Which retro-liveried McLaren Elva is for you?

We’re not sure how you’re occupying yourself right now. But McLaren, as is all the rage nowadays, has been relieving its stresses via some grown-up colouring in. Specifically of its Elva speedster.

Thus it's been painted in two different retro liveries, and now the task is yours: pick a favourite.

First up, the black car. It harks back to the McLaren M1A racecar from 1964, which mated a spaceframe chassis to an Oldsmobile V8. It might sound a bit home-brew, but it took the lap record at the Canadian Grand Prix that year. Its modern-day equivalent replicates its colour scheme with full body carbon wearing silver and read stripes.

Then there's the orange car, which harks back to something more iconic. It’s been decorated as a homage to Bruce McLaren’s M6A Can-Am racecar from 1967, receiving the same livery and decals right down to font choices. The M6A’s glorious fixed wing and metal rollover hoop don’t carry over, but then they do have modern day equivalents aboard the Elva, which does a remarkable job of imitating its Sixties ancestor’s voluptuous arches.

The M6A and Bruce formed a mighty bond, winning the ’67 Can-Am title together with the M6A of Denny Hulme a close second.

Where that car used a Chevrolet-sourced 5.9-litre V8, free of turbos and producing 525bhp, the Elva packs an even bigger punch, its 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 serving up a mighty 804bhp. Though its raft of driver aids should make it a significantly simpler thing to drive quickly. If you want one, just 399 will be made, priced at £1.425 million each. Though recent reports suggest this has been cut to 249 cars, reflecting just how crowded the chop-top supercar marketplace has become, with Aston Martin, Bentley and Ferrari all making similarly priced speedsters in various numbers.

Whether you – the affluent buyer – can have a makeshift M1A or M6A costume on yours, McLaren hasn’t yet confirmed...