The reason that this was a tough sell wasn’t because the lack of roof, windows, and windshields. The ferrari sp1/sp2 monza has no roof, windows, windshield, and cost more as well as has a higher production number but they were all sold out. The issue is that there are too many mclaren “special/limited” cars that all comes out within a short period. You got the senna, the sabre, the elva that are all basically all “limited”. If u buy the 765lt which was supposed to be limited track focused version of the 720s, that doesn’t even get you in the top 5 current mclaren. At some point people have to wonder why they even bother with mclaren and their “limited” cars.
True. With Lamborghini's Aventador J and the Ferrari Monza you know you're getting something crazy rare. With McLaren you have zero guarantee that something similar won't be coming out in the next year
Totally agree, even the market for porsche speedster is hot, in spite of it may not that “limited” compared to others. Not to mention that speedster model from Aston and Bentley. But I think Mercedes sterling moss is the OG speedster tho.
Actually, Doug itself did a video on this subject and pretty much said the same... the fact he didn't mentioned in it this video is probably due to getting this car direclty from McLaren.
My question is why shine a negative title on this mclaren as if it being impractical isn't its point, but glorified the ferrari monza when it was worse ?? He doesn't make sense sometimes
@@meavyhetal I think it's because the Monza is a track only car and has the brand "prestige" of Ferrari thus "justifying" the impracticality. Whereas this is a road car and fails to "justify" all the impracticality while being yet another 720S based mclaren.
@@gabrieljimenez7856 I get your point..atleast the mclaren is street legal! Both cars speak "look at me" so if I had the money and bought one of these, I'd want people to see it ? I think the 720 is a solid car, no pushover there, the monza is based off the 812, chassis and engine, but I see no hate against that anywhere (not that it deserves it anyways) I think these cars are way too expensive, even for limited series
@@Turskaify I can't agree with that my friend, a yearly salarys worth of a car has to be worth it, because people like you and I work hard for it, a billionaire will buy one or two of these, ride them once, and will probably never touch them again or just resell them in the future. We're not in the same boat as them, I appreciate a solid brz build more than monza anyway, so yes price is relative in some cases, call me crazy 🔫
Doug, I think it's quite lame you eliminated the daily/weekend score breakdowns. I can't speak for everyone but that was one of the best sections of your video presentation. Please bring it back.
Car lock buttons don't just lock the door. They will often also activate an immobilizer. McLaren also could have easily made that rear view mirror a small screen with a camera at the back of the car, and then it'd be functional.
I think there may be regulations regarding the rear view mirror. Jay Leno did a video with the lead designer of this car, I think he may have mentioned it in that.
@@jonc4403 They usually put screens on the dash / console. I think the regs require the rear view mirror to be in your field of view when you're looking at the road (don't quote me on that though). They could have put a screen on the hood but it's understandable that they didn't want to. I think they just put that thing there to make the car road legal but didn't intend it to be used, they probably intended the wing mirrors to be used to see behind and just made the other one as small and inobtrusive as possible.
Great vid, but such a pity the real reason for the "Elva" name wasn't spoken of. Elva was a racing car manufacturer in the 50s and 60s in East Sussex, England. This is in my neck of the woods. They produced some great racing cars, but had difficulty converting this to commercial success. So they were bought by a company called Trojan, who in 1965 were asked by Mclaren to build racing car chassis. This begat in 1967 the Mclaren Elva M1C racing car. The name "Elva" may come from the French "Elle Va", but that is the work of Frank Nichols, the creator of Elva cars company in the early 1950s. For many years there was hope that a new Elva company would start up and build fast lightweight cars, track cars and racing cars, but it never happened. I guess it never will now.
For a long time while watching I thought this is a Koenigsegg because elva is Swedish for eleven and Koenigsegg have been naming their cars with one Swedish word lately.
Surely this is where the "elva" name came from, my first reaction was also related to swedish language for "eleven". My first thought was that it was a reference to the lotus eleven lineage. Since the whole point of the elva is, that it's basically a lotus trackday car cranked up to 12... pun intended. But surely racing heritage makes more sense.
This car reminds me of one of those crazy 1970's through 2000's concept cars which were too crazy for production but this one actually made it to production...
70s??? You obviously don't know about european cars in the late 50s and 60s 🙄 and in fact, the jaguar e type's shape goes way way back to post WWII Mercedes car development
@@A_Pt_9298 Well yeah, if you go back to the era where they were competing to build the fastest land vehicle or even car racing such as the lemans 24 hour from the 1950's+, yes there were many vehicles with the same/similar body lines and shapes and what you're saying isn't wrong at all, but I think you get the idea of what I'm trying to say, and my bad for giving a general time period where they also made crazy cars and concepts like this.
@@mescko the point is not that it isnt safe, but that there might be conflict with regulations. regulations sometimes just have shitty unintended edge-case consequences
I think this car deserves less than a 6 on value. I know that's the usual score, but the fact that they had to continually decrease the production numbers leads me to believe that it's not worth what they're charging
McLaren and Lambo have ruined their ability to charge copious amounts for a "special edition" Every other car they make they claim is a special edition so it took till the collectors realised they are losing money drastically rather than gaining like special editions usually do. They are biblically unreliable too.
@@halutena736 Is he though? It doesn't need a full windshield like the version shown in the video, just a permanent small piece of glass that deflects the air like the old cars they're trying to send an hommage to
The whole air guard thing still wouldn't save you from that thumb sized rock that got kicked up from someone in front of you. It'd hit you like a shotgun slug.
