How do I buy a McLaren Senna?

Fancy a McLaren Senna, Speedtail or Senna GTR? Getting your hands on the hottest new McLaren isn’t as simple as lobbing at a dealership with huge wad of cash, it seems.

Paralleling the rise of the British car-maker in the past five years, the customer base for a new McLaren has grown exponentially. And Australia is a case in point; sales are on target to reach nearly 100 vehicles in 2018.

Despite hefty sticker prices (which start at $325,000 for the 540C and move north) it’s the demand for McLaren’s new uber performance models that is most intriguing.

In short, most are sold before they’re already revealed. Take the new Senna GTR.

“We will be bringing GTR to Australia, for sure. I can’t say how many, but at least one of the 75 is coming here,” said McLaren Asia Pacific managing director, George Biggs.

“We launched [the regular] Senna at the end of last year, and when we launched it, it had basically sold out already. We delivered the first one in Melbourne, there will be more that come to Australia, but that’s obviously a relationship that we have individually with those clients,” he said.

So, then: what’s the secret to owning a Senna or Senna GTR?

It appears McLaren favours buyers who actually drive their vehicles, not treat them as investments.

“There are no prerequisites, as such, but we have these cars that are limited in production and are very highly sought after,” Biggs said. “What we do is effectively look at the customers that have requested to purchase a car and make sure they’re the right person to fit in that car, really.

“There’s nothing specific to make sure you have X, Y or Z. It’s about making sure the customer that gets the car is going to make the most of it.”

McLaren isn’t the only marque in a position where they’re fortunate enough to choose their customers. Porsche, Ferrari and Lamborghini are also familiar with the situation.

In many cases, car-makers are cognisant of buyers who simply purchase a rare model with an intention to profiteer.

“Our primary focus is getting the cars in the hands of people that want to enjoy them,” Biggs said to that.

“What we’ve always said is that these are the ultimate road-going track cars. They’re all about driving experience and pleasure, so that is our primary focus – to make sure we get it in the hands of those people.”

The next rarefied model from McLaren (other than the Senna pairing) is the forthcoming Speedtail hypercar, of which only 106 units will be built globally.

Despite what will no doubt be an eye-watering price tag, Biggs said significant demand for the car had emanated from Australia. But he wouldn’t say from whom.

“We will be showing that to our customer base towards the end of this year and then we will release a bit more information,” he said, coyly.

“With that particular car, there are only 106 cars being built and we’ve had interest from every single market that we operate in. But I’m not really at liberty to discuss where they’re from.”

“The Australian customer is a really important part of our global portfolio, however,” Biggs added.