What is it?
It has to be said that there are some hurdles to clear here; a few things to get your head around first. The Elva costs £1,425,000.
They were going to build 399, until they announced it would actually be only 249. Until it was reduced to be 149. And they’re still not all sold.
You might have a mental image of the person who would choose to buy a McLaren without a roof or windscreen and even suspect his or her motives for doing so: is it a car to drive or just to be seen in?
And I understand all that. But on that last point, I can help, having now driven one on mercifully quiet Sussex roads and then around the Goodwood race track. Whatever else you might think about the Elva and whether some or more of its owners choose to or not, it’s a car for driving first, second, third and fourth.
I hadn’t taken this for granted.
The new Aston Martin V12 Speedster, lovely and lovelier to regard though it is, isn’t a car for balls-to-the-wall driving. The Elva, by dint of being not just the most powerful non-hybrid McLaren but also the lightest of all since the F1, is a car that more than makes good on the promise of its appearance. However mad it looks, it’s madder even than that.
It’s not a car for the self-conscious. McLaren supplies each Elva with a pair of bespoke, aerodynamically sculpted helmets, but I preferred to wear the bulletproof (yes, literally) sunglasses that come with it too.
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As a McLaren fan I have to admit that this car is just embarrassing. The sales figures correspond; now they're going to make 'no more' than 149 and if they sell a tenth of that I'd be surprised. For a car north of a million quid there has to be something properly special. This is interesting from some angles, but doesn't have a roof, and is mechanically not very far removed from a 720 Spider that can be had for a tenth the price.
Remember this has to compete with engineering marvels like the T50 (the car McLaren should have made), the Pagani, which is better looking, weather proof and has a bespoke AMG v12, the Chiron, etc etc. It would be way down my list of hypercars even if I had founded MIcrosoft.
Looks like a kids "sit in" toy car in that colour. A fibreglass boat tub. But glad they made it, and if someone wants one they'll buy it as it's their money.