28:55 Doug spends the whole video talking about the impracticality of the Elva - no windshield, have to wear a helmet, storage space basically non-existent - but then (maybe he doesn't want to give a McLaren a zero score? And I don't think he's ever given a score of zero to any vehicle he reviewed) he gives it a 1 in the practicality section. THIS...is why I enjoy watching good old Doug, getting to live out all of our automotive fantasies for us, and not allowing any vehicle to be scored zero in any section
In the early Fantastic Four comics Johnny Storm raced cars as a hobby. His sister, Susan Storm, aka The Invisible Girl, drove a very spiffy car that resembled this. She would use her ability to form invisible protective force fields with her mind to encapsulate her car, protecting it from damage like crashes, debris and enemy projectiles. Her invisible force field power would work well with this car.
Accumulation of a McClaren Elva at one pole is at the same time accumulation of misery, agony of toil, slavery, ignorance, brutality, mental degradation, at the opposite pole
You can lock it for legal reasons. In Europe for eg. You need to lock your convertible even if the roof is down. If someone breaks in and steals stuff or the car itself and your insurance found out you did not lock it... they wouldn't pay.
"Darkness sensor" to turn on your head lights...I mean...I ~guess~ it detects darkness in a way...it's actually sensitive to light but the lack of light is also measured...sort of.
the beauty of a car reviewer. you comment a car good or bad, you can ride it no matter how skyscrape the price tag is, and you dont have to own. i love it. btw that car will only be a queen garage, that maybe the number of the ride from a reviewer vs the owner is not that different.
A lazy solution to a problem that shouldn't even exist. I mean, no windshield because it's supposed to be some sort of throwback, but climate control is a necessity?
I remember the concepts of this car promised it would all be deflected through ducts and vents, that deflector looks hideous. Not that I could ever feasibly afford one of these anyways but it's just so ugly
_"You are all just jealous because you can't afford it"_ I'm joking but yeah no I agree, I don't see the advantage of placing a wind deflector..when a way cheaper solution would've been the windshield.
I'd ask them to delete the wind deflector and just fit a windshield. Car would look a whole lot better, too. It amazes me that an idea so stupid ever went beyond the drawing board and into production.
it is crazy how much time and energy go into producing such small volume cars, that nobody can drive, and those who can afford, choose not to drive them,
the "air management system" on the previously reviewed Ferrari SP1 seems a lot better solution (not to mention more aesthetically pleasing) than this ugly hood flap. Moreover, how does adding a "non-functional" rearview mirror satisfy the requirement of having a rearview mirror?
I wonder if they adjusted the number plaque as they walked back the production numbers or if they walked it back before any were produced. Would be funny if they were all XXX of 500 even if they only sell 150.
For a car like this, something like the plaque costs essentially nothing to change, 500 of those plaques probably cost $300 to make (if they're carbon fiber, even cheaper if not) and the car sells for $1.8m. It would make absolutely no sense for McLaren to skimp on changing it to the correct number for a car that's meant to be exclusive and collectable.
Wonder how they handle the ones that are early production. The first one would obviously be 1 of 500 so do they ask the buyer to come back to update his/her plaque? Lol probably won’t have any real effect on value but would be funny down the road if the of 500 number plaques command a premium
Doug has really had a time with driving all of these cars with no windshield lately. He must really enjoy the bugs and rocks flying directly into his face.
A lot of ppl are askibg Doug to bring back the DougScore breakdowns (me included) but the thing is so many ppl here were complaining about the Doug Score and saying they don't leave at the Doug Score section. Plus along with that I believe he said he cut it down to get to the point and to have room for the review it's self. I personally miss the Doug Score breakdowns too but it gets annoying to see so many ppl say they miss it and stuff when they're the same ppl complaining and hating on it. If he does bring it back it'll be cool but his reason for getting rid of it unfortunately makes sense
One of the key reasons why the Elva hasn't been as successful as McLaren would have hoped (unlike Ferrari's Monza SP) is that they've since their relaunch established themselves as more of a budget and exposure friendly company, being popular with up-and-comings, high-end influencers and public figures etc. So they never re-established a core brand heritage value. Then after the P1, McLaren have gone wild with one-offs and special edition models, oversaturating their own lineup and far exceeding the already niche demand amongst exotic luxury heritage brands. First the P1, then the Speedtail, then the Senna, then the Saber, then the Elva (and whichever models I've surely forgotten to mention).. All in all, they have been putting out far more "exclusive" models than their own brand client portfolio could ever hope to sustain, and the Elva is simply so far out there in terms of actual usability and what you get for your money, that it just couldn't keep up with their manufacturing goal. It isn't as special as the Monza (which is its main competitor), it isn't offering enough car compared to similarly priced exotic cars, and on top of this its design is also rather busy and unsure of itself, not really hitting any unique feature looks, functions, or engineering solutions to warrant its market position.
I understand what you mean, but with the exception of Ferrari, every Hypercar manufacturer does the same, there are so many limited edition Paganis and Lambos which are the main model with minor changes that it's stupid.
@@martinantelo7086 Right, but there are some key differences. Pagani is almost exclusively an "exclusive" brand. Lambo has been cementing their own grave for a good while and can only truly maintain their position because of their VAG ownership. Ferrari has the superior exclusivity mark, and the fact that you can't just buy a new Ferrari even if you have the money for it, meaning that their already exclusive cars become even more exclusive because of the impossibility of even outbidding someone for the car even if you wanted to. That said, you are very right that a lot of car companies have been rolling the one-off bandwagon for a looong time. I suspect it has partly something to do with how the industry is changing to hybrid/pure electric and the companies will likely avoid investing as much money in new petrol powered platforms as possible, to minimize the risk of early retirement of said platforms. See how long the Aventador has been going, it's no coincidence they've refused to do anything to succeed it (and the Huracan too), instead we just get limited editions of the already limited editions, etc.
Dude, imagine actually paying 24k 1:03, for THAT. "Man that thing is so clean, I've never seen a Cherokee so nice" "Thanks, I paid $24,000 for it" " *You what....* "
wow, usually i dream on how i wish i had this or that car if i could afford it. This is different, no surprise people won't buy it. Also the pricetag. jeeez
25:10 you really need to review the suzuki sv650. please! I need to see it. talk about the lock on the back, talk about the tip sensor that doesn't exist, talk about the storage compartment!
