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McLaren GT Review: 4 Days, 400 Miles

McLaren GT Review: 4 Days, 400 Miles

Thanks to the generosity of McLaren North America, I recently had the opportunity to spend four days with a McLaren GT and drive it in a range of different situation.  Our first GT “experience” was back in 2019 at the McLaren hospitality stand at Pebble Beach.  McLaren had parked a GT in the middle of the stand and we ended up standing next to it.  Another group came over which included Mika Häkkinen.  Mika and Mrs. SSO ended up in a long conversation during which he tried to talk her into buying a GT.  Mika’s main selling point was that it could carry a golf bag which did really fly as Mrs. SSO doesn’t play and can’t really stand golf.  The funniest part of it all was Mrs. SSO had no idea at the time that she was talking to a former F1 Champion and just asked afterwards if I had met the nice gentleman she had been talking to. 

 

Despite Mika’s salesmanship, I have been a bit of a skeptic about if a mid engine supercar could really be transformed into a GT for quite a while.  In a recent ranking I did of post 2010 McLarens (Ranking the Post 2010 McLarens) I didn’t include the GT as I hadn’t driven one.  However, if I had been forced to, just based on perception I would have put it at number 12.  Uniformed perceptions are rarely fair, and it certainly holds true in this case. 

Day 1

A representative from McLaren NA, kindly meet us curbside at Los Angeles Airport Terminal 2 arrivals where we collected the GT.  Knowing that the GT had a bit more luggage space than we were normally used to in a McLaren, we packed poorly and had extra bags with us.  The GT passed its first test and swallowed the extra luggage effortlessly.  In terms of a blood pressure rising, trial by fire experience, hopping into a borrowed supercar, that you have never driven before, at LAX on a Friday night, has to be near the top of the list. Fortunately, like all the McLarens I have driven, all the controls were well placed and quite intuitive.  The GT instantly felt very familiar sitting behind the steering wheel. 

Within minutes, we had all the mirrors adjusted, seat comfortably positioned, drivetrain and suspension modes selected, and climate control set.  The driver interface reminded me of the 570S. The one thing I definitely missed was the lack of Apple CarPlay.  Being LAX, in the time it took us to get everything adjusted and ready to go, we were boxed in by several cars.  To get out would turn out to be a great test of the GT’s turning radius as the gap I was left to get out was both tiny and directly to my left.  In the 675LT, it would have taken a 10 point turn to maneuver through, in the GT, we did it in two sweeps of the steering wheel.  Next came an extended high stress period of navigating through all the LAX Terminal traffic, which the GT did extremely well, before finally popping out onto the I105.  The I105 then took us up to the I405 and out to Santa Monica.   Other than Waze having a brain fart which resulted in a 10 minute circular detour, the 30 minute drive to the hotel was uneventful.   With the front nose lift up, the GT made it easily down the steep ramp into the hotel garage.  Once parked, we grabbed our luggage and headed up to check in.

A few initial takeaways, the GT is quite the interesting piece of engineering.  It’s very different from every other GT I have driven.  When I think of a GT, it’s the Ferrari 550 or 812 that first comes to mind.  These are heavier, long nose, front engine GTs.  The McLaren GT, thanks to its carbon fiber tub, is about 200 kg lighter than the Ferraris.  As the engine sits right behind the sets, the front nose is relatively short, enabling excellent forward visibility, in fact it is the best of any McLaren I have driven.  There is no trying to guess where the road is that you sometime have in a big front engine GT.  While the McLaren GT does have a fair amount of luggage space between the modest frunk and the rear hatchback, the way the space is configured, you are much better off with a number of smaller soft bags as a large suitcase isn’t going to fit anywhere other than the passenger seat (and while you could stick a modestly sized passenger in the rear luggage area, my guess it would lead to a rather sudden and unpleasant end to any relationship).  The seats are quite comfortable but the electric seat controls are similar to those on the 720S that I loathe.  The massive panoramic glass roof is a must have option as it adds a huge amount of light to the cabin and gives it a feeling of spaciousness.

