► Month six with the McLaren 650S Spider
► The perfect car for a midsummer night’s drive?
► V8 howling through the back roads of Britain
Wednesday night, summer. Just gone 8pm, heading for the sofa. Blam – the thought hit like a sniper’s round: ‘It’s summer, you have a McLaren; drive.’ Three minutes later the V8 was awake, the roof dropped. Ten minutes later we were fast and free on deserted, still-warm roads. An hour later I stopped for fuel. At the next pump an old mate I hadn’t seen for years, out on his superbike. We talked a while as the sun dropped from a sky of fire. Two hours later his text arrived: ‘Good drive home? I could still hear you three minutes after you left!’ Bug-smeared headlights, summer night in my eyes, drive of the year.
Logbook: McLaren 650S Spider
Price: £215,520
As tested: £251,080
Miles this month: 403
Total miles: 3006
Our mpg: 16.8
Official mpg: 24.1
Fuel this month: £131.70
Extra costs: £0