Trust me, AC and heat are very important. I had a Miata and AC is a must when you drive downtown in the summer and heat is perfect for fall rides with the top down and it is very efficient even with the top down
I’ve been watching every Doug video for years but for the life of me I can’t give a crap about this car and the last month have all been either unobtanium weird.. foreign never gonna see one.. and a few regular boring new cars. I am eager for a return to legitimately interesting vehicles.
Very clever regulations in the us 😂 a mirror that needs no glass a need for a regular safety belt even if you have the much more secure racing harnesses. Also the additional reflectors needed make some cars look poor. But hey, I am from Germany and we have probably even more regulations and some of them seem unreasonable also.
You have the one perk that matters: the autobahn, where you're policed on your actual safety and etiquette, not the arbitrary number the put up next to the road. I'd tolerate a lot of weird rules to get a rule where people failing to yield the left lane were severely ticketed.
Absolutely amazing car, but not exactly $1.6 million of amazing. Not only is it just a 720s, but I could see a few misaligned body panels in the video.
I was just looking at comments if someone's gonna mention it. Yeah those panels gaps at doors and misalignment at doors are not acceptable. Check 03:20 how door protrudes, you can even see a shadow on the car
Heated mirrors is pretty hilarious too. I guess I can see a few people who live in a perma-sunny place and crave attention buying that, but it's extremely expensive for what you really get. It's basically a track car, and you could go actual SCCA racing with some pretty quick cars for a tiny fraction of that amount.
The damn door panel doesn't even align with the body right. You can see the shadow of the sun cast by the driver door on the body work, showing the door is almost a good half inch out of alignment. This is what kills me with these Hyper cars. They're often built like trash.
9:40 - Wait, US regulations require that you have a 3 point belt, period, not *at least* a 3 point belt? I'm all for safety regulations, but that's literally making us less safe. 6 point harnesses exist for a reason, and that reason is they're safer for professional drivers than 3 point belts.
Doug, that’s a wild car for sure, but as long as you don’t have a passenger you can have 95% of the thrill for around 1/10th the cost with a BAC Mono r
This car like the Monza is insane and a marvel of Engineering. I'm all for the radical and cool design. But I can't get over the fact that a low hanging tree can take your head off, or a stone from a passing truck on the highway can smash your face
Once again, McLaren devaluing their brand by shoving out a hyper car that nobody asked for. STOP! You can only make a halo car every like 5 years at most. You're setting the McLaren name value on fire.
@@n.j.crawler Yes, obviously 🙄. McLaren has been an F1 team for decades with many fans, and their first road car is considered one of the best cars of all time. When a brand such as this makes a halo car it should make everyone go “oh 💩!” Not “another? Ugh”.
@@garythecyclingnerd6219 they weren’t ever gonna touch the f1. Their cars produced under the “McLaren” we’ve know since early 2000’s are mediocre at best.
Yes. You might die from this. Or a large bird. Or a flying piece of retread. Front window glass at least gives you a buffer zone for the massive impact of something like a small deer, but I don’t think motorcyclists are that well-protected either from flying road debris and animals - in any case, to road enthusiasts these dangers are not a new issue.
Not to mention, potential buyers probably wonder, if you're riding with a passenger, you have nowhere to put your helmet (if you decide to wear one) once you take it off if you're sitting somewhere in the car, like at a car show or maybe pulling over to get gas and take a quick bathroom break. You don't dare leave the helmets sitting on the seats if you have to walk away from the car. I guess they expect you to walk into the gas station bathroom like a moron with a helmet on since there's no trunk/frunk. So you forget the helmet idea, and just drive with the ugly wind deflector sticking up. It'll be splattered with dead bugs in no time.
I wish there was a class of vehicle which does not have much wind protection, has enough power to weight ratio to rival supercars at a very less cost, thrilling to drive...🤔😜
@@emptyshirt I think he means motorcycles. But if you wanted a car like that for "cheap", a Caterham, Ariel Atom or some Lotus models would shoe the foot better.
I drove in a jeep with the doors off and a rock flew in the cabin and hit my leg.. never again. I'll take a windshield imagine a rock hitting ur body/face/helmet at 100kmh, bound to hurt!
Think about the bodily damage at 300kpm sans wind screen when that stone or spray of stones hits the guy with those Mc Clanen "protective" eye wear. It won't be pretty.
It's crazy that million-dollar-plus cars are becoming so commonplace, hearing what this cost just doesn't surprise nor impress me anymore. Still, no doubt, I'll never afford one.
Wearing an unstrapped helmet looks silly. I know you're wearing it for audio and eye protection rather than safety but it looks ridiculous unstrapped. Love your videos anyway Doug!
I don’t get whatever happened to being able to open the engine compartment. I mean the whole point of having a pice of art on wheels is being able to open up compartments and show how beautiful it is under that crazy opening hood as well, just like when we were kids and had toy supercars
reason why i wont buy a mclaren after the mp4-12c and a porsche after the 997.2. without that access to the engine, you're screwed financially if your warrenty goes out
Wouldn’t a racing harness be more secure then a regular seatbelt? So why if a car company is putting a race harness that actual race cars use not be considered safe enough and need a regular one as well
A race harness isn't perfect, you can't lean forward at all once it fastened, and you'd need a HANS device in the event of a frontal crash if you don't want to destroy your neck, especially if you're wearing a helmet due to the whole lack of windshield thing... The 3 points seatbelt + airbags is just the better combinaison for a road car, and that's why it's mandatory
They can get away with being cheap because their cars look cool, and they seem to think the 2 people who buy a McLaren each year have infinite money to keep buying these limited production "special cars"
Re the polished aluminium mirror, aluminium is the second most reflective substance behind silver, and both are used in basically all headlights. Older silver, newer aluminium. So it's probably actually pretty good.
