The McLaren Elva Is a Crazy $2 Million Supercar You Can Barely Use 

Doug reviewed the holy trinity of roof-less cars: the Ferrari sp1, the Mclaren Elva and the Smart Crossblade

The reason that this was a tough sell wasn’t because the lack of roof, windows, and windshields. The ferrari sp1/sp2 monza has no roof, windows, windshield, and cost more as well as has a higher production number but they were all sold out. The issue is that there are too many mclaren “special/limited” cars that all comes out within a short period. You got the senna, the sabre, the elva that are all basically all “limited”. If u buy the 765lt which was supposed to be limited track focused version of the 720s, that doesn’t even get you in the top 5 current mclaren. At some point people have to wonder why they even bother with mclaren and their “limited” cars.

Doug the kind of guy to buy an Elva for the headroom alone.

Car lock buttons don't just lock the door. They will often also activate an immobilizer. McLaren also could have easily made that rear view mirror a small screen with a camera at the back of the car, and then it'd be functional.

Doug will be terrified lethally if he ever discovers a motorcycle. "No roof, no seatbelt, no airbag, no windshield and only two wheels..."

If McLaren could make an ugly screen pop out of the hood, they could make a half-decent windscreen pop up -especially for 1.7M

This car reminds me of one of those crazy 1970's through 2000's concept cars which were too crazy for production but this one actually made it to production...

I think the active air thing spoils the lines more than a small windshield like the ariel atom would have

I think this car deserves less than a 6 on value. I know that's the usual score, but the fact that they had to continually decrease the production numbers leads me to believe that it's not worth what they're charging

Great vid, but such a pity the real reason for the "Elva" name wasn't spoken of. Elva was a racing car manufacturer in the 50s and 60s in East Sussex, England. This is in my neck of the woods. They produced some great racing cars, but had difficulty converting this to commercial success. So they were bought by a company called Trojan, who in 1965 were asked by Mclaren to build racing car chassis. This begat in 1967 the Mclaren Elva M1C racing car. The name "Elva" may come from the French "Elle Va", but that is the work of Frank Nichols, the creator of Elva cars company in the early 1950s. For many years there was hope that a new Elva company would start up and build fast lightweight cars, track cars and racing cars, but it never happened. I guess it never will now.

10:30 they could have made a decent, beuatiful and functional rearview mirror... looks like $2 Million Dollars is not enough

I love how Doug doesn't even strap his helmet when he drives the car. So safe

The whole air guard thing still wouldn't save you from that thumb sized rock that got kicked up from someone in front of you. It'd hit you like a shotgun slug.

Building 300 systems to avoid air in the face instead o putting in a simple windshield seems a very brilliant idea.

Bless McLaren for making this insane car. Reminds me of the Hot Wheels I had as a kid.

28:55 Doug spends the whole video talking about the impracticality of the Elva - no windshield, have to wear a helmet, storage space basically non-existent - but then (maybe he doesn't want to give a McLaren a zero score? And I don't think he's ever given a score of zero to any vehicle he reviewed) he gives it a 1 in the practicality section. THIS...is why I enjoy watching good old Doug, getting to live out all of our automotive fantasies for us, and not allowing any vehicle to be scored zero in any section

Gotta love the sound of a fighter jet passing overhead as he’s out driving it. Maybe they were trying to race you, Doug. 😎

14:16 Oh I’m suddenly a fan of this car

In the early Fantastic Four comics Johnny Storm raced cars as a hobby. His sister, Susan Storm, aka The Invisible Girl, drove a very spiffy car that resembled this. She would use her ability to form invisible protective force fields with her mind to encapsulate her car, protecting it from damage like crashes, debris and enemy projectiles. Her invisible force field power would work well with this car.

What an in-depth review,, loved it.. Thanks Doug

Doug, I think it's quite lame you eliminated the daily/weekend score breakdowns. I can't speak for everyone but that was one of the best sections of your video presentation. Please bring it back.

"Darkness sensor" to turn on your head lights...I mean...I ~guess~ it detects darkness in a way...it's actually sensitive to light but the lack of light is also measured...sort of.

"You can't use it as a mirror, even if you wanted to" ...as he zooms in on the crystal clear reflection of the driver and passenger seats...

the "air management system" on the previously reviewed Ferrari SP1 seems a lot better solution (not to mention more aesthetically pleasing) than this ugly hood flap. Moreover, how does adding a "non-functional" rearview mirror satisfy the requirement of having a rearview mirror?

Can’t wait for the M5 CS review!

You can lock it for legal reasons. In Europe for eg. You need to lock your convertible even if the roof is down. If someone breaks in and steals stuff or the car itself and your insurance found out you did not lock it... they wouldn't pay.

