At the factory/service center I met up with a few other book buyers who were there to pick up their copies. With Paula Webb from McLaren leading the way, we entered the shop to see the cars...whoa! A green F1 Road Car XP5 and F1 LM greeted us as we walked in. I have never been in the presence of a vehicle that had such a visual impact. There truly are no words to fully describe it. Seeing McLaren's unsurpassed quality and the relentless attention to detail made me believe that all other cars were attempts to reach a goal, but only they had achieved it.

The shop itself was more like an operating room; ultra clean, well lit, everything in it's place, all furniture and fixtures level, square and plumb. Pictures on the wall and the occasional plant made it quite comfortable. The F1 comes with an in-car tool kit for the road and a garage roll-away chest with every tool required to service the car. Nearly all the tools are made of titanium, and each has it's own fitted place in each drawer. There's a modem port so you can have McLaren link to the car and diagnose any problems remotely, and pinpoint you with GPS for a fly-in service call. The on board computer logs all data about the cars operation for later study if there's a problem.

There were 3 Road Cars and an LM in for service. None of these were in because of problems, each had it's own little reason. A road car owner had his in to get the "LM" high down force package installed; rear wing, new front clip with splitter and wider rear tires. His brother also owns one, and as they drive together often, McLaren made them a hands free car-to-car communication system (mil. spec. Scrambled so NO ONE can overhear them) so they can chat while driving against each other. They are the only ones who will ever get that system. The LM was in for a "cleaning" as it just returned from a families 5 day, 3k mile driving tour. It was completely disassembled, cleaned and reassembled as a new vehicle. Amazing. An F1 owner who has her car once a month for fluid change and checkup has every fastener touched with a wrench replaced with a new one so each time she picks it up it's brand new again. I'm sure this costs more than a trip to Valvoline!

A German man brought his car in for service so the techs reviewed the computer data log to see how the car had been running. It showed peek speeds twice a day at over 200mph, one 230+, for the last 16 days in a row! He commutes to work each day on the Autobahn. They changed the oil, told him his car was working just fine, and sent him home.

The cars are not service intensive, and rarely have drive train trouble. Most service is getting new color interior leather installed, performance updates, etc. It was on the QT, but we talked with one of the mechanics who showed us a "high output" V12 going into a road car that was 740HP at the crank. It was the only one they would make. Most one-off options are exclusive (like paint color) and are not allowed to be used on other F1 owners cars. Part of the F1 mystique.

They do get in accidents though. Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) ran his into the back of a Mini Cooper at over 100mph and rolled it. It was fixed in under 3 months. One owners kid took 2 friends out after a party (big mistake) to show them how fast the car was and they left the road "in excess of" 200. They all died. I think they were the only fatalities to date, as it is a very safe car. The book has stories of some very high speed wrecks where everyone walks away.

If you don't own a copy of Driving Ambition, go buy it now. The cheap, little version is available through your local bookseller. The full sized, real mans version is available from McLaren's web site. Cough up the Pounds Sterling and get it!

Speaking of Pounds Sterling...come the day I have the liquid capital to buy one of these, it will be mine. Until then, I'll have to suffer with my NSX. I'll get by until then...