Day 2

Our 2nd day with the GT was a very good day.  We got up early, met Bad Driver (see: Bad Driver’s New Car) and his fiancé for breakfast.  We were then in the GT heading north to Santa Barbara by 9:30AM.  Our goal for the day was to put the car through its paces and find out what to make of McLaren’s version of a GT.  Leaving the hotel, we put the front nose lift up and in the raised position, it easily cleared both the rather steep garage ramp and curb.  Within 10 minutes we were back on I405 heading north towards RT 101.  Given the quality of California’s highways, I kept the handling in “Comfort” mode with the powertrain in “Sport”.  Comfort on the GT feels a bit softer than it does on other McLarens which suits the GT philosophy.  For cruising, I mostly kept it in 6th gear, dropping into 4th when I needed to dispatch a slower moving object.  The GT does come with a 7 speed gearbox but I found 7th just too lazy for use at normal US highway cruising speeds. 

 

After about an hour and a quarter, we exited the highway and took RT 192 up into the hills towards Montecito.  For this stint, the handling as switched to “Sport” mode with the powertrain in “Track”.  This was my first chance to push the GT a bit. The short nose and large curved windshield made placing the GT on the road quite easy.  That wonderful precise beautifully weighted hydraulic McLaren steering provides a huge sense of confidence while providing constant feedback.  Acceleration in the GT is quite linear as you move up through the rev range.  This does track with McLaren fitting smaller turbos to the GT to aid in lower rpm responsiveness, in line with its GT long distance touring positioning.  The downside is it doesn’t pile on speed with the same savage pace as a 720S.  While I would call the GT quite fast, it’s not ballistically quick.  The GT does remain flat and composed as you wind through the hills.  The ceramic brakes are excellent, and a quick dab was more than enough to scrub off speed before turning into the next corner. 

 

Once we reached Montecito, it was a quick stop at the Honor Bar for a couple of expressos and then off to our home for the night.  We dropped our luggage off at the house and then headed immediately to Tre Lune for lunch.  We have been coming here for over 20 years and the food is always consistently good.  After a quick bite it was back up into the hills overlooking Santa Barbara as we put the GT through its paces.  The GT seems to really enjoy long sweeping curves where you can almost steer just with the throttle.  It’s a slow in, fast out, GT that likes to build speed smoothly.  The sightlines are truly excellent, and I did not notice any awkward blind spots.  Brake feel in these situations is critical to inspiring confidence and allowing for rapid progress and the GT did not disappoint.  A bit of pressure on the left pedal was all it took to get the desired amount of speed off going into a corner.  After a good hour of winding through the hills, we dropped back down and headed to the coast for a few pictures before going to a local supermarket to pick up a few things.

Day 3

If Day 2 was about getting to know the GT, Day 3 would be all about finding out what its capabilities truly were.  It was another early start to the day and by 8AM we were in the GT headed down the Mission Caynon Road toward Los Olivos.  This is the same route we drove in the Artura back in February (Artura Review) and have taken the 675LT Spider on a few times in past years.  This route took us first down RT 192 and then up through the Santa Ynez Mountains on RT 154.  This stretch of road is a great place to get to know a car well as it has major elevation changes, lots of both high and low speed corners plus a few select passing areas to dispatch slower moving traffic.  On this morning it was in the passing areas that the GT’s nature really became apparent.  These are normally 1-2 mile stints where the road widens to 2 lanes going north and you have a short opportunity to get around slower moving lines of traffic.  These lines tend to be 4-5 cars long, so it takes a bit of work to get around the lot and back in line before the passing lane ends.  The benchmark in this case was the Artura, which was simply brilliant in these situations.  I have to say, while the GT certainly was in a different league than the other moving obstacles on the road, it was harder work to dispatch them in the GT than it was in the Artura.  While the GT accelerates smartly off of cruising speeds, and remains highly composed, it doesn’t have the same earnestness that the Artura has.  In fact, I found myself driving the McLaren GT the same way I would any other high performance GT in this situation, but differently than the way I drove either the Artura or 675LT Spider on this road.

 

We decided to skip breakfast in Los Olivos and immediately spun around and started heading back to Montecito for lunch.  The plan was to head back the same way we came until we reached the North San Marcos Road.  The North San Marcos Road would not be out of place in the Swiss Alps; it is 4 miles of banked S curves as you descend rapidly from the mountains to the coast.  It’s the type of road on which if you made a mistake, all your troubles are now over, and it would also be the end of McLaren GT.  Given the banking on a few of the corners, I raised the front nose as the angles were quite acute.  This is the type of road where you very quickly figure out how much trust and confidence you have in the car.  The whole way down was an exercise in brush the brake pedal, turn in, begin to accelerate as the corner opens, shift up, shift down, brush the brake and repeat for the next 4 miles.  It’s not a road I would normally look forward to taking a GT on, but the McLaren GT handled it well.