$1.7 million and HUGE gaps in the body panels. The hood looks to have a 1/4" gap!

The air tunnel through the door thing is exceptionally cool.

I wonder if they adjusted the number plaque as they walked back the production numbers or if they walked it back before any were produced. Would be funny if they were all XXX of 500 even if they only sell 150.

Looking forward to seeing the first one listed on C&B.

the beauty of a car reviewer. you comment a car good or bad, you can ride it no matter how skyscrape the price tag is, and you dont have to own. i love it. btw that car will only be a queen garage, that maybe the number of the ride from a reviewer vs the owner is not that different.

Finally i been kind of waiting for you to review this car

A lot of ppl are askibg Doug to bring back the DougScore breakdowns (me included) but the thing is so many ppl here were complaining about the Doug Score and saying they don't leave at the Doug Score section. Plus along with that I believe he said he cut it down to get to the point and to have room for the review it's self. I personally miss the Doug Score breakdowns too but it gets annoying to see so many ppl say they miss it and stuff when they're the same ppl complaining and hating on it. If he does bring it back it'll be cool but his reason for getting rid of it unfortunately makes sense

Bring back the old detailed Doug Score..!

I love the metric system captions on your videos! Please never stop using them :-)

Trust me, AC and heat are very important. I had a Miata and AC is a must when you drive downtown in the summer and heat is perfect for fall rides with the top down and it is very efficient even with the top down

Doug has really had a time with driving all of these cars with no windshield lately. He must really enjoy the bugs and rocks flying directly into his face.

Hey Doug, please bring back the extended Doug Score section!

Its crazy how different and how much more normal the car looks with just adding the wind shield

The exposed carbon elva is insane 😍😍😍just got to see one on display with Drakes Bugatti it's stunning. Great video 📹👍keep up the good work 💪

5:55 Doug going way under the speed limit on that busy ass road omg

When the Ferarri Monza SP1 just wasn't expensive enough for you.

This a very cool car. I love the thought and attention to detail and the fun!

So if you opt out of the hood air management system would it come with a frunk since it has the regular hood on it?

The pop-up wind deflector is a lazy solution in my opinion...

that "wind deflecting" panel is the lamest thing in this car even if you can turn it off

Please could we have a front facing camera during road tests? Oh, and do bring back the full Doug Score.

When you're only driving a car a few times a year, weather isn't much of an issue

Cool! But, they should've added "McLaren active rain management system"...

This is taking retro styling to the extreme. When will we see a PT Cruiser revival?

it is crazy how much time and energy go into producing such small volume cars, that nobody can drive, and those who can afford, choose not to drive them,

i really hope he reviews that m5cs that he showed in the cars n bids bit, that car is a monster

wow, usually i dream on how i wish i had this or that car if i could afford it. This is different, no surprise people won't buy it. Also the pricetag. jeeez

Reminds me of Speed Racer's Mach 5, though even that had a windshield.

Do you think the wind system wasn't as good as they touted because you're over 6ft? Would it work well for someone 5'8-5'11?

Doug's the type of guy to obstruct traffic to show off his auto-wind-guarding panel.

One of the key reasons why the Elva hasn't been as successful as McLaren would have hoped (unlike Ferrari's Monza SP) is that they've since their relaunch established themselves as more of a budget and exposure friendly company, being popular with up-and-comings, high-end influencers and public figures etc. So they never re-established a core brand heritage value. Then after the P1, McLaren have gone wild with one-offs and special edition models, oversaturating their own lineup and far exceeding the already niche demand amongst exotic luxury heritage brands. First the P1, then the Speedtail, then the Senna, then the Saber, then the Elva (and whichever models I've surely forgotten to mention).. All in all, they have been putting out far more "exclusive" models than their own brand client portfolio could ever hope to sustain, and the Elva is simply so far out there in terms of actual usability and what you get for your money, that it just couldn't keep up with their manufacturing goal. It isn't as special as the Monza (which is its main competitor), it isn't offering enough car compared to similarly priced exotic cars, and on top of this its design is also rather busy and unsure of itself, not really hitting any unique feature looks, functions, or engineering solutions to warrant its market position.

I was considering about purchasing this vehicle but the fact that it has no glass and no roof is such a letdown. So i brought a ford escape

In the fast lane... slowing down to less than 20mph and speeding up and back down. Doug screaming FTW!!!

I think, car manufacturers makes cars specifically for Doug, and have their own scoring system, on how hyped Doug gets!

Hey Doug, how about a view of the front while your driving from the driver's perspective?

Very clever regulations in the us 😂 a mirror that needs no glass a need for a regular safety belt even if you have the much more secure racing harnesses. Also the additional reflectors needed make some cars look poor. But hey, I am from Germany and we have probably even more regulations and some of them seem unreasonable also.

