Here comes the sun: SoCal Springtime Drive of the track-ready McLaren 765LT Spider
What's cuter than a top-down, sunny Clemente strolling along the coast?
On a sunny Tuesday, with an offshore sea breeze, I decided that email could wait. Outside, the 'Ambit Blue' of the McLaren 765LT Spider beckons.
Set the scene
A prescient pause occurs when the supercar is turned on. Let's call it a ready moment, as if the driver of the vehicle is checking it and saying, "Are you sure you're ready?" Then there's the sound of waking up the neighbors, the sound of a dog barking, somewhere in between clucking and growling. There's no doubt about when this quad-exit titanium-exhaust car will be ready, unlike the hybrid and electric car groups.
Countless car owners will tell you that supercars don't have a quick exit. Divots means disaster. It's bumpy, forget it. A loose pebble. Heaven does not. The turning radius is not why you buy a car. The feeling of a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive, 755HP ultralight supercar enveloped me as the everyday horrors of the suburbs faded into the rearview mirror. When I retracted the one-piece electric hardtop, I couldn't help but activate its launch mode, verifying that 0-60 mph is actually 2.7 seconds.
replica Graham Chronofighter Oversize
While I'm all too familiar with this particular coastal road, on this day the mountains are covered in the electric yellow of blooming mustard plants as the 101N parrots from the Ventura County coastline into Santa Barbara, California. It's one of those rare textbook moments when music, weather, scenery, terrific ambience and a mysterious lack of traffic converge into the almost comically perfect drive of the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8.
The McLaren 765LT Spider has a top speed of 205 mph, and on the track I'm sure it handles with utmost precision. More than once, however, I looked down while cruising the highway and realized that 100 mph was too easy to achieve.
Unlike other hulking track-ready supercars, there's nothing brutal about the LT. With its dramatic design - just look at the evil red-emitting dihedral doors and backlit engine bay to prove - there is no doubt that the full power of the 765LT Spider can be (easily) unleashed at low and high speeds. But it also has a civilized feel to it.
OK, now that you understand the scene, it's time to talk about cars.
The McLaren 765LT Spider continues to dominate the brand's "supercar" group (in the same category as the 720S Spider and 720S).
Interestingly, while the "LT" part of its name stands for "long tail," it doesn't hold back, even at 181 inches in length. McLaren has been building LT road cars for the past seven years, and it's almost always sold out immediately. Longer, lighter and faster than its peers, it's no wonder McLaren limited production. That's where "765" comes in: it represents the number of versions made.
Custom LT springs and damper hardware join the lowered front suspension and a widened stance between the front wheels for enhanced grip. Meanwhile, the carbon fiber body is meticulously sculpted to increase downforce, not to mention aerodynamic elements such as splitters, edges, fins and diffusers, to name a few.
It's a bit of a stretch, a concept for a track-ready convertible, but that's exactly the way the good folks in Woking, England, built the LT's lifestyle-driven machine.
on the way home
While any McLaren is guaranteed to attract attention, there are clear differences between the 765LT Spider and McLaren's other supercars. That said, among the different classes of vehicles that reach supercar status, the 765LT Spider sits in the clouds.
With that in mind, to showcase the 765LT Spider of this piece, we knew we needed a similar area, one that echoed the car in both design sensibility and ambience. Light and quiet, with some rudeness that shines but doesn't seek the limelight. Fortunately, the chivalrous Alexander Ali and his team at The SOCIETY Group recommended the 20-acre compound with 270-degree views on the hills above Montecito.
Designed and built by local architect Bob Easton, this 6-bed, 9-bath, 8,500-square-foot estate exudes Provence elegance. The feeling of arrival is unmistakable, a hairpin bend upwards through a pair of gates, and small grass sprouting between the driveway stones. The four-car garage and carriage house complement the LT for ease.
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