Love the GT-R, not sure about the colour

I don't mind that Melbourne's Rod Maher paid $187,000 for a Nissan GT-R at a global charity auction. What I do mind is that it's gold.

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LOOK, I don't really mind that Melbourne's Rod Maher paid $187,000 for a Nissan GT-R at a global charity auction. Even though it's the same price as the new Black Edition GT-R, it's a good buy because it is one of only two made, Rod got a trip to the factory in Japan, did a few laps of the circuit, got to meet Australian Supercar champs Rod and Todd Kelly when he took delivery last month from Ferntree Gully Nissan and Usain Bolt, who they tell me is a runner, signed the glovebox.

But what I do mind is that it's gold.

Who makes gold cars? Porsche makes yellow ones which are bad enough, but gold? So when Ralph Debbas rang to tell me about his new Lykan HyperSport I immediately asked: "Does it come in gold?"

"We want to produce the most expensive, luxurious and exclusive car ever made, there'll only be seven, at this stage they are white with a blackish top and the only gold is the stitching on the seats."

"Phew!" I replied. "I don't know what got into those Nissan people. The Japanese normally have such good taste."

Ralphy then went on to say that he and partner Sari El Kahalil at W Motors in Dubai are using a Ruf tweaked Porsche engine in their Lykan and I could probably get one for around $3.7 million plus Australian import duty, luxury car tax, GST, insurance, registration, dealer delivery, window tinting, paint protection, NRMA membership and green slip. In other words, about $6 million.

So here is where Rod has got it right. For $187,000 he has a car that will travel at supersonic speed (cruise is 300km/h), is faster 0-to-100km/h than most cars including the Lykan and ran a close second to the new Porsche 911 in a test by US magazine Car and Driver.

In an article last year titled Godzilla, Captain America and the Neunelfer (sort of 911 in German), Car and Driver journalist Aaron Robinson summed it up: "Both the Corvette and the Carrera are to some degree backward looking, with modern technology packaged in nostalgic homages to old friends. Indeed, the 911 is so defined by its past and by the expectations of what it should be that it appears to have no future. And then there's the GT-R, which isn't trying to emulate anything, except perhaps the Tokyo-to-Nagoya bullet train."

Hypercars like the Lykan, Veyron, La Ferrari and Koenigsegg are a big deal because they are rare, made by hand and go really quick. So here's a surprise: the GT-R engine is actually handmade by four blokes in a factory in Yokohama. Yup, Takumi Kurosawa leads the team that builds the engine bit by bit. When they finish putting the 374 bits together, each mechanic sticks a badge with his name on the front of the engine. Who built your engine, Peugeot owner?

I actually teared up when Kurosawa San told me: "We put our souls into each engine."

OK, coming back to the Lykan. What do you get for $6m? Well there are diamonds, rubies and emeralds in the headlights. Perfect for when you run up the tail of someone and need to make amends quickly. Then Ralphy throws in a $200,000 Cyrus Klepcys watch with more red gold and diamonds.

But here's the thing. If I'm going to ignore the fact that, gold or not, Izumi Shioya or a famous film director's nephew put his heart and soul into my car and I'm going to pay millions more, then I want at least eight cylinders, 750kW, 400km/h and someone from the factory flown out to do the 12 months/20,000km free service.