, you'd have to load the S up with a dozen basketball balls to make it as heavy as the GT. In spite of the slight weight difference, both can hit 204 mph although the S is 0.2 seconds quicker from 0 to 60 mph which takes 3.3 seconds aboard the GT which boasts an average fuel consumption of 18 mpg. The interesting thing is that the S is cheaper than the GT, the two of them separated by about $10,000 or as much as this 19-year-old Corvette C5.

McLaren Special Operations seems to be on a roll in the past few years, releasing one special edition model (or models) after the other. For example, check this Gulf-liveried 675LT that was made to look similar to a genuine 1997 McLaren F1 GTR Longtail that had just been restored by McLaren themselves to better-than-new condition in the same colors it wore at Le Mans 22 years ago when one of those cars came home second overall and won the GT1 class.

Check also this Canadian-themed 570S in white with dark red accents, this red-and-black P1 or even this mesmerizing white P1 built as a tribute to four-time F1 World Driver's Champion Alain Prost. Of course, Alain had to win two world titles driving a McLaren (in 1985 and 1986) to warrant such a tribute.

Oh, and let's not forget the many themed MSO Defined McLarens like the Carbon Themed Senna, the Pacific Themed 720S or the Track Themed 720S. Other recent releases by MSO were the Spa '68 tribute 720S painted in orange like the McLaren that Bruce McLaren himself swiftly drove to McLaren's first F1 World Championship win at the Belgian Grand Prix that year and the 'Racing Through the Ages' collection. Last but not least, we can't end this list of MSO projects without mentioning the Senna painted in Marlboro-esque colors in memory of Ayrton Senna himself.

There is, then, a whole world of choices when it comes to MSO-defined McLaren cars and we're sure more are being conceived as we speak. Personally, I enjoy looking at this car for it reminds me of the JPS-sponsored Lotus F1 cars of the '70s and '80s that also blended gold and black although without any Chinese dragons in sight.

2018 McLaren 570GT Drivetrain Specifications

Further reading

Read our full review on the 2017 McLaren 570GT.

Read our full review on the 2017 McLaren 570S Spider.

Read our full review on the 2016 McLaren 570S Coupe.