The reason that this was a tough sell wasn’t because the lack of roof, windows, and windshields. The ferrari sp1/sp2 monza has no roof, windows, windshield, and cost more as well as has a higher production number but they were all sold out. The issue is that there are too many mclaren “special/limited” cars that all comes out within a short period. You got the senna, the sabre, the elva that are all basically all “limited”. If u buy the 765lt which was supposed to be limited track focused version of the 720s, that doesn’t even get you in the top 5 current mclaren. At some point people have to wonder why they even bother with mclaren and their “limited” cars.
I was looking for this comment. This car seems like its just jumping on the roofless/windsheldless bandwagon
True. With Lamborghini's Aventador J and the Ferrari Monza you know you're getting something crazy rare. With McLaren you have zero guarantee that something similar won't be coming out in the next year
Totally agree, even the market for porsche speedster is hot, in spite of it may not that “limited” compared to others. Not to mention that speedster model from Aston and Bentley. But I think Mercedes sterling moss is the OG speedster tho.
Actually, Doug itself did a video on this subject and pretty much said the same... the fact he didn't mentioned in it this video is probably due to getting this car direclty from McLaren.
McLaren should do more Speedtail and less Elva, if you catch my drift...
Doug reviewed the holy trinity of roof-less cars: the Ferrari sp1, the Mclaren Elva and the Smart Crossblade
I think the Aston Martin V12 roadster trumps the crossblade for the holy trinity lol?
An he would likely keep the Crossblade above the Others i guess
Stirling Moss
@@lebeau5451 Who wouldn't?
@@rdente Stirling moss goes hard
Doug the kind of guy to buy an Elva for the headroom alone.
Doug will be terrified lethally if he ever discovers a motorcycle.
"No roof, no seatbelt, no airbag, no windshield and only two wheels..."
My question is why shine a negative title on this mclaren as if it being impractical isn't its point, but glorified the ferrari monza when it was worse ?? He doesn't make sense sometimes
@@meavyhetal I think it's because the Monza is a track only car and has the brand "prestige" of Ferrari thus "justifying" the impracticality. Whereas this is a road car and fails to "justify" all the impracticality while being yet another 720S based mclaren.
@@gabrieljimenez7856 I get your point..atleast the mclaren is street legal! Both cars speak "look at me" so if I had the money and bought one of these, I'd want people to see it ? I think the 720 is a solid car, no pushover there, the monza is based off the 812, chassis and engine, but I see no hate against that anywhere (not that it deserves it anyways) I think these cars are way too expensive, even for limited series
@@meavyhetal Way too expensive is relative, toys are toys whether it's pennies for a billionaire or my yearly salary for a BRZ.
@@Turskaify I can't agree with that my friend, a yearly salarys worth of a car has to be worth it, because people like you and I work hard for it, a billionaire will buy one or two of these, ride them once, and will probably never touch them again or just resell them in the future. We're not in the same boat as them, I appreciate a solid brz build more than monza anyway, so yes price is relative in some cases, call me crazy 🔫
Doug, I think it's quite lame you eliminated the daily/weekend score breakdowns. I can't speak for everyone but that was one of the best sections of your video presentation. Please bring it back.
You are 100% correct, let's start a petition. 🤓
Agree👍
It’s kind of self explanatory in most cases 🤷♂️
I agree, I like hearing his thoughts on why he gave each individual score
Hell yeah, if people hate it they could just skip the video
Car lock buttons don't just lock the door. They will often also activate an immobilizer.
McLaren also could have easily made that rear view mirror a small screen with a camera at the back of the car, and then it'd be functional.
I think there may be regulations regarding the rear view mirror. Jay Leno did a video with the lead designer of this car, I think he may have mentioned it in that.
@@TwoLeftSh0es The regs require the mirror be there. The regs do not prevent it from also being a screen.
@@jonc4403 They usually put screens on the dash / console. I think the regs require the rear view mirror to be in your field of view when you're looking at the road (don't quote me on that though). They could have put a screen on the hood but it's understandable that they didn't want to. I think they just put that thing there to make the car road legal but didn't intend it to be used, they probably intended the wing mirrors to be used to see behind and just made the other one as small and inobtrusive as possible.
@@TwoLeftSh0es GM was able to get away with the mirror screen but those are U.S regulations.
The immobilizer is always active in modern cars, it's part of key recognition at startup, regardless of wether the car was locked.
Great vid, but such a pity the real reason for the "Elva" name wasn't spoken of. Elva was a racing car manufacturer in the 50s and 60s in East Sussex, England. This is in my neck of the woods. They produced some great racing cars, but had difficulty converting this to commercial success. So they were bought by a company called Trojan, who in 1965 were asked by Mclaren to build racing car chassis. This begat in 1967 the Mclaren Elva M1C racing car. The name "Elva" may come from the French "Elle Va", but that is the work of Frank Nichols, the creator of Elva cars company in the early 1950s.
For many years there was hope that a new Elva company would start up and build fast lightweight cars, track cars and racing cars, but it never happened. I guess it never will now.
For a long time while watching I thought this is a Koenigsegg because elva is Swedish for eleven and Koenigsegg have been naming their cars with one Swedish word lately.
Well said. Also in my neck of the woods 👍🏻
Surely this is where the "elva" name came from, my first reaction was also related to swedish language for "eleven". My first thought was that it was a reference to the lotus eleven lineage. Since the whole point of the elva is, that it's basically a lotus trackday car cranked up to 12... pun intended. But surely racing heritage makes more sense.
She go, in French tho.
El va means he goes in Spanish.
@@wings9925 my neck is also in the woods
This car reminds me of one of those crazy 1970's through 2000's concept cars which were too crazy for production but this one actually made it to production...
70s??? You obviously don't know about european cars in the late 50s and 60s 🙄 and in fact, the jaguar e type's shape goes way way back to post WWII Mercedes car development
@@A_Pt_9298 Its crazy how this Elva looks like a 40-60's (European) Concept car, just a bit less glass.
