2013: Return of the Hypercar

Every so often in history comes an event that proves to be truly game-changing, an occasion that potentially has the ability to change the very make-up of certain aspects of society, or even wholesale changes to society itself. As the world prepared to usher in the new millenium, certain morons started to run around like headless chickens claiming that the modern computer, which had brought us such wonders as the internet and digital music, could not account for the fact that we had all woken up bleary-eyed to another day. A society that trusted the computer to power its everyday financial and social lives suddenly believed that changing the date would be too taxing for its gigabytes, and so the Millennium Bug hysteria was born.

This time round however computers will not have to fret their keyboards, nor will religionists in the world's only ex-colonial superpower have to shout "Armageddon", because this whirlwind event is coming to the motor industry. After a hiatus of almost a decade, the stars are aligned and 2013 is promising to be the year of the hypercar. Call it hypercar 2.0. In fact the digital allusion seems to fit the bill perfectly because the storm that is coming is not merely the product of flammable liquids but also of silicon, software and white lab coats.

Whilst the Bible foresaw the arrival of the four horses of the apocalypse, this new vehicular Armageddon has to make do (damn EU spending cuts) with a miserly three from three distinctly different stables, Porsche, Ferrari and McLaren. All usher in a new means of thinking on the traditional hypercar encompassing not only outright speed but dolphin-friendly hybridity and supreme aerodynamics.In no other motoring epoch has their been such a conscious effort from hypercar royalty to assuage the virulent hatred of the car from the likes of Greenpeace and every Hollywood A-lister.

All three have brought Formula One tech to the hypercar plate and incorporate in various forms the KERS energy recovery system to provide huge performance boosts on tap. All systems are frighteningly complicated and likely to induce beard growth but be assured of this, speed is going to need a new dictionary definition. However, ludicrous power combined with an average weight of 1500kg between them it seems unlikely that any definition other than soiled underwear will fit the bill. To my mind there seems to be just one problem. With all the Formula One influence creeping in to hypercars these days what is there to separate you from the dreariness of the actual team drivers themselves. Barring Raikonnen, all are as dull as dishwasher instruction manuals and that is why if I was blessed with deep pockets (One million pounds plus deep in all cases) I would head straight for something that foregoes energy conservation for energy usage that would make Las Vegas cower in fear, the Pagani Huayra. Nothing balances hypercar excess, panache and technicality so perfectly and the fact that it is named after a god of wind makes it an instant, and amusing sell.