McLaren Just Built a Real-Life Ironman Suit for Civilian Use

It’s for protecting broken ribs — not fighting Doctor Doom

September 21, 2017 9:00 am

To attempt to protect his vital organs from grave damage, a mega billionaire commissioned a special suit from McLaren at great personal expense.

And his name wasn’t even Tony Stark.

In a story that sounds straight out of a Marvel book, it’s been revealed that a yet-to-be-identified individual known only as Client X was able to convince McLaren’s Applied Technologies unit to build him an Ironman-esque suit to shield his fourth and fifth ribs from damage after surgery.

Created under the name Project Invincible, McLaren built the special chest plate and shield from a blend of bulletproof Dyneema, lightweight carbon fiber and ultra-high strength Zylon, the same material the marque uses to outfit some of its F1 cars. According to McLaren, the composite mixture ensures “flexural rigidity and load carrying capability” as well as protects the rib cage, heart, lungs and other vital organs from damage.

“Our client wanted their day-to-day experience improved, requiring it to be discreet beneath a shirt, for instance,” said project lead Dan Toon. “So, we spent several hours creating a detailed requirement specification to underpin the development. We effectively had a blank canvas.”

After three months of testing — including one trial where 75 pounds would be dropped onto the wearable from just a few feet up  — the special suit was finally complete. Final cost? $250,000.

Here’s a more in-depth look at how McLaren’s team did it … without relying on help from Jarvis.

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