Hot beast also likes it nice and slow

Well, apart from the fact you can touch the main road speed limit in under three seconds, accompanied by an almighty roar from the rear, there is delight to be had from this car going slowly.

For less than three years since it made its first of a new generation of cars for wealthy owners, McLaren has produced a modern mechanical masterpiece, almost as satisfying while stationary as powering through a favourite corner.

Prices may start the other side of £200,000, and head for the stratosphere if you pile on the tempting options (the seats on the test car cost an extra £5,120 the pair), but this is a car that really does look worth the money. Yes, really.

Based around an incredibly strong tub of exotic carbon fibre with lovely aluminium bits attached, the car stands knee high to a grasshopper and oozes intent in an interestingly non-threatening way.

Somehow the McLaren designers have penned a shape that's very obviously expensive and fast, without dripping with aggressive 'don't mess with me', intent.

The recent history of McLaren road cars has been a steep learning curve, starting with a machine that looked great on paper (very fast, limpet like on corners) but which didn't set pulses racing like, most obviously, its deadly Ferrari rival.

Well, the 650S knocks that criticism on the head, with looks that halt traffic, especially in the £1,820 worth of special orange paint (yes, here we go again with the options) of the test car. Not to mention a carbon fibre exterior upgrade (£8,470), smokey stealth wheel finish (£1,140), yellow brake callipers (£910) and carbon fibre sill panels (£2,680).

If all this talk of expense makes you wince, then I'm sorry to say you are not a likely owner of a 650S, being produced at the rate of several a week in an amazing new factory for people very happy to dig deep into their year end bonuses.

Anyway, they'll forget the bottom line when they push the accelerator pedal firmly downwards in second gear, especially with the little rear screen retracted, better to hear the sport exhaust. Sorry, but that's another £4,790. The resultant acceleration, as the twin turbos kick in and more than 640 horses are unleashed, is otherworldly in its force, delivered with one majestic push in the back that you could only safely extend on a race track.

Down at sane and legal speed, you'll have time to delight in a car that rides firmly, but with more calm authority than many a twenty grand hot hatch and is as easy to drive as the family SUV, thanks to automatic transmission that stands ready to drop a gear at the first hint of enthusiastic throttle use.

Then there's the steering, controlled from a delightfully contoured wheel covered in mock suede and telgraphing the state of the road like few cars of recent memory, or a dashboard that quietly gets on with the business of keep the driver informed in a cockpit deliberately devoid of Italian car theatrics.

You could even take the 650S to the supermarket, so long as you don't major on the kitchen towels special offer (there isn't a lot of space to spare) and enjoy a slow drive home with the roof retracted. it takes only seconds and lets you hear that exhaust in compellling surround sound.

Mind the width, though, or you'll scratch those handsome alloys. Better opt too for the rear view camera, even at a cheeky £1,030 extra. Wouldn't bother with £2,680 of sound system upgrade, though. The car makes enough fine noise all by itself, thank you.

By Ian Donaldson