 

After a delightful lunch in Montecito, we pack up and headed back to Santa Monica.  Waze indicated that traffic was light on RT 101 but that the Pacific Coast Highway looked slow, so we decided to take the fast way back.  This sort of high speed cruising is exactly what the McLaren GT was designed for.  In “comfort” mode, it rides wonderfully smoothly and the miles easily disappear under its wheels.  All around visibility truly is excellent which makes piloting your way through traffic a fairly easy endeavor.  It was a quick run in, and within an hour and a half we were at out hotel and unloading the bags again.

Day 4

Our final day with the GT was short.  We had a late morning flight so after a quick breakfast, it was back to loading up the car and heading to LAX.  The drive to the airport was unremarkable but quite telling at the same time.  At this point I was completely comfortable driving the car and being caught in heavy LA traffic wasn’t the least bit nerve racking.  While the GT is most at home on the highway, it’s also quite comfortable to drive in pretty atrocious traffic.  After handing over the keys to the McLaren Representative, who very kindly met us at the departure terminal, we grabbed our bags and bid farewell to a very unique GT.

A Few Final Thoughts

With the GT, McLaren has actually created a real GT out of a mid engine high performance platform.  The steering, sightlines, braking, and overall power were all very much up to what I would expect from a McLaren.  As a first mid engine car, it’s a great option.  The McLaren GT has near supercar levels of performance in a quite civilized package.  I wouldn’t call it a supercar, it doesn’t have the earnestness and high-strung characteristics of most supercars.  On the positive side, it also doesn’t feel like it will bite you if you get it a bit out of shape.  The GT is also not a sportscar.  It’s far more exotic and capable than any sportscar.  It really is a high performance mid-engine GT.  For about the same $$ as a Porsche 911 Turbo, you get similar levels of performance with the benefits of a carbon fiber tub and 3X the luggage space.   It’s the one McLaren you can easily take on a multi week trip.

 

P.S. As I was writing this review, McLaren announced an update for the GT, which now be badged the GTS.  The GTS adds a bit more power while subtracting a bit of weight.  This should give it a bit more supercar like responsiveness.

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A Snowstorm, Whiteout, A Departure, & a Few Updates

A Snowstorm, Whiteout, A Departure, & a Few Updates

There are a few things that have taken place recently that I thought might be of interest.  These include last weeks  drive from Massachusetts to Montana with a pair of Labradors, and a couple of other updates.

 

Three Days: 2,500 miles

In what has now become an annual ritual, (3 Days Across America) I drove from Massachusetts (MA) to Montana (MT) in 3 days last week.  Why did I do this?  Well, it comes down to 160 lbs of combined fur, teeth, and muscle.  It is near impossible to fly pets around the US these days unless you either have a private jet or can pass them off as service dogs. All the major US airlines have a 20 lbs size limit for carry on pets.  In our case, it’s quite hard to get a single 95 lbs Labrador Retriever, Tibs, into a pet carrier and pass him off as being under 20 lbs.  When you have a second Labrador Retriever, Vipsi, who weights 65 lbs, it’s even more of a challenge.  An option was to charter a jet, which at $40k each way, seemed more than a bit excessive.  Given the situation, the only reasonable solution was to drive the two dogs out with me for the winter (Mrs. SSO is mildly allergic to the dogs and can’t spend hours cooped up in a car with them so this was a solo adventure). 

 

I did the drive again this year in our Mercedes Benz GLS 450.  It actually wasn’t my first choice.  I did reach out to Aston Martin back in July and proposed doing the journey in a DBX as I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to showcase the SUV’s capabilities in a very demanding environment.  Also, if the DBX performed well, I thought a positive karenable review might create a bit of unexpected buzz and help them move a few DBXs off the very well stocked dealer forecourts.  I did receive a very polite response from Aston Martin Americas “we have mileage cap on our fleet vehicles. I’m afraid we aren’t able to support such an endeavor”. Perhaps next year Bentley, Maserati, or Glickenhaus would be interested in having a Bentayga, Levante, or a Boot put to the test in a nearly cross continental journey.

