As a sports car fanatic, there is nothing I love more than a spartan interior, the neutral handling of a mid-engine chassis, nimble steering, and an incredible wind-in-my-genitals open-air driving experience. That’s why I just bought this 2012 McLaren MP4-12C cutaway car from Beverly Hills McLaren for only $24,880. Of course, I had to get the matching McLaren-branded windbreaker, so the grand total was fifty grand, but it was still a bargain, and well worth the cost of entry. Where else can you get a sports car with a lightweight carbon monocoque, a nearly 600-horsepower Nissan-derived turbocharged V8, and literally nothing else for this cheap?
Since 2012, this car has just been sitting in a Beverly Hills showroom. It hasn’t been driven, it hasn’t hit a track day, it hasn’t even been turned on in all those years. Ugh, supercar owners are the worst. Cars are meant to be driven, folks. Why buy them if you aren’t going to put miles on them? After a full engine service, which was an extra fifteen large, I immediately took the car on a cross-country road trip to prove to the haters that it could be done. This car is perfect for me, because I hate comfort and amenities. As a hardcore sports car guy, I’m really looking for a car that makes me hate myself, and that’s exactly what I’ve found here!
It’s just so cool to occasionally get hit in the face with a rock or a summertime junebug. Driving this car is like all of the downsides of riding a motorcycle, without any of the upsides of driving a car! The best part of it is that I can see the suspension working, I can hear the turbochargers spooling right behind my head, and I can smell the heat of the exhaust and brakes after I go for a death-defying canyon carving session.
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This car was available for sale on CarGurus as a rolling chassis, including the carbon tub, aluminum subframes, engine, gearbox, hydraulic suspension components, brakes, and wheels, and nothing more, but then I bought it and made it my daily driver. It might have been cool as a piece of McLaren automotive history, or a museum display piece, but I’d rather drive it until I die. Which could easily be tomorrow.
H/T to Oppo