@@A_Pt_9298 Well yeah, if you go back to the era where they were competing to build the fastest land vehicle or even car racing such as the lemans 24 hour from the 1950's+, yes there were many vehicles with the same/similar body lines and shapes and what you're saying isn't wrong at all, but I think you get the idea of what I'm trying to say, and my bad for giving a general time period where they also made crazy cars and concepts like this.
More like a tribute to Stirling Moss in my opinion @@JoriDiculous
If McLaren could make an ugly screen pop out of the hood, they could make a half-decent windscreen pop up -especially for 1.7M
Where would it pop up from, bearing in mind all of the regulations they would have to meet regarding clarity, rigidity and other safety concerns.
@@TwoLeftSh0es Safety concerns? You call NO windscreen safe?
@@TwoLeftSh0es I guess it could be a foldable and bendable plastic one stored in the hood
@@mescko the point is not that it isnt safe, but that there might be conflict with regulations. regulations sometimes just have shitty unintended edge-case consequences
@@mescko I'm talking about regulations. It's pretty hard to get a car road legal in California.
I think this car deserves less than a 6 on value. I know that's the usual score, but the fact that they had to continually decrease the production numbers leads me to believe that it's not worth what they're charging
So they are not producing 149 now?
The only thing is, now that they’re making less it makes it more rare and years down the road that’ll help it with value
@@matthewshadrick3094 not if nobody wants it lol
@@joey_cash no matter what it’s still a beautiful car
McLaren and Lambo have ruined their ability to charge copious amounts for a "special edition" Every other car they make they claim is a special edition so it took till the collectors realised they are losing money drastically rather than gaining like special editions usually do. They are biblically unreliable too.
10:30 they could have made a decent, beuatiful and functional rearview mirror... looks like $2 Million Dollars is not enough
Yeah man also I can't believe a regulation that says u need a rearview mirror EVEN THO its not functional... Crazy...
I think the active air thing spoils the lines more than a small windshield like the ariel atom would have
That thing is like some legislated after release cope to reach market. The whole car is an idiot tax.
Building 300 systems to avoid air in the face instead o putting in a simple windshield seems a very brilliant idea.
The idea behind it was great. Design a real view instead of a windshield view
you're missing the point.
@@halutena736 Is he though? It doesn't need a full windshield like the version shown in the video, just a permanent small piece of glass that deflects the air like the old cars they're trying to send an hommage to
The whole air guard thing still wouldn't save you from that thumb sized rock that got kicked up from someone in front of you. It'd hit you like a shotgun slug.
Yea! Or the pebbles that will be cracking your head or claiming an eye yours while out in 40miles/ hour traffic
And bugs. Some of them are hefty!
Hit a bee at 90 on my bike last week. Wearing proper gear it still stung like being shot bare skin with a bb gun.
Don't think I'd drive it without the helmet, fortunately they provide 2.
I love how Doug doesn't even strap his helmet when he drives the car. So safe
The helmet is for wind shielding and better audio, not safety.
I forget sometimes and the clip thing hitting the side of the helmet is all the reason you need to click that stuff.
@@ChrisSoignier so why bother using seatbelt
Because everyone needs to wear a seatbelt. How often do you see someone wearing a helmet in a car on public roads?
@@ChrisSoignier last time i remember that car has no roof, hmm i wonder what worst could happen if it flipped over.
Gotta love the sound of a fighter jet passing overhead as he’s out driving it. Maybe they were trying to race you, Doug. 😎
Yeah i thought it was a normal plane but it's definitely a fighter for sure
At first I thought it was the car😆
Pretty common occurrence in San Diego
Navy out hunting UFOs...
Right as he's talking about speed no less.
28:55 Doug spends the whole video talking about the impracticality of the Elva - no windshield, have to wear a helmet, storage space basically non-existent - but then (maybe he doesn't want to give a McLaren a zero score? And I don't think he's ever given a score of zero to any vehicle he reviewed) he gives it a 1 in the practicality section. THIS...is why I enjoy watching good old Doug, getting to live out all of our automotive fantasies for us, and not allowing any vehicle to be scored zero in any section
Except it should have got a ONE for value. This car is going to be worthless in 5 years.
Bless McLaren for making this insane car. Reminds me of the Hot Wheels I had as a kid.
Dude! SAME!
Reminds me of the car it feels like a spiritual successor to- the Stirling Moss.
14:16 Oh I’m suddenly a fan of this car
You like hexagons a lot?
@@armands3153 🤣🤣 I mistyped, corrected now 🥲
@@thebritishautochannel Now I see. But still, do you like hexagons?
@@armands3153 I’m a big fan of heptagons tbh hexagons just aren’t on the same level.
@@thebritishautochannel I find the heptagons a bit awkward looking, probably prefer the shape of the octagon myself.
In the early Fantastic Four comics Johnny Storm raced cars as a hobby. His sister, Susan Storm, aka The Invisible Girl, drove a very spiffy car that resembled this. She would use her ability to form invisible protective force fields with her mind to encapsulate her car, protecting it from damage like crashes, debris and enemy projectiles. Her invisible force field power would work well with this car.
Accumulation of a McClaren Elva at one pole is at the same time accumulation of misery, agony of toil, slavery, ignorance, brutality, mental degradation, at the opposite pole
You can lock it for legal reasons. In Europe for eg. You need to lock your convertible even if the roof is down. If someone breaks in and steals stuff or the car itself and your insurance found out you did not lock it... they wouldn't pay.
"Darkness sensor" to turn on your head lights...I mean...I ~guess~ it detects darkness in a way...it's actually sensitive to light but the lack of light is also measured...sort of.
the beauty of a car reviewer. you comment a car good or bad, you can ride it no matter how skyscrape the price tag is, and you dont have to own. i love it. btw that car will only be a queen garage, that maybe the number of the ride from a reviewer vs the owner is not that different.
