Tim ‘Shmee150’ Burton has revealed he’s “scared” to drive one of his favorite cars, the blue McLaren Senna, admitting the amount of money and time it would take to repair the limited release model is “always on his mind.”
Named after the three-time Formula 1 champion Ayrton Senna, the Senna is the third edition to the McLaren Ultimate Series. For some though — including, of course, Shmee — the 2017 release is the British manufacturer’s greatest work.
That prestige has sent prices skyrocketing since it was unveiled just over two years ago. The 005-edition sold for an estimated £1.2 million at the 48th Scottsdale auction in January this year. That’s nearly 50% more than its 2017 price.
Considering how rare the Sennas are, it’s no wonder Shmee admitted he’s “pretty nervous” about taking his own out for a spin. Add to that a lorry driver accidentally put a serious dent in his last year, and he’s got some pretty valid concerns.
“I haven’t really driven it after what happened last summer… the incident in July,” he admitted as he took his Senna out of the garage in an April 1 video.
According to Burton, the crash hiked up a “huge” bill, even though the damage was all “purely cosmetic.” There were cracks on the right rear mirror, while the door had been smashed right down the middle. The back panel was also smashed.
Now, nearly a year later, that shocking incident still plays out in his mind. There was nothing he could have done differently, considering he was simply driving to the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Nothing, that is, except not drive it.
“Although it was fairly cosmetic — it was mainly just some body panels that needed repairing — [the crash] still meant the car was off the road for five months. That’s always on the back of my mind,” the YouTuber admitted.
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“If something happened, that is potentially going to be repeated. That gives me a fair bit of stress, I’m not going to lie. The value of the car, how difficult it is to repair, and how special it is, is always on the back of my mind.
“I guess I’m always conscious that I want to drive it on very specific occasions… I don’t want to drive it just for the sake of driving it, like I did that one fateful day where I was just on the motorway in traffic. We were doing 15-20 miles an hour!”
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That’s not to say he’ll never take it out again. His April 1 video — filmed before self-isolation began — obviously saw him take it out for a spin. He has only done “around 150 miles since that day,” he added, but he wants to add more.
“I will try and take it out to events across Europe, when I can again… but that’s off the cards now,” he said. “I don’t think it’s likely though, honestly, that this will be a high-miler. That’s just how it is with cars like this. I’ll savor those moments.”
