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McLaren Elva Will Give You Tinnitus and Tan Lines on the Go, if You Can Afford It

When it broke cover almost three years ago, the Elva was all about firsts. It was McLaren’s first open-cockpit street-legal vehicle, the lightest and the most extreme looking.
McLaren Elva 11 photos
Photo: Mecum
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Made to celebrate the iconic M1A, M1B, and M1C of the 1960s, it was supposed to be capped at 399 units, yet McLaren decided to pull the plug on it after only 149 of them saw the light of day.

Originally, the Woking brand offered it from $1,690,000, and in the meantime, it has become much more valuable. The example pictured above is estimated to change hands for anywhere between $2,600,000 and $2,750,000, and it will hit the auction block at Mecum’s Monterey 2022, on August 18-20.

A 2022 model, the McLaren Elva in question has only 82 miles (132 km) on the odo. It is finished in the Pacific Color Stream, on top of a black interior bathed in ultrafabric, and has the usual carbon fiber seats, roll-over protection, drag reduction system, adaptive dampers, and comes sprinkled with launch control. To no one’s surprise, it doesn’t feature a windshield, but the comfort of the occupants won’t be spoiled as it gets active aerodynamics that are clever enough to keep hairstyles intact.

Closely related to the 720S, the Elva uses the twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8, massaged to develop 804 hp (815 ps / 600 kW) at 7,500 rpm, and 590 lb-ft (800 Nm) of torque at 5,500 rpm. The engine is connected to a seven-speed transmission and rear-wheel drive, enabling a 0 to 62 mph (0-100 kph) in 2.8 seconds. From zero to 124 mph (0-200 kph) it needs 6.8 seconds. This makes it just as fast as the McLaren Senna. Flat-out, the Elva can do 203 mph (327 kph), the official spec sheet reveals, 5 mph (9 kph) less than the Senna. The quarter-mile is dealt with in 9.9 seconds in both.
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About the author: Cristian Gnaticov
Cristian Gnaticov profile photo

After a series of unfortunate events put an end to Cristian's dream of entering a custom built & tuned old-school Dacia into a rally competition, he moved on to drive press cars and write for a living. He's worked for several automotive online journals and now he's back at autoevolution after his first tour in the mid-2000s.
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