Though not everybody on PH will like Jay Kay's music (or heard of it, in fact, given the 1990s were quite a long time ago), we can surely all appreciate his superb automotive taste. Not only has he owned some of the most desirable cars ever produced, those he's been able to spec from new have often been done in stunning colour combinations. There are his Ferraris (LaFerrari, F12 Tdf) just for starters, Moreover, Kay doesn't seem to be a hoarder - cars come in, they go out, and the garage is kept impressively fresh.
Or perhaps they aren't as exciting as he'd hoped for. Either way, it seems that Jay Kay's cars come up for sale more than most other celeb-owned automobiles. Maybe because he has more to shift - or maybe because they're a lot more interesting than most of the cars famous people own, and we tend to notice.
Here's another worthy of attention, a 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder, with full service history. Though being sold now on behalf of Jay Kay by JZM, it's actually had two owners before him. So all (considerable) credit for the specification - Basalt Black outside and Onyx inside, but with Acid Green accents - goes to the original owner. It's number 575 of the 918-car production run, looks utterly pristine for its 2,130 miles, and is yours for £1.1m - what a P1 might also cost, if about half LaFerrari money.
Which is all well and good. But aside from grading Mr Jamiroquai's taste, the car does give us an opportunity to reflect some more on Porsche's hybrid hypercar. As the launch approached a few years ago, many seemed concerned that the 918 was too heavy, that too many were being made and that the hybrid assistance was unnecessary - often it seemed the Porsche was subject to more scrutiny than its Ferrari and McLaren equivalents. "The slightly sorry-looking underdog in the hybrid hypercar market as it undoubtedly was back at the Geneva show" is how one journalist described it.
Then the production 918 Spyder arrived. Not only did the PH first drive suggest the looks were "a transformation" compared to the early prototypes, its combination of 608hp, 9,000rpm V8 and 286hp electric motor made mincemeat of the near-1,700kg kerbweight - as the 6:57 'ring time attests to. Don't forget, moreover, that the 918 had a usable electric range that neither the Ferrari nor the McLaren had, that all of them sold, and that, at £652,849, the common old Porsche was hundreds of thousands cheaper than the opposition. The plug-in hybrid has undoubtedly proved more popular since the 918's time, too, as cars like the Ferrari 296 GTB and McLaren Artura point to. Porsche, not that it would have ever doubted its work, has been vindicated in all of the key decisions made about its hybrid. Still looks superb, too.
So Jay Kay's loss is set to be someone else's gain. Whether celebrity ownership matters is up to you, but the car itself looks more desirable by the day. Make you wonder why he might be selling, in fact - but we can only assume something else awesome will take the 918's place in time. A million quid buys some pretty cool cars...
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