Words Christian Parodi / Photos McLaren Media

There are some beautiful cars out there. So many and that’s something surprising and far from obvious. Then there are the legendary ones. These are just a few and they sweep away everything that came before, redefining the concept of absolute beauty, performance and universal value. Not monetary – at least not only – but as a turning point in the historical calendar of motoring. McLaren, a young and different brand compared to today, which in the 90s took a break in the world of street legal supercars, did so in an indelible way, giving us a car declined from the highest competitive category (Formula 1, of course) and creating a precedent that would have forced everyone else to deal with the most absurd car ever made.

This is not its story, however, but that of a model that I consider incredibly little known, especially analyzing it in detail and having been lucky enough to spend a few hours in its presence, even if not as a driver. I’m talking about the Speedtail, the McLaren that after the hyper P1 and Senna, has resumed the argument introduced by Gordon Murray, entrusting us with a new vision of a photonic sports car with three seats, of which the driver’s is positioned exactly like on a single-seater racer: in the middle. This is undoubtedly one of the most sensational data, perhaps even more than the specific power, now that we are used to figures in the order of a thousand. But reducing our attention to the fact of having to literally lower ourselves into the cockpit and slide to the center, to the command post, would be like observing the Mona Lisa through the screen of a smartphone.

The Speedtail is a drop of water, the tear of an emotion that transcends time and puts aside the showy wings of the Senna, embracing a totally different interpretation of form and function. The purity of its lines, the exaggerated sloping tail and the absence of any aerodynamic appendage thus displace the process that our brain processes while observing it. It is such a soft, linear and fluid shape that it really seems to have been designed with water and not with carbon fiber. The glass surface is equally present, not only ensuring brightness and visibility in the cabin, but connecting shapes that only in a small part recall a family feeling that finds its apotheosis on this very model.

My eyes are thus captured by the almost total lack of interruptions, by 20 and 21-inch wheels, of which the front ones are made aerodynamically perfect thanks to the special carbon cover designed to let the air slide along the sinuous curves of the Speedtail, towards that extended tail that makes it about half a meter longer than the P1. The most attentive will have noticed that there are hydraulic flaps, essential when you reach sidereal speeds accompanied by two people, or one more than in any other supercar. Yes, because the special positioning of the driver allows – exactly like the F1 – to obtain two seats that are all in all comfortable and directly sunk in the carbon tub. To facilitate the entry and exit procedure there is a special “directional leather”, which guarantees optimal sliding, to then keep the body firmly in place at high speeds.

Once in the driver’s seat, you really understand how driver-centric the Speedtail is. In front of me, I have a display with driving information, on the left we have climate and navigation, on the right the infotainment. In a raised position and at the ends, the two screens of the digital rearview mirrors. I wonder if there are any buttons, without even having yet found the ignition one. There they are, above your head, just like on a jet fighter. But what is most intriguing is the so-called Velocity Mode, the tool to maximize the available performance. Pressing it and the car body lowers until it almost touches the ground, the video cameras sink into the doors and the hybrid unit unleashes 1,050 horsepower with a violence that you would not think possible, especially observing the elegance and cleanliness of the external lines. It goes without saying that the most authentic madness is precisely that which is found where you least expect it. The Speedtail is exactly this, the extreme of a performance concept applied to an object that before starting to move transmits diametrically opposed sensations.

The following moment it shoots off like a rocket, makes its 4-liter turbocharged V8 hiss and promises to reach a top speed of 402 kph, overshadowing a sacred monster like its F1 progenitor. Crazy, a bit like the fact that it takes just 12.8 seconds to go from 0 to 300 kph. Another of the many incredible numbers is the overall weight, which remains less than a ton and a half (1,430 kg) thus guaranteeing superfine drivability capable of rewarding a driving position designed to emphasize the search for the ultimate apex point. Of course, imagining a Speedtail sideways on a mountain road, or tailgating a VW Golf around the ‘ring is not exactly legit, both for the fact that only 106 examples were produced – just like the F1 – and for a price of at least 2.1 million pounds, but then again we are talking about a dream car, a legend that rightfully enters the Olympus of hypercars by climbing more steps than the excellent P1 and Senna did before it.

I had the opportunity to exchange a few words with a friend who owns one and the thing that surprised him the most is the fact that looking at it you would never imagine how much it is capable of messing up your internal organs once unleashed on the track. Behind an apparently noble look lies the natural evolution of the maximum performance concept introduced years ago with the F1, here maximized thanks to the exploitation of hybrid technology and cutting-edge engineering, to the point of creating an iconic object and beyond any possible definition.

Closer to Koenigsegg than to the pachyderm Bugattis, the McLaren Speedtail is a hypercar to drive, not just to collect. It is an object that has a life of its own, with unique characteristics in the automotive panorama and an intrinsic value that makes it the most important model of all, together of course with its progenitor, which for a mere question of historical relevance cannot be dislodged from the top step of this elite family podium. I saw the Speedtail, I touched it with my own hands and we drove a few kilometers, which due to less than exceptional weather unfortunately did not allow us to exploit even a fifteenth of its potential. I was shocked, in love and obsessed. For me it is the best car of all time, because every single detail is the exasperation of a love letter to its ancestor. And the F1 will be proud to see its legacy carried forward with such magnificence.