Last year, during the storm season, Hurricane Ian swept away a McLaren P1 Hypercar worth millions of dollars from its Florida garage. The waves whipped it into trees and other obstructions before receding. A P1 hypercar was found lying on its side atop an toilet and covered with flood debris. It was a sad end for a car of such incredible performance.
Ernie is now the owner of this yellow McLaren P1, who uses the Instagram handle Lambo9286. This guy has a huge garage in Florida and his latest addition was a relatively young McLaren P1 with only 300 miles. According to the owner’s posts on social media, he only acquired this limited production hybrid supercar a week before.
Unfortunately, Hurricane Ian’s floods forced the McLaren P1 to leave the garage. Ernie is keen to update his followers on this flooded P1, even capturing the moment it left his garage.
The owner’s brand-new Rolls Royce Phantom, which was flooded as well, ended up on the street after the wet ordeal. Other cars in Ernie’s collection may have suffered the same fate. The embedded Instagram video above shows the P1 as well as the Phantom floating in floodwater.
It is obvious that this is a very expensive damage to a person’s property due to unforeseen circumstances. As with other damage caused by Florida’s floods, thank god for insurance!
Was it the end of this incredible performance machine? No, of course not! There is no such thing a “total loss” when a car of this value and with this much left is still there. The McLaren was surely going to be revived, but the question is by who?
We now know the answer, internet: YouTuber Tavarish aka Freddy Hernandez has purchased a McLaren p1 that was damaged by floods and chronicles its restoration on his YouTube channel.
The first video shows Hernandez picking up his recently purchased… project vehicle in some sort of Florida warehouse–the one where Copart’s insurance auction listing photos were taken–where the Rolls-Royce, which also belonged the McLaren owner’s prior (and was thus also destroyed by Hurricane Ian), sat on its deflated spring suspension. The Rolls-Royce, by the by, did not float from its former owner’s garage, but by all appearances, it may have suffered a worse fate. It is dented and has clearly been submerged for some time. The square-ish holes in the windshield suggest that the luxury sedan was also lifted by a lift truck by its roof.
Now, let’s get back to the P1. The McLaren may be a wreck, but the car is still complete. The rear wheels were frozen at first, and one tire was completely ripped off. On the other side of the car there is a large hole. These issues make it difficult to load the flooded vehicle onto a trailer.
The car is not “working” unless the doors and the hood are included. During the initial walk around, it was discovered that the trunk in the front had not been opened since October last year’s storm. The crew opened the hood and found standing seawater, some tow ropes, and the factory emergency kits amidst it. The smell has been described as strong. The tow hook could be salvaged.
Watch the episode below. The episode is entertaining and anyone who has ever bought a project car in poor condition will find it relatable. We don’t know about you, but none of our team have ever purchased a project car in near-terminal condition for half a mil dollars, so we may not fully understand Hernandez’s level of stress. In the next Tavarish McLaren video, you will be taken through its issues in great detail.
