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Buy a $2.3 million Aston Martin, get lessons on an F1 track in Abu Dhabi

Buy a $2.3 million Aston Martin, get lessons on an F1 track in Abu Dhabi

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Aston Martin

In the unlikely event that you ever have the opportunity to buy an insane hypercar valued at over $2 million, there's something you should know: you don't just run down to the dealership, sign some paperwork, and drive it away like it's some kind of Nissan Sentra. It's a little more complicated than that.

Take the Aston Martin Vulcan, for instance — a $2.3 million beast powered by an utterly nonsensical 7-liter V-12 engine capable of 820 brake horsepower. In fact, the Vulcan isn't even legal on the street, so you couldn't drive it off the dealer lot even if you wanted to. Instead, Aston Martin just took its first batch of Vulcan buyers out to Abu Dhabi for professional instruction in how to drive their machines in a variety of track conditions. As you can probably guess, we're not talking about some local track here: they used the gleaming Yas Marina F1 circuit, coached by "an elite team of racing drivers" including Aston Martin's own Darren Turner. "The guys here this week have all been in the car as my passenger at recent events, but this was the first time they got to see and drive their very own Aston Martin Vulcan," Turner says.

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So that's one way to get introduced to your seven-figure track toy. And Aston Martin isn't alone: McLaren, Ferrari, and others run similar programs for their most elite vehicles. Perhaps it's part that you just expect the white-glove treatment when you're spending that much money — but there's also the consideration that these cars are so patently absurd that you will quite likely kill yourself or others if you aren't eased into them by some of the best professional drivers in the world.

Only 24 Vulcans will ever be made, so if you're just now hearing about this car, don't even bother writing the check. There's always next time.