Well damn, you may as well throw your McLaren Senna right in the trash heap because the British supercar maker just bested itself again. The new 2020 McLaren Elva is lighter, faster with an 804 horsepower twin-turbo V8, and audacious in its lack of a windshield and windows.
That 804 HP power coupled with the lightest carbon body McLaren has ever designed gets the Elva from 0 to 62 mph in under 3 seconds, and from 0 to 200km/h quicker than the Senna in just 6.7 seconds. The Elva also has the benefit of looking considerably better than the Senna.
The Elva name comes from 1960s McLaren-Elva sports cars for the street designed by Bruce McLaren and derived from Group 7 race cars, which is the company’s excuse to make a terrifyingly quick modern supercar with no windshield.
McLaren claims the Elva has been homologated for every market, and because of that the car is also available with a fixed windshield. You know, for those of us that don’t enjoy turning road insects into tiny bullets to be collected by our face while driving.
But McLaren also claims that won’t be a problem if you go for no windshield, as the Elva has been designed with a so-called “McLaren Active Air Management System” that deflects air away from just directly pummelling the vehicle occupants creating a “bubble of calm.”
There will only be 399 Elvas built, with or without windshields, starting at $US1,690,000 ($2,473,623) before you make any personalised touches. Yet again a fancy car company is charging more for less, technically. They love doing that.
Find a good helmet with a visor, too, even if McLaren claims you don’t need it.