MADDEST OF THE MAD

A BRACE OF BRITISH HYPERCARS ARE BREAKING THE MOULD OF AUTOMOTIVE DESIGN. CONCEIVED WITHOUT ROOFS OR WINDSCREENS, BOTH THE £765,000 ASTON MARTIN V12 SPEEDSTER AND £1.4 MILLION MCLAREN ELVA PROMISE TO DELIVER A (LITERAL) BREATH OF FRESH AIR – IF YOU CAN BREATHE WHILE DRIVING THEM THAT IS

Words: Jeremy Taylor

There were gasps of incredulity when the iconic Lamborghini Countach was first revealed in the early 1970s. The original prototype was one of the most dramatic vehicles ever devised, with a low-slung wedge shape that ultimately defined the supercar genre.

In 1971, the motoring world was awash with mediocrity – the Jaguar E-Type was on the way out, Mercedes only made sensible cars and even the Ferrari 365 looked dull compared to the outlandish Lambo.

Fifty years later, a pair of British car companies are breaking the mould of automotive design again, with two of the craziest cars ever seen on tarmac. Few motors will split opinion quite as much as the new McLaren Elva and Aston Martin V12 Speedster.

Forget the staggering performance and jaw-dropping looks, what really had the Twitterati bristling is that neither featured a windscreen or roof. It was far from ideal that both cars were launched in May, just as we were witnessing the

worst spring weather in living memory.

McLaren and Aston Martin claim that just ‘a few’ build slots remain for both limited editions, confident their outrageous designs will be a sell-out. Originally McLaren was planning to build 399 Elvas, reduced to 249 and now just 149 will run off the production line in Woking.

Long before the British summer arrived, I managed to dodge the rain clouds and take both cars for a genuinely breathless drive across the English countryside. McLaren has since announced an optional windscreen but my Elva was the ‘in-your-face’ version, completely untroubled by glass.

Priced at £1.4 million – almost double the V12 Speedster – driving the madcap McLaren is best explained with a couple of technical stats. The 4.0-litre, twin-turbo V8 is from the Senna hypercar and pushes out 804 bhp. It weighs just 1,148 kg, some 600 kg less than the Aston Martin.

A sub-3.0 second dash to 62mph is naturally thrilling but remember, the featherlight Elva is asking you to enjoy the experience full in the face, sat high in the seat with the door tops at roughly chest height.

A buffering beyond endurance? It would be, except this McLaren has an ace up its sleeve. Those gaping slots in the bonnet gulp air in and are a key part of the Elva’s Active Air Management System (AAMS), activated via a discreet – rather awkward to locate at speed – button beside the steering column.

When pressed, a 15cm bonnet flap rises at speeds over 28mph, forcing air up and over the cockpit and, theoretically, cocooning both driver and passenger in a bubble of calm. The buffer does automatically limit the Elva to 124 mph, although most drivers will be slowing down for oxygen long before that.

Without AAMS, even at 50mph the blast of air is enough to leave passengers fighting for breath. For those determined to remould their faces at triple digit racetrack speeds – remember Clarkson in the Ariel Atom? – McLaren provides a pair of bespoke helmets which, unlike the V12 Speedster, don’t fit inside those distinctive humps behind the headrests.

AAMS on or off, with or without helmet, driving the Elva – named after a superlight 1960s series of cars designed by Bruce McLaren – is for hardcore enthusiasts only. The wind-deflector certainly takes some of the sting out of the experience, but not much. I once rode a four-man bobsleigh, the battering was nowhere near as bad.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the £765,000 Aston Martin Speedster feels more gentlemanly compared to the Elva. I’m still glad for the full-face safety helmet I crammed in my travel bag before leaving home. Without it, I would be gasping for breath in between the giggles and guffaws, as this 186mph supercar scrabbles for grip on rain-soaked tarmac.

Only the price could dampen enthusiasm. A DBS Superleggera Volante with the same 5.2-litre V12 engine is,

MCLAREN ELVA

Price: £1.4 million Engine: 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 Power: 804 bhp Weight: 1,148 kg 0-60 mph: 2.8 seconds Top speed: 203 mph Number built: 149

ASTON MARTIN V12 SPEEDSTER

Price: £765,000 Engine: 5.2-litre twin turbo V12 Power: 691 bhp Weight: 1,765kg 0-60 mph: 3.5 seconds Top speed: 186 mph Number built: 88

after all, less than half the cost. That’s especially true in the US, where the Speedster’s roofless design means it can only be enjoyed on a racetrack.

Sat much lower in the cockpit, the trim is a predictable mix of lightweight materials and leather, with some familiar Aston Martin switchgear to boot. The most obvious addition is a carbon-fibre blade, running fore and aft between the two seats at neck height.

It’s an eye-catching design but ‘enthusiastic’ drivers will probably curse the impact between helmet and carbonfibre when reaching down for the heating and centre console controls. With 691 bhp coursing through an eight-speed automatic gearbox – slightly less than the Superleggera – there is plenty of opportunity to chip the lacquer too.

A heated steering wheel and backside warmers in the wafer-thin, carbon-fibre seats are optional – most other luxuries have been stripped out to save weight. At least a powerful air heater is preventing my fingers from numbness.

This particular Speedster is a cut above the rest because it has been fitted out to DBR1 specification, at an extra cost of around £50,000. The Aston Martin Racing Green paint and flashy anodised grille pay tribute to an iconic roadster, a car that won both the 1959 Le Mans 24 Hours and the Nürburgring 24 Hours races.

Creature comforts for longer journeys are few and far between. However, the modest boot space is complemented by an ingenious, removable leather bag, replacing a conventional glovebox on the dashboard.

Despite being equipped with SatNav, powerful heaters and high-spec sound systems, both cars are totally impractical for everyday use or lengthy journeys. The McLaren does come with an emergency tonneau but only for use when the car is stationary. It’s also the only one of the two with specially-designed airbags that don’t need to deflect off a windscreen when inflating.

Whether the V12 Speedster or the McLaren Elva appeal then might depend on where you live. In Britain, I’d be constantly monitoring the weather app on my mobile phone before heading out. For those in sunnier climes, either could be the ultimate, wind-in-the-hair driving experience. Just don’t forget a helmet.

Homes &

Interiors

IT’S WHAT’S INSIDE THAT COUNTS

David Rockwell’s architecture firm designed hotel Moxy East Village, and its restaurant Cathédrale, to reflect the East Village’s counterculture. (p.112)