One of my first valuable assets was a damaged, chipped scale model of a McLaren M-series Can-Am car. It was turquoise green, flat as a matchbox with golden wheels and practically without a screen. I would play on homemade imaginary tracks, scrape bookshelves and launch wild slides across the uneven stone floor of our Yorkshire farmhouse, with no central heating, in my quest to understand more about this weird-looking race car. How it was to drive one of these conquering cars, throwing it in the curves. How did you feel, how was it?
Being five at the time made it unlikely that I would find out. But the black and white images – without color TVs in our village – of the images of the McLarens invading the podiums in the mid-60s stayed with me, as permanently as the scar on my leg from playing Catch the Pitchfork that summer, all those years ago . Looking at classic McLaren M racing models now, they still look incredibly raw and fabulously dangerous. Everything a good race car should be. But driving one? This will probably never happen.
Or is it? This is where the new McLaren Elva comes in. For 149 nostalgic old people obsessed with speed like me – and some of the inevitable and permanently primitive influencers – Elva is like being tied to your favorite love interest and dipped in hot chocolate. Officially, it is the fifth car in the McLaren Ultimate series, followed by the OG F1 in 1994 and has the demonic P1, physically disturbing Senna and Speedtail stretched out like brothers. But, in an unofficial and important way for me, it is a modern reinvention of a car that allows one last chance to live and drive the McLaren Can-Am dream.
In essence, Elva uses most of the oil and electric parts of Senna. The engine is the same 804 hp biturbo V8, and the brakes are the same sintered carbon items to stop the world, only with lit titanium caliper pistons – they save 1 kg per turn. The suspension, screwed to the Senna carbon tub, is a readjusted version of the intelligent and very intelligent multimode electro-hydraulic system. But after that, the already exotic spec sheet further expands Elva’s exclusive fantasy territory.
With the almost weightless doors open almost vertically, you step over one of the widest sills in automotive history, stand in the foot area and lower yourself on the carbon seats. The front view is of the oval instrument gauge, with both chassis and engine modes accessed via a rocker lever on each side of the pod. There is a small vertical screen, according to normal McLaren practice, to control things like the heater and, most importantly, the 15-level bypass control. In addition to a row of buttons under the panel for AAMS and the – shockingly small – boot release. But that’s it.
The body is made up of three huge carbon fiber sculptures – you can’t just call them mere body panels – which project and enlarge like the Cotswold field firmly on the internal components. But even with all the curves added, there is still more than a passing resemblance to old Can-Am cars. Pointed nose, large front wheel arches, protruding hips with large cooling grids. It’s all there and more. The ‘plus’ being the integral seat spines – which contain ballistic overturn protection – instead of guard rims, a rear divider that looks like a giant toast rack and a series of horizontal slits in the hood where the deep duct used to be in the race cars.
One of these slots contains a key piece of Elva’s magic. Known as McLaren Active Air Management System (AAMS), when activated – there is a button for turning on and off; it’s not always on – it lifts a flap about six inches in the air that flows over the front of the car, to reduce the impact on the driver and passenger. When activated, it clicks at 30 mph and remains well beyond the national speed limit. It was designed to contain the air flow. But you have to think about the future. If you suddenly find yourself doing 60 mph and want to reduce the explosion, you will have to slow down to 30 mph to make it appear again, but this may be peculiar to this pre-production car. The claim is that it can be used at any speed.
The reason why AAMS is there, of course, is the total absence – to the utter disbelief of every person who sees it – of a screen. Owners will be able to specify a short insect shield for later M model racing cars, which many may see as essential, not least because it makes the Elva look more authentic than racing. But while making the car more usable on a daily basis, specifying the screen excludes AAMS. So, I would still understand anyone who wants a pure look without the screen. You will be able to identify these people easily: they will have a bicep where the neck was.
Because, there is no escaping that, the incessant gust of wind in Elva above 80 mph is nothing short of brutal. I’ve been riding motorcycles without a screen of up to three digits that offer less turbulence than you experience here. Even crouching as much as possible and wearing a helmet, it looks like you were glued to the front of a jet fighter. In the passenger seat it is even worse – or better depending on your point of view.
Braking a curve after a short straight, but with a lot of energy – the 1,148kg Elva accelerates faster than Senna – I look through the viewfinder at Jamie, the photographer sitting next to me, head uncovered. Looking like a combination of a smiling human emoji and Sonic the Hedgehog, he claims that Elva is the greatest fun he’s ever had in a car in years, and I agree.
But that was a long way from our initial impressions when we received the car keys. Despite all common sense shouting to wear a helmet all the time in this 203 mph roofless hypercar – we launched into Beverly Hills traffic with no more protection than sunglasses. We would certainly be fine even without AAMS, right? Wrong. Even at 40 mph, the gust of wind pulls our hats off and makes our eyes water uncontrollably. This is not a good thing.
If I had to compare it with anything, it looks like the older brother of a Lotus Elise
Pressing the AAMS button instantly makes it more comfortable, but not the absolutely calm pool that we were led to believe. Perhaps, we think, if we go a little faster, it will smooth out. But after a 20-mile run on Highway 405 at normal speed, a hat and glasses stuck to our heads with one hand, watery eyes, it was clear. Were we missing the point or did McLaren just make the fastest, most powerful and most expensive hair dryer in the world?
Then, a little confused, we gave up, hung up, exchanged hats for helmets and headed for the passes. And then, suddenly, everything that was a chore on the highway and in the city becomes a bonus. With a helmet deflecting a large number of blows, we can concentrate and explore the incredible balance, power and precision of the car. I drove this particular road hundreds of times in more than 20 different cars, so I know it as the alphabet. And Elva just destroys him.
The sense of direction and safety are the best I’ve ever felt – yes, even with road tires – allowing for perfect positioning on the road. The suspension, in Sport mode, evaluated millimetrically, returning just enough road data to let you know what’s going on, smoothing out, but not suffocating the details. And the engine is just huge. Majestic response, power that never ends and rapid gear changes accompanied by the crack of the exhaust … it looks like the most polished jewel in a car. If I had to compare it with anything, it looks like the older brother of a Lotus Elise.
But it is also much more than that. Without a screen to reduce the wind, all your senses are on high alert. You can smell the landscape as it passes by, the guy in front of you vaping Strawberry Surprise, the horses, the cafe, the sea. You can also feel the thermals in the air cooling and heating as you dive and climb the mountain road. This makes the whole experience completely more engaging and fun.
It is nothing that motorcyclists have not known for years, but having the same feelings in a car that can easily overtake most bicycles is new to me.
That’s why Elva is a triumph – and far from being the smallest runt in Ultimate, after an immaculate F1, it would be my first choice for miles. Especially if I could persuade McLaren’s MSO department to paint it a turquoise green with a few chips and find a set of classic gold wheels. Fingers crossed. I have many roads and trails that I have been waiting for decades to drive a real version of my award-winning Can-Am McLaren.
Photography: Jamie Lipman
McLaren Elva specifications
Price: £ 1.43m
Motor: 4.0 liter TT V8, 804bhp, 590lb ft
Streaming: 7spd DCT, RWD
Performance: 0-62 mph in 3.0 seconds is
Maximum speed: 203 mph
Weight: 1,148 kg