What's this then?

This is the new McLaren Elva.

Elva? I thought McLarens came with numbers, not names?

Usually, they do, but for this special roadster - just 339 of which will be built - McLaren decided to delve into the back catalogue and use a name Bruce McLaren came up with for one of his first racing cars: the M1 and M1A Elva.

Where's the roof gone?

It doesn't have one. Nor a windscreen (although, if you're a wuss, you can have one stuck back on as an option), nor side glass. The Elva is completely open, and uses a thing called the Active Air Management System (AAMS) to duct high speed air from under the nose up and around the cockpit to keep your wig on at speed.

Fast, is it?

God, yes. McLaren won't say how light the all-carbon Elva is just yet (although it's kept the weight down with massive one-piece carbon panels for the front and sides, and sintered carbon brakes) but it has confirmed that the Elva gets the 815hp 4.0-litre twin-turbo engine from the Senna. That's good for a sub-3.0secs 0-62mph run, and just 6.7secs to get to 124mph, law and space allowing.

Crikey.

Indeed. Imagine how many insects you're going to get in your face doing that... Options include platinum or white-gold badges, or (McLaren F1-stylee) 24-carat gold foil engine bay heat reflectors. You can have it in any colour you can imagine, and if you go for leather seats, they come with an extra layer of rain protection. Even the base of the seats has been made slightly shorter so that you can stand up in the cockpit to get in or out.

When can I have one?

Orders open now for late 2020 delivery, but you'll need to find £1,425,000 down the back of the sofa if you want one...

Neil Briscoe - 13 Nov 2019