EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Hold The EVs And Self-Drivers — A Gas-Swallowing McLaren Is What We Want

Recently, Benzinga’s video producer sent me the raw footage of our road test of McLaren Automotive’s sexy 720s coupe. The whole bundle of footage was fun to watch, but there was a 45-second splash of video that really stood out.

This most memorable snippet begins with the $343,190 supercar rumbling north through a roundabout on Detroit’s historic Woodward Avenue. Midway through the circle, we see the jaws of three boys drop to the sidewalk. One of the boys is dribbling a basketball and, as he stares at the vehicle, his dribble slows to the point that I was worried he’d drop the ball.

Shortly after, a separate boy and his dad hustle across the street as the ceramic gray machine inches toward them. As the McLaren passes, their heads turn in unison. A few seconds later, a guy sticks his head out of an aged Lexus sedan, angling to get a look and voice his approval.

Finally, after hitting the straightaway, the blinker sounds and our driver eases into a left turn. As the car approaches, some nattily dressed dude sporting a suit and tie ambles toward the cross street with his face buried in his smartphone. Can he not hear the racecar roaring in his direction? He does, stopping dead in his tracks and waving us to drive through.

Here’s the moral: More important than this car’s 710-horsepower V8 engine; or its sticky brakes; or its light-as-a-feather curb weight; or its rigid carbon fiber “monocage” frame; or its seven-speed dual clutch transaxle – more important than all of that is the role a car like this plays in our culture.

Let's not forget. When Tesla TSLA Elon Musk made his first millions, a McLaren was at the top of his shopping list.

In an era when automotive executives tout electric vehicles and automobiles that drive themselves, it’s critical we remember the industry still needs to make cars that go on the posters that our daughters and sons hang on the wall. Sure, we can put a battery in a Ford F Mustang or gin up an autonomous Lamborghini, but those developments can’t come at the expense of objects that we can lust after during sleepless nights.

We need reasons for our jaws to drop and to look up from our damn phones. McLaren gives us those reasons.

There is no sound like the sound of the McLaren’s turbocharged exhaust. It’s arresting. There’s no feeling like gripping the carbon fiber steering wheel in this supercar’s cockpit. It’s exhilarating. There’s no motivation like the goal of being successful enough to own one of these machines. It’s inspiring.

I was reminded of these truths when I drove some laps in a 720s on a Monday in mid-June, driving the car out to Motown’s Belle Isle 24 hours after the Detroit Grand Prix took place there. Out here, during the late afternoon, there weren’t many admirers applauding or gawking. But the roads were open and the turns were brutal.

I opened the car up, seeing if I could work the paddle shifters and accelerator effectively enough to achieve anything close to hitting the advertised zero-to-124 miles-per-hour mark of 7.8 seconds. I don’t think I came close. I think I did come closer to stopping the car from 62 miles per hour in 98 feet, but no one was there to measure.

Over the next hour, I got reacquainted with what launching, cornering and stopping a rocket ship on wheels feels like. I played with the gadgets that make a McLaren a McLaren: there’s a launch button; the powertrain, active aero and chassis can be set to comfy mode or slipped into track mode; the curvaceous wide rear wing stands up on a hydraulic strut; the nose can be raised by the flick of button.

Still, as fun as it is to act like I know something about driving a supercar, it’s even more rewarding to be able to get in this car and simply drive home to the hum of the engine. The hardest part of driving the 720s is folding myself up to get in the driver’s seat (I’m 43 years old and feeling it) and having a light enough foot on the aluminum accelerator pedal to keep myself out of trouble.

Maneuvering this thing down the road -- even in rush hour traffic on Michigan’s dreadful roads – is a piece of cake. That's a virtue of this car -- it looks intimidating, but the setup and engineering is welcoming.

Yes, that same thing can be said of the little SUV I typically schlep 25 miles back and forth to the office in. It’s also a piece of cake to drive. But the only reason people honk at me or make hand gestures out their windows when I’m driving my Honda is to tell me to get the hell out of their way.

McLaren Automotive is a British automotive manufacturer based at the McLaren Technology Centre in England.

Photo: McLaren Special Operations recreates legendary Gulf livery for 720S.