This winter’s 2,500 mile trip west was again a 3 day journey.  Days 1&2 were non-events.  We made good progress, and the miles went by quickly.  Even the traffic getting through Chicago wasn’t too bad.  The 900 miles we covered on Day 3 was a bit of a different story.  When I checked the next day’s forecast on the evening of Day 2, it was showing a 40% risk of a winter storm developing the following morning.  It looked like if the storm did develop, it wouldn’t hit until 7AM.  Therefore, we decided an early start would be in-order and we would try to get ahead of it.  Tibs took it upon himself to insure we would be off to a very early start by walking me up at 4:45AM.  A couple of barks from a gigantic Labrador’s head two inches from your face is an excellent alarm clock.  Once up I immediately check the forecast again and it looked like if we hit the road shortly, we would only run into light snow for the first hundred miles between Alexandria, MN & Fargo, ND.  After a quick shower, breakfast for all of us, and a brief run around outside, it was back into the GLS 450 and off we went. 

 

Within 5 minutes of getting on I94, a light snow started.  After about an hour it picked up and signs along the side of the highway started indicating that there was a major accident up the road.  By the time we arrived at the scene, the police had stopped all traffic.  After about 10 minutes of not moving, we were allowed to slowly start to creep forward.  The snow continued for the rest of the drive up to Fargo and our speed dropped from north of 60 mph to 40 mph on average.  By the time we reached Fargo, the clouds had started to clear, and the snow tailed off.  What came next however was quite unexpected and significantly worse. 

 

As we exited Fargo on the I94 for the long trek across a very frozen North Dakota, the wind started to pick up.  Mother Nature had dropped several inches of fresh powder the day before.  The now 30+ mph wind gusts started blowing all that fresh powder across the highway.  For most of the next 150 miles, we would alternate between clear but slightly icy roads and then suddenly near zero visibility as clouds of snow would blanket the highway.  Needless to say, progress was far from rapid.  While the wind had minimal impact on the mighty GLS 450’s handling, it has a major issue for all the tractor trailers who dared to venture down the highway.  I probably passed a dozen trucks that had ended up in ditches on the side of the road.  The winds did start to die down after about 3 hours.  By the time we cleared Bismarck in the middle of the state, the sun was out, and the wind had disappeared.  The dogs slept through the entire thing.  After 5 hours of perhaps the most intense white knuckle driving I have ever done (on par with aquaplaning the F40 on a highway outside of Milan in a sudden downpour), the rest of the journey went smoothly and we arrived at our place in Montana just in time for a late dinner. 

 

As per the prior year, the Mercedes Benz GLS 450 performed brilliantly in a range of very trying conditions.  The AWD (all wheel drive) system is excellent, and we didn’t lose traction a single time in conditions where many other cars were sliding all over the road.  It’s truly a beast of a SUV that just devours miles with ease.

 

The SSO Awards

The SSO Awards, the motor industry’s least prestigious, will be coming out again at the end of the year.  Last year’s winners are: SSO Awards 2022 .  This year I would like to open it up to outside nominations.  Please email nominations which need to include category, winner, and rationale to SSO@karenable.com by Dec 23rd. All nominations will be kept confidential. 

Future Plans for Karenable

We are planning a major update for Q1 2024.  It’s been three years since the last overhaul.  The new site should be significantly easier to use.  I will also start covering a few more car manufacturers in quarterly or semi-annual business updates (which will become the SSO Reports). The first on the list is Porsche, followed by Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Bentley, and Rolls Royce depending on if I can get enough financial data to do a proper analysis. I am also planning to take a look at Gordon Murray Automotive & Morgan Motors on a more limited annual basis.

 

Summary

We survived the 2,500 mile journey across most of America but will not forget the last day’s drive for quite some time.   Please let me know if you have any nominations for an SSO Award and we have some great updates planned for Karenable in 2024.

 

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Maintenance Costs: Our McLarens – Update 2023

Maintenance Costs: Our McLarens – Update 2023

When people find out I have owned a number of McLarens, they tend to ask a lot of questions about maintenance costs and reliability.  As we have just completed another annual service cycle, the following is the updated list of all the maintenance costs and reliability issues we have had across the ten McLarens we have owned over the past decade plus.  Personally, I have tended to view this as a highly dangerous topic to publicly document given Mrs. SSO does read all the articles I post.  However, having now done it several times without serious repercussions, I believe the risk is manageable.  I have always tried to be quite religious with annual services which I’m sure has helped finance better lives for quite a few very talented mechanics.  In addition, any issues that come to light during these annual pilgrimages to the service center get taken care of right away.  My philosophy has always been that small problems only grow into big problems and it is much less expensive to take care of things immediately than to wait.  I do believe this has been a contributor to the very low level of reliability issues we have had across all the cars. 