"You can't use it as a mirror, even if you wanted to" ...as he zooms in on the crystal clear reflection of the driver and passenger seats...
5:55 Doug going way under the speed limit on that busy ass road omg
4:40 - I _ABSOLUTELY LOVE_ the look of this car from this angle
Can’t wait for the M5 CS review!
The pop-up wind deflector is a lazy solution in my opinion...
A lazy solution to a problem that shouldn't even exist.
I mean, no windshield because it's supposed to be some sort of throwback, but climate control is a necessity?
I remember the concepts of this car promised it would all be deflected through ducts and vents, that deflector looks hideous. Not that I could ever feasibly afford one of these anyways but it's just so ugly
_"You are all just jealous because you can't afford it"_
I'm joking
but yeah no I agree, I don't see the advantage of placing a wind deflector..when a way cheaper solution would've been the windshield.
There could have easily been a pop up windshield instead
I'd ask them to delete the wind deflector and just fit a windshield. Car would look a whole lot better, too. It amazes me that an idea so stupid ever went beyond the drawing board and into production.
it is crazy how much time and energy go into producing such small volume cars, that nobody can drive, and those who can afford, choose not to drive them,
the "air management system" on the previously reviewed Ferrari SP1 seems a lot better solution (not to mention more aesthetically pleasing) than this ugly hood flap. Moreover, how does adding a "non-functional" rearview mirror satisfy the requirement of having a rearview mirror?
Mirror wise in the same way that Harley chop riders could get away with fitting a dentist's mirror for rearward vision in some states.
Loop holes
I wonder if they adjusted the number plaque as they walked back the production numbers or if they walked it back before any were produced. Would be funny if they were all XXX of 500 even if they only sell 150.
For a car like this, something like the plaque costs essentially nothing to change, 500 of those plaques probably cost $300 to make (if they're carbon fiber, even cheaper if not) and the car sells for $1.8m. It would make absolutely no sense for McLaren to skimp on changing it to the correct number for a car that's meant to be exclusive and collectable.
The plaques get made as the car is made 👍
Wonder how they handle the ones that are early production. The first one would obviously be 1 of 500 so do they ask the buyer to come back to update his/her plaque? Lol probably won’t have any real effect on value but would be funny down the road if the of 500 number plaques command a premium
Doug's the type of guy to obstruct traffic to show off his auto-wind-guarding panel.
Doug has really had a time with driving all of these cars with no windshield lately.
He must really enjoy the bugs and rocks flying directly into his face.
Also, Doug should never say “frontal” like that ever again.
A lot of ppl are askibg Doug to bring back the DougScore breakdowns (me included) but the thing is so many ppl here were complaining about the Doug Score and saying they don't leave at the Doug Score section. Plus along with that I believe he said he cut it down to get to the point and to have room for the review it's self. I personally miss the Doug Score breakdowns too but it gets annoying to see so many ppl say they miss it and stuff when they're the same ppl complaining and hating on it. If he does bring it back it'll be cool but his reason for getting rid of it unfortunately makes sense
You can forward the video at anytime, I always forward the driving part so it’s up to the viewers what they want to see
The air tunnel through the door thing is exceptionally cool.
Cool! But, they should've added "McLaren active rain management system"...
$1.7 million and HUGE gaps in the body panels. The hood looks to have a 1/4" gap!
Yeah I noticed that too
In the fast lane... slowing down to less than 20mph and speeding up and back down. Doug screaming FTW!!!
This is taking retro styling to the extreme. When will we see a PT Cruiser revival?
And because everything is getting Hellcat motors...Hellcruiser
Bring back the old detailed Doug Score..!
Dude, its 2 million dollars. Only 1 or 2 people would care.
@@riomp300 ok
When you're only driving a car a few times a year, weather isn't much of an issue
When the Ferarri Monza SP1 just wasn't expensive enough for you.
One of the key reasons why the Elva hasn't been as successful as McLaren would have hoped (unlike Ferrari's Monza SP) is that they've since their relaunch established themselves as more of a budget and exposure friendly company, being popular with up-and-comings, high-end influencers and public figures etc. So they never re-established a core brand heritage value. Then after the P1, McLaren have gone wild with one-offs and special edition models, oversaturating their own lineup and far exceeding the already niche demand amongst exotic luxury heritage brands. First the P1, then the Speedtail, then the Senna, then the Saber, then the Elva (and whichever models I've surely forgotten to mention).. All in all, they have been putting out far more "exclusive" models than their own brand client portfolio could ever hope to sustain, and the Elva is simply so far out there in terms of actual usability and what you get for your money, that it just couldn't keep up with their manufacturing goal. It isn't as special as the Monza (which is its main competitor), it isn't offering enough car compared to similarly priced exotic cars, and on top of this its design is also rather busy and unsure of itself, not really hitting any unique feature looks, functions, or engineering solutions to warrant its market position.
I understand what you mean, but with the exception of Ferrari, every Hypercar manufacturer does the same, there are so many limited edition Paganis and Lambos which are the main model with minor changes that it's stupid.
@@martinantelo7086 Right, but there are some key differences. Pagani is almost exclusively an "exclusive" brand. Lambo has been cementing their own grave for a good while and can only truly maintain their position because of their VAG ownership. Ferrari has the superior exclusivity mark, and the fact that you can't just buy a new Ferrari even if you have the money for it, meaning that their already exclusive cars become even more exclusive because of the impossibility of even outbidding someone for the car even if you wanted to.
That said, you are very right that a lot of car companies have been rolling the one-off bandwagon for a looong time. I suspect it has partly something to do with how the industry is changing to hybrid/pure electric and the companies will likely avoid investing as much money in new petrol powered platforms as possible, to minimize the risk of early retirement of said platforms. See how long the Aventador has been going, it's no coincidence they've refused to do anything to succeed it (and the Huracan too), instead we just get limited editions of the already limited editions, etc.
