Understanding your McLaren's VIN
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Each modern car produced is required to have a 17-digit Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) to uniquely identify the vehicle.
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Each of the 17 digits tells you a little about your car's identity, such as model, model year, and unique chassis number.
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Please see below for a description of the purpose of each character and a list of the known options for each.
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If you were to find an exception to the rules below, please use the Contact button to highlight this.
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The VIN Structure of McLaren Cars
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Character 1 Country of Manufacture
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S - United Kingdom
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Character 2 - 3 Vehicle Manufacturer
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BM - McLaren Automotive
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Character 4 - 6 Model Identifier
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11A - MP4-12C
11B - 12C Spider
11C - 625C
11D - 650S
11E - 625C Spider
11F - 650S Spider
11R - 675LT / MSO HS
11S - 675LT Spider
12A - P1
13A - Unknown P13
13C - 540C
13D - 570S
13F - 570S Spider
13G - 570GT
14A - Unknown P14
14D - 720S
15 - Senna
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Character 7 Vehicle Type
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A - Non-Hybrid?
B - Hybrid?
C - Unknown
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Character 8 Delivery Market
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A - LHD - America
B - LHD - Mainland Europe / Middle East
C - RHD - United Kingdom / Ireland
D - RHD - Australia / NZ / Singapore / South Africa
E - LHD - East Asia
F - RHD - East Asia
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Character 9 Check Digit
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This character is assigned by an algorythim
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Character 10 Model Year
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A - 2010
B - 2011
C - 2012
D - 2013
E - 2014
F - 2015
G - 2016
H - 2017
J - 2018
K - 2019
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Character 11-17 Chassis Number
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A special mention needs to be made for Matthias Kierse for his input into learning how VINs work.
Understanding Prototypes
Mule Vehicles - 'MV'
- Mule Vehicles come before any prototypes. These often do not look anything like the car that they will become. For example, the Mules for the MP4-12C were based on two Ferrari 360 Modenas and an Ultima! The Senna mules were originally based on 675LTs.
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eXperimental Prototypes - 'XP'
- The Experiemental Prototypes are the earliest form of prototypes. These can often see some substantial developments, such as the trialling of the chassis.
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Validation Prototypes - 'VP'
- The Validation Prototypes are the intermediate form of prototypes. These are used to finesse developments and software, moving the car towards production.
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Production Prototypes - 'PP'
- The Production Prototypes are the final form of prototypes. These cars often run just ahead of customer cars to thrash out any last issues and are used to train the production team. These cars sometimes go on to serve as press vehicles.
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Series Prototypes - 'SP'
- The Series Prototypes so far have only been present with the P12 platform. These cars have been used to develop and finalise mid-term upgrades for current customer cars.
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Conventionally, all McLaren prototypes have used chassis numbers in the 99**** format.
Timeline
07 04 2011 - 1st McLaren Automotive car registered. MP4-12C in Unknown Silver
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16 08 2012 - 100th McLaren Automotive car built for the Middle East market. MP4-12C in Unknown Black
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08 2013 - 3,000th McLaren Automotive car built. 12C Spider in Volcano Yellow.
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02 02 2015 - 5,000th McLaren Automotive car built. 650S Coupe in Volcano Yellow
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15 12 2016 - 10,000th McLaren Automotive car built. 570S Coupe in Ceramic Grey
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01 05 2018 - 5,000th McLaren Automotive car built for the North American market. 570S Spider in Silica White
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25 05 2018 - 15,000th McLaren Automotive car built. 570S Spider in Curacao Blue
I feel that life is measured in achievement, not in years alone.
- Bruce McLaren