As a reference point, when evaluating the annual maintenance costs (I define maintenance as annual servicing cost plus replacement of wear & tear items), I take into account the original list price and not our acquisition cost.  A car that cost $250,000 new is always going to have $250,000 car type service costs regardless of what you might be able to buy it for 5 or 10 years later.  Unfortunately, unlike a car, service costs don’t depreciate over time, if anything they move in the opposite direction as more of a car’s components wear out with age and need to be replaced (for the younger Ferrari owning generation: depreciation is an ancient phenomenon where the value of a new Ferrari would decline for multiple years after purchase, this happened back in the olden days when the only person anyone had ever heard of eating a bat was Ozzy Osbourne).

In order by date of acquisition here is our McLaren maintenance and reliability history.  For the sake of simplicity, I have kept the costs in the currencies they were incurred in.

McLaren 12Cs – We owned three 12Cs over a 3-year period.  While on paper this sounds a bit daft, there is a logical explanation to it that involves two moves and three countries during that period (Our McLaren History).  Across the three 12C’s in the 3 years, we only had one bill for an annual service.  The invoice came to £3,265 and included £1,530 for the hardware upgrade from the less than useful 1st generation IRIS infotainment system to the 2nd generation.  This is one case where I still believe McLaren got it wrong. IRIS was a £5,320 option that was substandard at best and should have been replaced free of change for all owners of early 12C’s.  We did take our final LHD 12C Spider in for service but right after we dropped it off, we got the offer to trade it in for a 650S Spider so I never did see the invoice.

In terms of reliability across the three 12C’s, our first McLaren, the 2013 RHD 12C Spider, was the only one we have owned that had steel brakes.  I made the mistake of washing it once and putting it away with the brake discs still wet.  The right rear caliper froze on the disc and we had to flatbed it to the service center to get it released.  On the second 12C, a 2012 LHD Coupe, their was a faulty left front tire sensor.  I had to take the car in twice before it was finally rectified.  The last 12C was a 2014 LHD Spider.  This 12C had one issue, a temperature sensor that needed replacing.  The car was out of service for a day. The final 12C Spider was my daily driver for a bit over a year.

McLaren P1 – We owned the P1 for a bit under two years. During that time, we had it service once at a cost of $2,880 which seemed quite reasonable given the value of the car.  To date though, the P1 is the only car we have sold due to fear of a large six figure maintenance bill (P1 Farewell) if the hybrid battery had failed.  I do regret having let it go and would love to get another one at some point in the future.

We did have to two reliability issues with the P1.  The first was a loose rear side turn signal light that took 5 minutes to fix.  The second was IRIS Infotainment System failed and needed to be replaced under warrantee.  There was also a recall notice for the front hood latch.

McLaren 650S Spider – The 650S Spider has been with us for 8 years now.  From delivery up until Covid, it has served as my daily driver.  The bills to date are: 1st service $1,410, 2nd service $2,275, 3rd service $1,836, & the 4th service $5,570 which included $2,100 for four new tires and $880 for the alignment.  Four years of driving around on Dallas’ horrible roads definitely took its toll.  The first four services were all done by McLaren Dallas and they were terrific to deal with. 

Year 5 saw us decamp from Texas and move back up to the Northeast.  The last several services have been completed by McLaren Boston, who have been just as great to deal with as McLaren Dallas.   The year 5 service cost was very much in line with the year’s 2 and 3 at $2,196.  However, it turns out that the roads up North are no more friendly to 650S tires, and a large nail led to a $610 bill for a right rear replacement shortly after the 5 year service.  The Year 6 service at $4,778 has quite a jump up again as there was an issue that had come up that I wanted addressed.  The small left hand menu stalk had stopped working properly.  The control module had failed and needed replacing at a cost of just under $2k.  Year 7 at $1,675 was a much more in line with most of the early service costs as there were no additional issues that needed addressing.   In addition to the forementioned small menu stalk failure, in a separate trip to McLaren Boston, we also replaced the high mounted rear brake light for $915, ordered two new keys at $422, and replaced all four suspension accumulators at a cost of $3,785.  Year 8 was a bit harder on the wallet with total costs coming in at $5,733.  That included $2,535 for a set of new tires, $450 for two wheel refurbishments after the 650S lost an argument with a curb in Providence, $479 for the four wheel alignment for the new tires, with the actual service being a reasonable $2,269.

