Please, McLaren Senna owners, take your cars on road trips. Please, don’t keep them under wraps in a climate controlled basement somewhere. Take your incredibly engineered, incredibly expensive, and incredibly ugly cars out for long haul road trips, because cars were built to be driven. You probably don’t have anything holding you back from taking a long weekend and heading out for a long drive. I can’t think of a single reason you shouldn’t.
Top Gear Magazine sent their Motoring Editor, Ollie Marriage, on a 1500 mile trans-European road trip, from Estoril to Monaco, in a brand new Senna. Aside from aero-induced poor fuel economy it’s a pretty great road trip car. Of course, it’s noisy and uncomfortable. It’s more well suited to a race track, but if you have a car that looks like the McLaren Senna, you’ll want it to be seen by more people than would attend a private track day. And frankly, the people will want to see it, too.
Taking a long road trip in a car like the Senna is a collaborative experience. You’ll get the joy of showing off your car. But perhaps more importantly, the kids in back seats of people carrier-type vans will stare in awe as they’re overtaken by a space ship. Truck drivers on motorways will honk with joy. People will take pictures of the car, and you should absolutely wear short shorts to show off your pasty white knees, as Ollie does.
Your $1 million McLaren is more than just a track day toy, it’s a great road car, and it’s a part of history. You’re not the owner of a car like this, merely a custodian for future generations. Get out and enjoy the car for what it’s built for, but make sure other people get to enjoy the experience, too.