LETHAL WEAPON: AUTOART 1/ 18TH MCLAREN P1 GTR

The first Mclaren to use the ‘GTR’ initials was the F1 that won at Le Mans in 1995. Twenty years later, Mclaren released a limited run of 40 of the P1. This car, the P1 GTR, won a three-way shoot-out against a Laferrari and a Porsche 918 around Silverstone Circuit in the UK. They sold out almost immediately, but you can still buy a brand new AUTOART die-cast example. And you don’t have to already own a Mclaren to be able buy one.

The model is true to the original, with carbon-fibre additions in all the same places. From the chin spoiler on the nose to the wing and wing supports at the rear, it looks as genuine as the real thing, and from front to back, the detail is amazing.

It is decorated with the correct decals and badges and even has the racetrack-required tow hook through the front spoiler. The rear is as sophisticated as the rest of the model. The exhausts and diffuser look more than business like. The view of the cooling system through the side vents is impressive, as is the view through the clear engine cover. The disc brakes are meaningful and would do a superb job of stopping those slick-clad wheels.

Access to the interior is through Mclaren’s ‘dihedral’, or butterfly, doors, and these seem to work just as well as on the real car. The interior is faithfully reproduced, carbon fibre in abundance and true to form, with only one racing seat included. The steering wheel is like the real thing too, all buttons and knobs. All you have to do is climb in and drive away, and that for a lot less than the NZ$2M that was necessary for the real thing.