25:10 you really need to review the suzuki sv650. please! I need to see it. talk about the lock on the back, talk about the tip sensor that doesn't exist, talk about the storage compartment!

The damn door panel doesn't even align with the body right. You can see the shadow of the sun cast by the driver door on the body work, showing the door is almost a good half inch out of alignment. This is what kills me with these Hyper cars. They're often built like trash.

>based on a McLaren 720s You mean to tell me that McLaren took a $270,000 car, made it far less usable and then thought they could move 400 units at a price of $2,000,000 each? The business end of Michael Leiters crack pipe must be fucking hot to the touch.

Dude, imagine actually paying 24k 1:03, for THAT. "Man that thing is so clean, I've never seen a Cherokee so nice" "Thanks, I paid $24,000 for it" " *You what....* "

Heated mirrors is pretty hilarious too. I guess I can see a few people who live in a perma-sunny place and crave attention buying that, but it's extremely expensive for what you really get. It's basically a track car, and you could go actual SCCA racing with some pretty quick cars for a tiny fraction of that amount.

Better styling than the P1?! no way, this shouldn't get more than a 6 for styling but a 4 would probably be more appropriate. With the windshield maybe an 8 or 9.

I wish there was a class of vehicle which does not have much wind protection, has enough power to weight ratio to rival supercars at a very less cost, thrilling to drive...🤔😜

Could hear fighter jets at 25:50. Navy doing a show for you down in San Diego? lol

Hey Doug. At highway speeds do you notice any lift in your helmet? My thought is, when the wind hits your chest (as it’s designed to do) it forces the air up and over your head. Just curious if it’s enough to lift the helmet? Did you notice more without your chin strap fastened?

"Riding around in a no windshield car that looks this insane with a helmet on, you just kind of look like an idiot" LOL! Good point! I agree!

Absolutely amazing car, but not exactly $1.6 million of amazing. Not only is it just a 720s, but I could see a few misaligned body panels in the video.

I’ve been watching every Doug video for years but for the life of me I can’t give a crap about this car and the last month have all been either unobtanium weird.. foreign never gonna see one.. and a few regular boring new cars. I am eager for a return to legitimately interesting vehicles.

Omg, I’ve those exact same belt buckles in my Datsun 1800!

That pop up panel is crazy since a windshield would do the same and wouldn’t be annoying. Wow.

This may be one of the greatest examples of conspicuous consumption ever devised.

How does that pop up panel affect aerodynamics? It also seems that the air management system is meant for the driver, but what about the passenger?

First sport car with out front glass was Renault Spider in 1995. But 25:30 is briliant

"You kinda just look like an idiot." Well said Doug. Well said.

"This car is based on the 720s" oh mclaren, never change

Love to hear those F-18's planes out of Miramar. The car sounds pretty good too!

Re the polished aluminium mirror, aluminium is the second most reflective substance behind silver, and both are used in basically all headlights. Older silver, newer aluminium. So it's probably actually pretty good.

POV would have been cool to see what the driving experience was like.

This car like the Monza is insane and a marvel of Engineering. I'm all for the radical and cool design. But I can't get over the fact that a low hanging tree can take your head off, or a stone from a passing truck on the highway can smash your face

In Estonia ,we have small city Elva. WRC rally world champion, as a co-driver , comes from this city.

I love how he speaks, the enthusiasm...

Sweet

9:40 - Wait, US regulations require that you have a 3 point belt, period, not *at least* a 3 point belt? I'm all for safety regulations, but that's literally making us less safe. 6 point harnesses exist for a reason, and that reason is they're safer for professional drivers than 3 point belts.

missed opportunity to collaborate with a high fashion brand on the glasses for the car

Hey Doug! Can you review a first generation nissan versa? 2010?

The side view makes the intake next to the 4 decal look like the McLaren logo 🤩🤩

I understand using aero to deflect wind, but what happens when a truck kicks up a rock and it smacks you in the face at high speed?

Doug, I'll have a car done and ready for your channel later this year. And I'm in SD county.

Is there a rain deflection system as well?

At 25:38 I think Doug passed a low flying jet in that thing.

Love the video, and love more detailed Doug score breakdowns if you ever wish to go back!

What made you park in that particular spot to film? Thanks!

OMG Doug!!!! what a machine!!!!!!!

As someone who has owned convertibles in Florida I can say that having the a/c on (or the heat for that matter) with the top down is more helpful that you might imagine. As for no windshield, that's a no go. I had them on my motorcycles too. Besides the bugs I've had many wind shields damaged over the years by things picked up and thrown at me by vehicles in front including a big ceramic tile. That happened in rush hour Atlanta traffic. Made a big mess of the windshield and took out the side view mirror too. I figure it would have taken off my head had it not been for the windshield.