The thing about supercars is, despite their huge impact on the collective auto enthusiast psyche, they’ve only ever existed in vanishingly tiny quantities — which, along with staggering performance, is arguably a huge part of their appeal. Take the McLaren F1. We’re still talking about it today, and only 106 (or so) were built between 1992 and 1999.

Production of that car’s successor, the McLaren P1, has just ended. McLaren notes that production of the the track-only P1 GTR is ongoing, but when the final one of those 986-hp flame-spitters is completed in early 2016, that’s all, folks. While the run of 375 of the road-going hybrid supercars represents a sizable bump in production compared to the F1, the world’s appetite for seven-figure hand-built technological marvels has grown apace; the automaker says that the entire run was sold out before the first car was even delivered.

And barring some sort of impending mass disillusionment with carbon-fiber things that go vroom, we don’t expect any of those 375 McLaren P1s to see much of a depreciation hit. High-end cars are today’s blue-chip investments, and if the P1 follows the F1’s rocketlike value trajectory, then buying one is probably one of the most stable financial moves you can make. Er, could have made.

But just because you’ll never own a P1 or probably ever drive a P1 doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate it for the amazing piece of automotive technology that it is. To that end, we’ll direct you toward the film that finally pits it against the other two legs of the modern hypercar trinity, the LaFerrari and the Porsche 918 Spyder.

The first McLaren P1, left, with the last of the breed. You’ll note the, uh, subtle differences in coloration. Photo by McLaren

Graham Kozak – Graham Kozak drove a 1951 Packard 200 sedan in high school because he wanted something that would be easy to find in a parking lot. He thinks all the things they’re doing with fuel injection and seatbelts these days are pretty nifty too.
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