There is a new McLaren dealership not far from me in Newport Beach, CA and I happened to stop in a few days before it officially opened. I had an opportunity to get inside one of these cars and, although very nice indeed, I found it a bit underwhelming given the circles this car plays in. The exterior styling looks almost dated to my eyes, being neither groundbreaking nor exciting in the way a Ferrari 458 Italia or a Lamborghini Aventador is. Granted, the Aventador costs almost double what the MP4-12C costs, but still. And I think the Aventador is the best looking Lamborghini since the Miura of the 1960s!

No doubt the McLaren is an amazing car to drive, although both Tiff Needel and Jason Plato of Fifth Gear gave the 458 Italia better marks as a driver's car, I still don't think I'd have one if I had the means to acquire it. I'm still a huge fan of the styling of any of the current crop of Aston Martins, even though they basically all look the same and the basic design has been around for many years. But getting into a V8 Vantage all the way up to the latest Virage (stunningly beautiful inside and out) just makes my heart race. Even the outgoing Ferrari 599GTB Fiorano speaks to me more than the McLaren does - maybe because I've actually had the chance to drive one and the sound of the V12 in that thing is just flat out intoxicating.

But the McLaren, to me at least, is just lacking something in the looks department. Let's face it, all of the current crop of super cars have blistering performance and if all you're into is chest thumping about your car being 0.06 seconds faster to 60 then I think you're priorities are screwed up. When performance gets close, the driver makes all the difference in the world. And since I don't claim to be a Jenson Button or Fernando Alonso, splitting performance numbers matters little to me.

For the roughly $230,000 asking price of the McLaren, I'd rather have an Aston Martin V8 Vantage, an Austin Healey 3000, a Mercedes 190SL and a BMW 2002tii - combined.