US hurricane claims Florida man’s McLaren P1 one week after taking delivery

A Florida man’s McLaren P1 supercar has been swept away by flood waters just one week after he took delivery.

In a series of posts on Instagram, a user named ‘Ernie’ (@lambo9286) documented his first week of McLaren P1 ownership, claiming the million-dollar machine had just 300 miles (482km) on the odometer.

Recent photos uploaded to Instagram displayed the McLaren P1 in waist-high flood waters caused by Hurricane Ian accompanied a message by the owner who claimed the supercar “went through the garage” and onto the street.

Produced between 2013 and 2015, the McLaren P1 was priced from more than $US1,150,000 ($AU1,750,000) when it was new. 

Used-car website CarGurus recently listed two used examples for sale in the US, priced between $US1,795,000 ($AU2,765,000) and $US2,295,000 ($AU3,535,000).

A photo taken by Ernie earlier in the day showed the McLaren P1 partially underwater, parked next to a Rolls-Royce Phantom. The McLaren and Rolls-Royce subsequently ended up among debris left by Hurricane Ian.

According to US publication NBC News, as this article was published, at least 12 people had died in Florida as a result of Hurricane Ian, which made landfall on Wednesday afternoon.

The McLaren and Rolls-Royce weren’t the only high-value vehicles to be carried away by Hurricane Ian.

Tyler Hoover – from automotive YouTube channel Hoovie’s Garage – retweeted an image of a red Dodge Charger Daytona and an orange Plymouth Road Runner Superbird damaged in the storm.

Out of the two iconic US muscle cars, the Plymouth appears to have copped the brunt of the hurricane, ending up on its roof with a damaged rear-quarter panel.

Launched in 1969 and 1970 respectively, the Dodge and Plymouth were limited-run special editions, designed to take on the US NASCAR stock-car racing competition.

Last year, a 1970 Plymouth Road Runner Hemi Superbird sold for US$1,650,000 ($AU2,500,000) at a Barrett-Jackson auction in Las Vegas.

The Dodge Charger Daytona appeared in David Spade's 2001 film Joe Dirt, while the Plymouth Road Runner Superbird was immortalised in Disney-Pixar’s Cars – representing seven-time NASCAR champion, Richard Petty.