Classified of the week: a purple McLaren P1

Is there a more double-edged sword than the ‘POA’ sticker in classified ads?

On the one hand, it almost certainly means you’re looking at something extremely tasty. On the other, though, it makes playing ‘dream garage’ in your head next to impossible. How can you pre-plan your lottery win spend when you don’t know how much it’s going to cost?

We think we can forgive this one, though. Not least because it’s an ad from our favourite dealer, Bingo Sports in Japan. We suspect half the cars they stock are just so that staff have something glorious to poke around every day, and the ‘POA’ is to put nasty buyers off taking them away.

And this McLaren P1 is certainly glorious. It looks the absolute knackers in metallic purple (disagree with us below if you wish, but you’re wrong) and it comes with 1000km on the clock. That’s a whisker over 600 miles. Enough to have run the engine in (just about), but otherwise it’s basically new. There’s a good chunk of warranty left, too.

Still not excited? There’s carbon bloody everywhere, most notably inside. The cabin, Bingo Sports says, “is inspired by a battle-jet, and will arouse any driver of this vehicle.” Yikes.

The P1, if you need reminding, combines petrol and electric power for total outputs of 903bhp and 664lb ft. Its top speed is ‘limited’ to 217mph and it takes 2.8secs to complete 0-62mph.

New, it cost £866,000. Now, it costs… well, we don’t know. But if you’re desperately trying to plan what it sits alongside in your dream garage, don’t bank on paying less than £1.5million.