PH Photo Gallery: Supercar owners circle
An eclectic mix of cars on show for what is one of the greater supercar club gatherings
High in the Swiss Alps, in a village called Andermatt, supercars from across Europe, including the UK, gathered. The surroundings were stunning. Snowy mountains, Alpine passes, long sweeping tunnels. The ingredients for something quite special. But would the cars live up to it? The weather was poor that weekend, and I'm sorry to report quite a few cars didn't show up. These included a Bugatti Chiron, Veyron, two Ferrari LaFerraris, a Mercedes Benz SLR Stirling Moss, a Koenigsegg Regera, and an Aston Martin DB3S. Those losses sound like a heavy blow... but if I told you that the absence of that very serious list of hypercars by no means detracted from the weekend, then you might start to appreciate just how 'next level' this occasion was.
Let's start with the quirky stuff. A car I'd never seen before, but was actually very cool to witness up close, was the Mercedes Benz SLS E Cell. It clearly held its own in terms of performance against the other cars there, however, being fully electric, and (doors down) being quite an understated design it was quite easy to not even notice to begin with. This extremely rare example of the SLS was kept company by an SLS Black Series, SLS GT3 car which was road legal, and a 300SLS. Hard to pick a winner from that list. Other interesting attendees included a G650 Maybach Landaulet - one of which recently sold for $1.4million - and a few very tastefully specced classics and supercars, such as Ferrari Dinos, 458 Speciales, and Porsche GT3s.
Now, the heavy lifters. Three Porsche 918s, one of which was matte black from factory; four McLaren P1s, one of which was matte black from factory; a white, stripeless LaFerrari Aperta from Andorra; a Ferrari Enzo, Maserati MC12, Porsche Carrera GT, RUF CTR3 and Koenigsegg CCX. Strong so far.
But that's just an average day on Sloane Street, and not a rival to 22 McLaren F1s. Except, of course, we're not done. There was a Ferrari FZ93 by Zagato, which is based on a Testarossa and supposedly the inspiration for the Enzo; a one-off Aston Martin GT12 Roadster; a Porsche 959 and 911 GT; two Ferrari 812SFs and two LaFerraris (different to the two that didn't show); a Lamborghini Miura, Ferrari 250 SWB and a lightweight Jaguar E Type.
We're still just warming up. An Aston Martin One-77 is pretty serious. So is a Porsche 996 GT1, and a Mercedes Benz CLK GTR. The knockout blow ought to have to been the pair of very special Ferraris. Not LaFerraris, I'm talking about an FXXK, the sound of which echoed through the valley, and is probably still going. But there was something even more rarefied still: the Ferrari F12 TRS. Many haven't heard of the TRS, and even fewer have had the pleasure of seeing it. It's a special topless variant of the F12 commissioned for the same man who brought us the Rolls Royce Sweptail, and finished in Liquid Silver.
So that was Supecar Owners Circle in Switzerland. Better or worse than 22 McLaren F1s in the French countryside? Well, it's close - but the Alps had incredible variety, and happens to be the only time I've ever seen a Miura and 250 SWB have a drag race! We'll let you be the judge.
The penalties for speeding are big (depending on the indiscretion a percentage of the wages) but this is only due to massive wealth of the country. And bear in mind there is no penalty point system in force. Whats the point in hitting someone with a 500chf fine for 120km in an 80 zone if they have that to pay the cop in their wallet. If you get caught doing 200kmph on the autobahn well you may expect jail, but honestly (and this as a lawyer) in somewhere like the Republic of Ireland you can get jailtime for such an indiscretion, depending on the judge. In reality what will normally happen in Switzerland is that the judge will take your licence for 6 months if you are a repeat offender.
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