r a c e t r a c k , s pr i nt e d t o G e ne v a a nd
ba c k a nd b e e n up a nd dow n mor e
mountain passes than I can recall.
It h a s a l s o b e e n u s e d a s my d a i l y
driver. It has done the school run
numerous times (much to the delightof one daughter and the chagrin
of the other, who is far, far away at
university), carried sack after sack of
sheep nuts and dog food for our many
and various animals and spent too
muc h t i me i n f a r c or ne r s of a i r p or t
long-term car parks. Those dihedral
doors are excellent most of the time,
but , a s w it h t he BM W i8 I u s e d t o r u n ,
you cannot risk letting someone else
park next to the 720S because you
m i g ht not b e a ble t o ge t ba c k i n a ga i n.
As I said in my first report, our
purpose was not really to remind you
how fast or fun this car is, because all
that can be done far better through
the medium of conventional road
t e s t i n g. S o w h at fol low s fo c u s s e s
more on the McLaren as a thing with
w h ic h t o l i v e r a t he r t h a n one i n w h ic hto drive, because we already know
t h at a s f a r a s t he l at t e r i s c onc e r ne d , it
is pretty mesmeric.
First things first. In what amounts
to a few years’ worth of driving
to most 720S owners, the car has
not gone wrong in any significant
way. To all intents and purposes
its reliability has been perfect. I
was chatting to McLaren specialist
Alastair Bols, who said software
patches fixed whatever glitches
affected early cars and that they
a r e now a s e le c t r on ic a l l y r obu s t a s
they always were structurally and
mechanically. Maybe he would say
t h at , but it f it s my e x p e r ie nc e.
S e c ond , it ’s b e e n a n e a s y c a r w it h
which to live, exceptionally so by
these standards. It’s probably theeasiest car on sale to get into – you
ju s t f a l l i n – a nd it i s f a r e a sie r t o ge t
out of than the BMW i8. Visibility
- so crucial to a car as wide as
this – is simply exceptional. I had
a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ a
couple of months back, and while its
sense of occasion was on a different
le v e l t o t h at of t he Mc L a r e n , it w a s
immeasurably harder and more
intimidating to drive, not to mention,
t o t h i s ba c k side at le a s t , slow e r.
S
McLAREN 720 S
Frankel racke
d up more
miles than mo
st ownerswould (^) in three y
ears
OUR CARS
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FINAL REPORT MILEAGE 6422
WHY WE RAN IT
We know the 720S is one of the world’s
greatest driving machines. But is it an
equally rewarding car with which to live?
o that’s it. My six months
a s a s up e r c a r k e e p e r a r e
up. Y27 MCL is heading
ba c k t o Wok i n g a nd f r om
there into the presumably grateful
arms of a new owner.
I n t ho s e si x mont h s I ’ v e d r i v e n it
f a r t he r t h a n mo s t r e a l ow ne r s w i l l
drive their 720Ss in three years and
in conditions I expect would tempt
few of them out of their dehumidified
garages. By contrast, Y27 has yet
to spend its first night under cover.
Instead, it has been driven around a
BENTLEY CONTINENTAL GT FORD FOCUS McLAREN 720 S MINI 5DR HATCH RANGE ROVER VELAR
64 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 7 AUGUST 2019
CITROEN BERLINGO
We k n o w t h e 720 S i s a n o u t s t a n d i n g
supercar, but what’s it like to live with?
We’ve had six months to find out