About Thorney Motorsport
John Thorne started Thorney Limited back in 2002 but even before that he'd spent his life modifying and tuning cars. His first race car was a BMW E30 320 that he built himself and in that first season John got his first win. He was hooked.
BMW M3 Racing and the CSL Cup
Racing developed quickly for the company after that, a move into BMW M3 racing and building BMW race cars allowed the company to develop their own race series - the CSL Cup where we ran multiple M3 cars for ourselves and other customers. We designed, built and ran the largest Vauxhall racing team in the UK with two Astra VXR's and a Corsa VXR in wich we achieved multiple championship wins with multiple drivers.
Endurance Racing and Multiple Championships
We entered the first VX220 race into the Silverstone 24hr and ran multiple VX220 race cars in the Lotus Trophy and got a class win in the 24hr with an E92 GT3 race car we designed and built. Multiple wins, multiple championships. Along the way we even helped Top Gear get a race finish.
Building a BTCC NGTC Car
We were the first full independent to build an NGTC BTCC car in the Insignia and after a budget restricted start managed to develop the car to full potential and then sell it for £300k, which John used to pay off the extra mortgage on his house he used to build it, there is lunacy here for sure.
Off Road Racing and Dakar
A near fatal crash as a passenger in a race car at Silverstone was the warning John needed to retire from driving and sensibly he decided to go off road racing instead. We developed the Arctic Cat UTV for off road racing, then the Polaris RZR for sprint racing and finally the Yamaha YXZ1000 where we were successful enough to gain factory backing for the T3 race cars we designed and developed for Dakar gaining a class win. Sadly after several more 'incidents' racing Yamahas finally put paid to Johns racing career and he retired from racing to concentrate on road car work.
Developing McLaren Expertise
During this time John and the team wanted to move into the supercar market so in 2013 we bought our first McLaren, a 12c Spider in Volcano Orange and we set about stripping the car down to a bare tub to start the learning process. The similarities to the VX220 were palpable and we set about looking to develop the cars for upgrades and tuning. This process has included developing our own diagnostic equipment and we now own two more McLarens - a 570s we converted to our GT4R and a 720 Spider - equally as modified.
Independent McLaren Support
Over the past 13 years we have invested significanlty into developing an independent alternative to McLaren dealers for maintenance and repairs and our confidence in the cars and our experience has allowed us to offer our own McLaren warranty, our own 4 year service plan and been able to develop our own network of Thorney McLaren Independent Specialists all over the World. We offer a complete engine and gearbox rebuild and upgrade service as well as a complete paint and bodywork operation.
Due in part to the frustration with pre owned cars being so poorly prepared we now offer our own consignment sales where we prepare McLarens to perfect condition and sell to the next new owner to enjoy their McLaren journey.
We are here to help and whilst we are a small team, some of whom have been with the company since we began, we can offer every aspect of McLaren support for new and existing owners.