Man Maths: McLaren 570S

Even a 10-year-old car would feel blindingly fast today – a traction-limited 3.1sec 0-60mph time and a 200mph+ top speed fast – and as modern cars get ever more heavy and remote in feel, the tactile experience as you strung a few corners together would leave you breathless and stunned at the end of a decent road. Or track.

And then the Man Maths kicks in. You’ve been around the block a few times, read a few stories. You know a McLaren is not going to be cheap to run; that you may get a big and scary bill. But so too do you know the depreciation curve has all but completely flattened out; you reason that the amount of money it’s likely to cost over a year is as nothing compared to what you’d lose just driving a brand new EV home from the dealer.

Moreover this is now a toy, a reward for all the hard work you’ve done, it’ll be garaged and probably only do a couple of thousand miles a year when the weather is good. You might even convince yourself that, at 10 years old, everything that was going to go wrong with it as a result of the less than entirely consistent build quality standards exhibited by some McLarens of the era will have already fallen off, or ceased to function, and been repaired by someone in full possession of all the correct fixes.

It’s so bloody tempting, I’m talking myself into one just sitting here writing this. Or at least I would be if I knew what on earth I’d do with it: in this line of work there is precious little time or space for recreational driving of the kind at which the McLaren is best.

One of the problems with owning a second-hand McLaren was the lack of independents to look after it, forcing you into the expensive dealer network. But there are some around now, such as Thorney Motorsport and if you look on those forums peopled by sensible, McLaren-owning folk, it seems like an annual service costs around £1000 or double that for a major. And it seems that lots of people take out their own warranty for the car at around £2500 so should the worst happen, they’re covered. So call it around £4000 with an MOT, some tax and consumables. Which is a lot, but perhaps not so much compared to a new car, especially given the peace of mind brought by that warranty.

Usually with such pieces I end up explaining why buying the subject car could actually end up being a really bad idea, however tempting it may be. But a 570, bought eyes wide open with a sensible amount set aside to look after it? I’m not so sure, because I know just how good they are. Or, my favourite, the gorgeous 570GT with the ‘S’ suspension upgrade. Shallow as it may sound, it would improve the quality of my life just knowing it was there. And what else could you buy for so (relatively) little, with that blend of performance, handling, scarcity, brand desirability and looks? Nothing that springs to mind.

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