While I’ve always found the McLaren SLR an intriguing car, it’s never been a car that I fully understood. Following in the footsteps of the “Holy Grail†of supercars, the F1, the SLR just didn’t seem really that impressive in any way. Yes, it was fast. Yes, it sounded like a radial-engined airplane in full attack mode. Yes, the brakes caught on fire when it went too fast. But compared to the howling, scalded cat Carrera GT, the SLR just seemed a bit too main-stream. That was further hampered Mercedes-Benz itself when it offered supercharged versions of the SLs – which looked mostly like the SLR, had a nifty folding roof, offered most of the performance and cost a whole lot less.
Today, these ex-supercars maintain the trend; while the Carrera GTs head into the millions, it’s possible to get a McLaren for less than half that amount. To me, they’re the Nico Rosberg of supercars; undoubtedly talented, but unfortunately presented alongside someone with…well, more talent.
