In what is surely one of the shortest terms of vehicle ownership in Canadian history, a driver in British Columbia had their brand-new McLaren 600LT impounded just minutes after driving it off the lot June 17.

According to police reports, the 39-year-old gearhead picked up his supercar in West Vancouver and quickly caned it up to 161 km/h in a 90-km/h zone.

The ever-vigilant constabulary nabbed him on Highway 1 and impounded the car.

“While the officer was conducting the investigation, the driver allegedly stated that they had just left the dealership after purchasing the vehicle, 10 minutes prior,” West Vancouver police said in a news release.

Price tags on the 600LT can easily crest a quarter-million in this country. It was towed away from the scene and impounded for seven days. In a statement, cops said the driver was ticketed $368 – or about 0.1 per cent of the car’s value – for excessive speeding.

Here’s a thought: should the cost of tickets be proportional to the value of one’s car? After all, a $368 receipt from the gendarmes is about 5.25 per cent the worth of your author’s own Dodge Charger. If the miscreant in that McLaren had to pay the same percentage, it would work out to somewhere north of $13,000. Would that be any more of a deterrent to deep-pocketed scofflaws?

That’s a deep well of debate best left for another day. For now, know that there’s one less McLaren 600LT on Vancouver roads — at least for the next week. Stay safe out there, folks.