McLaren 675LT Spider – The 675LT Spider is six years old now.  During this period, it has been our road trip car of choice, so it’s done plenty of long trips.  The 675LT Spider has also spent the majority of its life in the mountains of Montana enjoying some of the more challenging roads in the US.  The six annual service’s so far have run: 1st service $1,755, 2nd service $2,405, 3rd service $1,700, 4th $2,671, the 5th $2,066 and the 6th$2,099.  As per the 650S Spider, the first several were completed by McLaren Dallas and the last three have been done by McLaren Boston.  In addition, we had to replace the windshield in September 2019 at a cost of $5,610.  Despite being a Limited Edition car, the LT has been less expensive to run than the 650S Spider.

In terms of reliability, we have not had a single issue with the 675LT Spider and it has only seen the inside of the McLaren service center for its annual services.

McLaren 720S – We owned the 720S Coupe for just under two years and had it serviced twice at costs of: 1stservice $1,625 & 2nd service $2,925.  The costs are very much in line with the bills for the other models. These were the only two times the 720S went back to the service center.  In a departure for our normal practice of waiting for late production cars, the 720S Coupe was a fairly early build.  It was traded in for the 720S Spider.

McLaren Senna – We have owned the Senna for a bit over four years. During that time, we had it service by McLaren Boston at a cost of $1,770 for the 1st service, $2,129 for the 3rd service and $2,302 for the 4thservice.  The 2nd service was done free of charge as McLaren North America picked up the bill.  Overall, the costs seem very reasonable for a car of its complexity.  In fact, they have been just half the cost of a P1’s service and the Senna’s annual service costs are very much in line with the other McLarens.  The Senna’s also had two recalls and one warrantee issue which were taken care of during the 1st service.  The free service was related to the warrantee issue which was very professionally handled by McLaren.  As a benchmark, the total for the 3 services on the Senna is $6,201.  Aston Martin offers a pre-paid three year service plan for the Valkyrie for £230,000 +VAT.

McLaren 720S Spider – We owned the 720S Spider for just under two years.  It was serviced once at a cost of $1,773.  The 720S Spider also made two extra trips back to the service center.  Once for a minor issue with the air conditioning and once to replace a misbehaving electric module for the roof.  The 720S Spider was traded in late last year for the 765LT Spider.

McLaren 765LT Spider– The 765LT Spider arrived earlier this year.  It already has well over 1,000 miles on it and has been completely reliable.  The first service was this May and it totaled $1,711.  In addition to that service, the 765LT Spider did make a second trip to McLaren Boston for a check engine light.  It turned out to be faulty sensor that was replaced under warrantee.

I’m not sure what conclusions to draw from this exercise other than McLarens are not inexpensive but also are they are not unreasonable to run.  However, I’m not going to add the costs all up as that just seems counterproductive.  The annual maintenance costs seem very consistent across the range from 12C through to the Senna with the P1 being just a bit more.  The fact that the P1 is a bit more is not surprising given the complexity of that car.  So far, outside of a few issues with the 650S Spider a couple of years ago, we have been fortunate to avoid any major “wear & tear” bills that can generate the big hits to the wallet.  The 650S Spider issues I see more as the end result from the many years of daily driving over crappy potholed roads in Dallas.  On a positive note, none of the McLarens have ever left us stranded. 

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The SSO Holiday Gift Guide

The SSO Holiday Gift Guide

Figuring out what to get a loved one for the holiday season can be a daunting task.  In our family, it’s a never ending string of text messages and emails asking the same “what do you want for Christmas?”   It only stops when some ideas are finally coughed up, half the time in a fit of desperation, just to get the nagging to end.  To try and help my fellow petrolheads, this year I’ve pulled together a few ideas across different price points.  Starting from free and ending at a couple of million:

 

Free

A subscription to karenable.com (karenable). Just send the recipients email address to SSO@karenable.com and they will get a notification every time a new article is posted.  This is even better value for money than a Ferrari Carbon Fiber drink holder.

 

Also in the free category, sign up for the Sunday Drive Newsletter. It’s put out by the team behind the Stuttgart Market Letter and goes a great job of capturing interesting motoring content from the past week.

