An epic day with McLaren

MATTHEW HANSEN SWAPS HIS SUZUKI SWIFT FOR TWO McLAREN SUPERCARS

So, why are you here? An innocent enough question for her to ask, but it veiled a sense of quizzical curiosity. Like she was asking the fly why he was in her soup, and I was the fly.

It was McLaren's Future Legacies Celebration Dinner, an exceptional black- tie affair of good food and great company.

I'm not a natural in a suit, and I felt thoroughly out of place. While trying to scope out someone, anyone I knew, to hold my hand for the evening, I had bumped into her.

“McLaren is giving me a car tomorrow,” I replied.

I watched as the whites of her eyes doubled, her jaw slackened, and the cogs of her mind shot into life to spit out some kind of response.

“Are you going alone? Can I . . . come with you?”

People will do anything to experience the life of society's socalled elite. They'll kill, they'll steal, and evidently they'll even lower themselves to spending a day with me — though I did decline.

The occasion was the opening leg of the McLaren Epic Drive NZ. The tour involves some of the world's fastest cars, most famed drivers, and, though I'm biased, a spirited drive through some of the best roads in the world.

A total of 32 McLarens would set off from Auckland, wiggling through Taupo, Wellington, then down the South Island to where they will be as you read this — Queenstown. All in a tribute to the late Bruce McLaren and the stunning legacy he's left us.

Being invited to take part in the opening leg of the journey meant being handed a McLaren for the day, which turned out to be a 540C.

In fact it was the exact same 540C I had performed a photoshoot with some months ago. That time I was content enough to sit in the passenger seat and be dazzled. This time I would drive.

Exploring the back roads of Maungatautari in our convoy, it was surprising just how much feedback it offered my fingertips. Whizzing between the trees, the steering wheel would playfully kick left and right under my palms. Like a dog wagging its tail.

Despite all its modern trimmings, it's a car that feels delightfully analogue during a back- street hoon.

That is apart from its gearbox — a seven- speed SSG unit. At road speed it was constantly thinking, providing the right gear at the right moment, and downshifting smoothly for the traffic lights — making up for a brake pedal that felt somewhat numb.