The clouds are dark, ominous; pregnant with rain and perhaps worse. California may be the Golden State, but I’ve lived through the sudden spite of its leaden winters and know too well how scenic roads can unexpectedly become slippery routes straight into the ditch when nine months of dust meets sheets of water. With the keys to the 2018 McLaren 720S in my pocket for just three days, the prospect of tempering my exuberance or – worse still – breaking one of the few cars that have made it to the West Coast is seriously lacking in appeal. Unlike the Egyptians, we British have no Sun God to pray to.