It’s also just a 720 in a fancy suit for 5x the price…
Dude, imagine actually paying 24k 1:03, for THAT.
"Man that thing is so clean, I've never seen a Cherokee so nice"
"Thanks, I paid $24,000 for it"
" *You what....* "
Its crazy how different and how much more normal the car looks with just adding the wind shield
wow, usually i dream on how i wish i had this or that car if i could afford it.
This is different, no surprise people won't buy it. Also the pricetag. jeeez
25:10 you really need to review the suzuki sv650. please! I need to see it. talk about the lock on the back, talk about the tip sensor that doesn't exist, talk about the storage compartment!
That pop up panel is crazy since a windshield would do the same and wouldn’t be annoying. Wow.
Trust me, AC and heat are very important. I had a Miata and AC is a must when you drive downtown in the summer and heat is perfect for fall rides with the top down and it is very efficient even with the top down
Heat yes but ac is pointless on a car with permanently no roof.
At 25:38 I think Doug passed a low flying jet in that thing.
Reminds me of Speed Racer's Mach 5, though even that had a windshield.
I was thinking the shooting star… racer x car
I’ve been watching every Doug video for years but for the life of me I can’t give a crap about this car and the last month have all been either unobtanium weird.. foreign never gonna see one.. and a few regular boring new cars. I am eager for a return to legitimately interesting vehicles.
Hey Doug, how about a view of the front while your driving from the driver's perspective?
Very clever regulations in the us 😂 a mirror that needs no glass a need for a regular safety belt even if you have the much more secure racing harnesses. Also the additional reflectors needed make some cars look poor. But hey, I am from Germany and we have probably even more regulations and some of them seem unreasonable also.
And in some states it is not required to wear a helmet while riding a motorcycle! Even in the land of freedom, there are ridiculous regulations.
You have the one perk that matters: the autobahn, where you're policed on your actual safety and etiquette, not the arbitrary number the put up next to the road. I'd tolerate a lot of weird rules to get a rule where people failing to yield the left lane were severely ticketed.
Amazing. I think this is my new favorite car just because of how unique it is
"This car is based on the 720s" oh mclaren, never change
Aren't all modern McLarens based off the mp4-12c? It's been basically just an evolution since then. Nothing clean sheet.
Absolutely amazing car, but not exactly $1.6 million of amazing. Not only is it just a 720s, but I could see a few misaligned body panels in the video.
The gaps may be because It's a pre-production car. I agree with you on the pricing
I was just looking at comments if someone's gonna mention it. Yeah those panels gaps at doors and misalignment at doors are not acceptable. Check 03:20 how door protrudes, you can even see a shadow on the car
@@jeffrycarrascal naaa that's just McLaren quality control
Heated mirrors is pretty hilarious too. I guess I can see a few people who live in a perma-sunny place and crave attention buying that, but it's extremely expensive for what you really get. It's basically a track car, and you could go actual SCCA racing with some pretty quick cars for a tiny fraction of that amount.
The damn door panel doesn't even align with the body right.
You can see the shadow of the sun cast by the driver door on the body work, showing the door is almost a good half inch out of alignment.
This is what kills me with these Hyper cars. They're often built like trash.
Yea I was wondering about that. I don’t have much of an eye for those sorts of details but it stuck out to me too.
pre-production model, not the real deal, but they can mess up the real one too indeed.
9:40 - Wait, US regulations require that you have a 3 point belt, period, not *at least* a 3 point belt?
I'm all for safety regulations, but that's literally making us less safe. 6 point harnesses exist for a reason, and that reason is they're safer for professional drivers than 3 point belts.
This is what passes for "thinking" in the US government.
Finally i been kind of waiting for you to review this car
Doug, that’s a wild car for sure, but as long as you don’t have a passenger you can have 95% of the thrill for around 1/10th the cost with a BAC Mono r
This car like the Monza is insane and a marvel of Engineering. I'm all for the radical and cool design. But I can't get over the fact that a low hanging tree can take your head off, or a stone from a passing truck on the highway can smash your face
That's why you wear a helmet. Motorcyclists dont have windshields and we don't worry about stray tree branches decapitating us lol.
@@7dragongames Motorcycles don't cost nearly $2 Million
This car is a meme just like the rest of these types of cars. It’s no engineering marvel, just some stupid cash grab.
I think, car manufacturers makes cars specifically for Doug, and have their own scoring system, on how hyped Doug gets!
i miss when he used to rate every quirk and feature and give it the reason for the score and then sum everything up for the final score
Once again, McLaren devaluing their brand by shoving out a hyper car that nobody asked for. STOP! You can only make a halo car every like 5 years at most. You're setting the McLaren name value on fire.
The name had value? 🤣
@@n.j.crawler Yes, obviously 🙄. McLaren has been an F1 team for decades with many fans, and their first road car is considered one of the best cars of all time. When a brand such as this makes a halo car it should make everyone go “oh 💩!” Not “another? Ugh”.
@@garythecyclingnerd6219 they weren’t ever gonna touch the f1. Their cars produced under the “McLaren” we’ve know since early 2000’s are mediocre at best.
i really hope he reviews that m5cs that he showed in the cars n bids bit, that car is a monster
Here's a fun one: Take a shot every time doug mentions the lack of roof or windshield. I'm NOT responsible for the consequences.
POV would have been cool to see what the driving experience was like.
I did not see any video of the car in motion from a camera car.
Please could we have a front facing camera during road tests?
Oh, and do bring back the full Doug Score.
I understand using aero to deflect wind, but what happens when a truck kicks up a rock and it smacks you in the face at high speed?
😂🤔 Helmet?
Better have a helmet on
Yes. You might die from this.
Or a large bird.
Or a flying piece of retread.