 

Under $100

A year’s subscription to Road Rat Magazine. (Road Rat Subscriptions) Road Rat is no ordinary car magazine.  It is published 4 times a year.  Each edition is beautifully written, the articles deeply researched, and its exquisitely crafted.

 

Chris Harris’ 1st book: Variable Valve Timings: Memoirs of a car tragic.  (Variable Valve Timings).  Before he became a TV Presenter and petrolhead icon, Chris was a well-respected journalist whose honesty got him banned by Ferrari.  However,I have heard that Chris’ true claim to fame is that he served for several years as the number 3 driver for the British motor racing team, Garage 59..

 

McLaren: The Road Cars 2010-2024 by Kyle Fortune. (McLaren: The Road Cars) The book is now available for pre-order and will ship in Jan 2024.  It promised to be the definitive history of McLaren Automotive.  The forward is by Jay Leno.

 

If you have forked out $2k+ for that Maranello carbon fiber drink holder, then you need the right travel mug to go in it.  The Yeti Travel Mug gets top karenable ratings (Yeti Travel Mug).

 

A CTEK battery conditioner (CTEK). Since we started keeping all of our cars on CTEK battery conditioners whenever they are in the garage, we haven’t had a single battery or electrical issue.  They are brilliant.

 

$200-$500

The Escort Max 360 Radar Detector (Max 360).  Sometimes your right foot just slips a little and an Escort Max 360 will help keep you out of potentially expensive trouble.

$500-$1,000

The Car Shoe was the original driving shoe and is my favorite.  They are beautifully crafted, very comfortable, and wear well.  They have two stores in Italy and can be ordered on-line (www.carshoe.com).

 

$1,000-$5,000

A pair of ticket to The Quail, A Motorsport Gathering (The Quail).  It is the ultimate automotive food and champagne festival and Mrs. SSO’s favorite automotive related event.

 

$5,000-$10,000

A Loro Piana Roadster Jacket. (Roadster Jacket) Created to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the Concorso d’Eleganza di Villa d’Este on Lake Como.  It’s beautiful tailored out of the world’s finest cashmere.

 

$10,000-$25,000

Pure McLaren Artic Experience (Pure McLaren Artic).  This should be in every supercar owner’s bucket list.  Now if I could only convince McLaren to hold an ice driving experience on a frozen lake in Montana.

 

A Podium 1 Racing P2 Sim Rig (Podium 1 Sim).  Podium 1 builds about the best racing sim rigs on the market and the P2 rig is a great balance between cost and performance.

 

$25,000-$50,000

For the Ferrari F40 owner in your life, nothing says I love you more than a set of ceramic brakes from DK Engineering. (F40 Ceramic Brakes).  They are spectacular and utterly transform the F40’s stopping ability.

 

$50,000-$100,000

The full Ferrari Corso Pilota Program (Corso Pilota) starting with “Sport” and ending with “Race”.  Ferrari does these sorts of programs brilliantly.  For a Ferrari owner, this is an experience that will both enhance your skills and provide a lifetime of memories.

$100,000-$500,000

A McLaren 750S Spider (750S Spider). This is likely the last non-hybrid production series supercar from McLaren and it may just be the best.  While the order book is growing on the 750S, I believe there are a few late 2024 build slots still available.

 

$500,000-$1,000,000

A Glickenhaus SCG 004S or a 004CS (SCG 004)  It’s a fully US road legal 3 seater with a center driving position.  Toss in a full Carbon fiber chassis and you have what is likely to be the ultimate American made supercar.  If that isn’t appealing enough, the “S” comes with a manual 6 speed transmission.

 

$1,000,000 and up

While the boat has long sailed on the GMA T.50, I have heard there might be a few build slots for GMA’s next car, the T.33 Spider still available (T.33 Spider).  If the T.33 turns out to be even half as good as the T.50 is reported to be (see: La Source: T.50 vs. McLaren F1) it will be epic.

 

I’ve been quite impressed with the development of the Praga Bohema (Bohema).  It has potential to be the best of the current series of track focused hypercars.  Praga will only produce 89 Bohemas with deliveries starting in 2024.   Like the T.33 Spider, from what I have heard, there are still a few build slots available.

 

I hope this list is at least semi-entertaining and moderately useful.  Good luck with the Holiday shopping.

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December 2023

 

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