Can any man be more unlucky than this one?
On September 16, a Florida collector named Ernie acquired a stunning yellow and black McLaren P1. Based on recent comparable P1 sales, there is an estimate that Ernie paid more than $1.5 million but likely less than $2 million for his new toy, which is one of 375.
We know this purchase because, on September 16, Ernie announced it via Instagram: “Only 300 miles on it… Time to increase it!” Following @lambo9286’s Instagram account, we can see how Ernie traveled everywhere in the new P1 over the next eleven days.
On September 17, 2022, he drove to downtown Naples for brunch in his vehicle. Ernie proudly displayed the McLaren alongside his $500,000 Rolls-Royce Phantom in his garage. On September 19, he utilized the P1 for a “Whole Foods run.”
On September 20 at night, Ernie piloted the P1 to dinner. Friday night, he again displayed the P1 in downtown Naples. This week, warnings about Hurricane Ian’s impending impact on Florida’s gulf coast began to be issued. Evacuations were advised.
Hurricane Ian landed on the western coast of Florida on Wednesday as a category 4 hurricane with winds over 150 mph. On Friday, Florida authorities reported that 21 deaths had been reported since the hurricane made landfall, with initial damage estimates in the tens of billions of dollars.
More than one million Instagram users have been following the saga of Ernie, a car collector from Florida who has been posting about his newly acquired McLaren P1 in Volcano Yellow with 300 miles on the odometer.
The initial message under the username @lambo9286 was published on the sixteenth. On the 27th, he uploaded a photo of the supercar’s trunk containing a few bags of groceries. The caption read: “My hurricane supply car p1.”
The following day, the typhoon swept through his neighborhood, flooded his garage, and submerged the P1. The water transported the automobiles through the garage door and onto the street.
Ernie could only watch until Thursday when the floodwaters receded. He went outside and discovered his McLaren in the road, propped up on its right side by a toilet that had also been trapped in the storm.
On the various postings about the P1, people expressed sympathy and criticism for his failure to remove the cars from the danger zone before it was too late. Put it in a bowl of rice,” joked one commenter.
The P1 is a plug-in hybrid rear-wheel drive supercar manufactured between 2013 and 2015. It is propelled by a 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 engine and a 4.7-kilowatt-hour electric motor that can produce 903 horsepower when combined.
Ernie was understandably evasive, stating that he was assessing the damage to his cars and residence. “It stinks,” he remarked. Can’t control mother nature.” According to his subsequent Instagram posts, the water level rose to the point where it generated enough force to pull the Phantom and the P1 out of the garage and onto the neighborhood streets.