15 Best Drives of 2013

Seeing Red _

McLaren 12C Spider - PRNMAG.COM
McLaren 12C Spider – PRNMAG.COM

During the making of Ignition’s 2014-15 Luxury & Performance New Car Buyers Guide, I found myself reflecting on some of the cooler cars I’ve been lucky to drive over the past 12 months, and some of the most popular questions I’m asked.

Besides “What car should I buy?” the two most common are probably: “What’s the best car?” or “Most expensive car you’ve ever driven?” The first question is as loaded as they come, but the next two are easy to answer.

Most expensive all-time for me is the McLaren 12C Spider at $348,860. More amazing was getting to drive it fast on the Mosport GP track at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park this past summer.

The aluminum-bodied bespoke Spyker C8 Spyder (below) was the previous high water mark at around $257,000 USD. I drove one in Las Vegas in 2006 back when local casino magnate Steve Wynn purportedly owned one of only a handful in the country. Few people have any clue what a Spyker is.

Spyker C8 Spyder - PRNMAG.COM
Spyker C8 Spyder – PRNMAG.COM

Many of my colleagues have both of these beat hand over fist as there was a Bugatti 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse press car kicking around the GTA last summer that we (PRN Ignition) didn’t get an invite to drive, if you can believe that. No complaints from me though.

I did, however, get to sit inside a $2-million Pagani Huayra Carbon Edition last fall at the Ritz Carlton in Toronto thanks to Pfaff Automotive Partners. It is, by far, the most expensive car I’ve ever sat in, if only for a fleeting taste of the one-percenter lifestyle. And a few glasses of champagne.

Pagani Huayra - PRNMAG.COM
Pagani Huayra – PRNMAG.COM

The most expensive car I’ve seen in person is the 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4*S NART Spyder by Scaglietti that RM Auctions sold to Lawrence Stroll in Monterey last August for a cool $27.5 million USD.

Ferrari 275 GTB - PRNMAG.COM
Ferrari 275 GTB – PRNMAG.COM

Okay, so I went off on a bit of a tangent there. I was stalling while trying to decide what the best car I’ve ever driven is. It’s such a loaded question too. Had I driven the Tesla Model S, it would surely top the list. But that isn’t the case, so I’m forced to pick one from a long list of other really cool cars I have driven. As for the best, I’m pretty sure that I drove it earlier this year.

But to see my Top 15 Hottest Rides of 2013, and to find out which one of them is the best car I’ve ever driven, you’ll have to visit the IGNITION website!