Front window glass at least gives you a buffer zone for the massive impact of something like a small deer, but I don’t think motorcyclists are that well-protected either from flying road debris and animals - in any case, to road enthusiasts these dangers are not a new issue.
don't drive behind a truck
"Riding around in a no windshield car that looks this insane with a helmet on, you just kind of look like an idiot" LOL! Good point! I agree!
Not to mention, potential buyers probably wonder, if you're riding with a passenger, you have nowhere to put your helmet (if you decide to wear one) once you take it off if you're sitting somewhere in the car, like at a car show or maybe pulling over to get gas and take a quick bathroom break. You don't dare leave the helmets sitting on the seats if you have to walk away from the car. I guess they expect you to walk into the gas station bathroom like a moron with a helmet on since there's no trunk/frunk. So you forget the helmet idea, and just drive with the ugly wind deflector sticking up. It'll be splattered with dead bugs in no time.
@@LordPrometheous Good point! LOL!
Oh, I thought the idiot part would be where you drive with a helmet on but don't bother to attach the strap.
drove the car today. amazing experience and no problem driving without the windshield
I wish there was a class of vehicle which does not have much wind protection, has enough power to weight ratio to rival supercars at a very less cost, thrilling to drive...🤔😜
Convertible Mustang GT?
@@emptyshirt I think he means motorcycles. But if you wanted a car like that for "cheap", a Caterham, Ariel Atom or some Lotus models would shoe the foot better.
Bikes are cool. Walking after an accident is waaaaaay cooler
I'm surprised the windshield version doesn't have 2 separate jet fighter style windscreens
That would have been cool. Personally I'd just remove that useless center mirror and add a small windscreen on to the instructions pod.
First sport car with out front glass was Renault Spider in 1995. But 25:30 is briliant
I drove in a jeep with the doors off and a rock flew in the cabin and hit my leg.. never again. I'll take a windshield imagine a rock hitting ur body/face/helmet at 100kmh, bound to hurt!
If it hits the abdomen at 100 kmph, there's a 40% chance that the driver will be dead.
Or an insect, or whatever... as a motor bike daily driver, you need a windshield no matter what in that car.
Oh youll be fine. Ive driven a 2000 wrangler hundreds of miles with no doors. Manual transmission, top down and no doors is so much fun!
Think about the bodily damage at 300kpm sans wind screen when that stone or spray of stones hits the guy with those Mc Clanen "protective" eye wear. It won't be pretty.
I paid 10 grand on a Camry and got a windshield, roof AND windows. Take THAT, McLaren.
And four doors 😁
I love the metric system captions on your videos! Please never stop using them :-)
"You kinda just look like an idiot." Well said Doug. Well said.
This car kinda reminds me of the Mach 5 from Speed Racer !
Basically my thought, since seeing this car teased in an earlier video.
I love how he speaks, the enthusiasm...
It's crazy that million-dollar-plus cars are becoming so commonplace, hearing what this cost just doesn't surprise nor impress me anymore. Still, no doubt, I'll never afford one.
Someone’s missing the rims from their 2019 Accord Sport
What an in-depth review,, loved it.. Thanks Doug
Wearing an unstrapped helmet looks silly. I know you're wearing it for audio and eye protection rather than safety but it looks ridiculous unstrapped.
Love your videos anyway Doug!
I mean does it really matter how it's strapped or not? As least they fall off as easily
It's so insane it's perfect. It's the pantomime that supercars should be. Honestly think it will be worth 5x as much in 20 years.
Love to hear those F-18's planes out of Miramar. The car sounds pretty good too!
When you think you're at Ferrari level, but reality hits you hard.
McLaren is leagues above Ferrari in every single possible and conceivable way.
@@Kloppin4H0rses Nice joke! 😂
I don’t get whatever happened to being able to open the engine compartment. I mean the whole point of having a pice of art on wheels is being able to open up compartments and show how beautiful it is under that crazy opening hood as well, just like when we were kids and had toy supercars
Probably because of engine covers. whats the the point in showing off engine covers? lol. Cars nowadays just dont flex their muscle like they used to
reason why i wont buy a mclaren after the mp4-12c and a porsche after the 997.2. without that access to the engine, you're screwed financially if your warrenty goes out
Could hear fighter jets at 25:50. Navy doing a show for you down in San Diego? lol
Wouldn’t a racing harness be more secure then a regular seatbelt? So why if a car company is putting a race harness that actual race cars use not be considered safe enough and need a regular one as well
A race harness isn't perfect, you can't lean forward at all once it fastened, and you'd need a HANS device in the event of a frontal crash if you don't want to destroy your neck, especially if you're wearing a helmet due to the whole lack of windshield thing...
The 3 points seatbelt + airbags is just the better combinaison for a road car, and that's why it's mandatory
those wonky carbon fiber trim panels are pretty disappointing for a $2m car...
Cheapo McLaren carbon too. They are just making up the prices now as McLarens current chassis and engines are revamped old Nissan R390s
They can get away with being cheap because their cars look cool, and they seem to think the 2 people who buy a McLaren each year have infinite money to keep buying these limited production "special cars"
@@fakevirus8828 big facts. People don’t know that motor is an r390 motor with some extras
Panel gaps (doors) are awful
Re the polished aluminium mirror, aluminium is the second most reflective substance behind silver, and both are used in basically all headlights. Older silver, newer aluminium. So it's probably actually pretty good.
Now the only one left is the Aston Martin Speedster
He needs to a video on the SLR Stirling Moss after completing the 3 newer speedsters.
@@Amarjit_Singh that would be amazing if he could get his hands on that
$2M car and yet they put $25k Honda Civic wheels 🤷♂️
I'm picturing Jeremy Clarkson talking about the Evora being the name of a plus sized dress shop
I guess this open top no windshield roadster sports car is becoming a thing now
But who actually would drive a car with no windshield, I would rather buy a sweet motorcycle
Sweet
😭😭😭😭😭
@@fhatuwaniglentonnetshivhul9202 lol