McLaren MP4-12C

THERE WAS, UNDERSTANDABLY, high hopes when McLaren announced the MP4-12C, a car that would later have its name shortened to 12C, ostensibly to avoid it sounding like a model of Korean TV.

It was, after all, the first ‘true’ McLaren road car since the legendary F1 with its central seating position and eye-watering BMW-sourced V12 was launched some two decades prior. And no, the SLR doesn’t count, since it was a collaboration with Mercedes-Benz, and it was a bit too, um, fat.

Those hopes fizzled a little when early testers declared it incredibly composed but a little too clinical, and early production models were plagued by electrical gremlins, which caused the instrument cluster to look like the Milky Way with its constellation of warning lights. McLaren, to its credit, did sort those issues out, adding a more characterful tone to the 592bhp 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 and made sure the satnav, when it felt like working, didn’t lead you to Timbuktu. Or indeed, that the satnav even switched on.

All the better to let its brilliant chassis shine. Built around a carbon fibre tub, the 12C was remarkably stiff, with rock solid control and yet – this is the best part – still remained extremely comfortable enough for daily use.

It’s every iota the everyday supercar, a concept the Porsche 911 Turbo pioneered in the late 1970s. And having been produced for only three short years before being superseded by the odd-looking 650S, its rarity down the road is assured.