Executives at Ferrari, however, were not amused, serving him with a cease and desist notice for taking such liberties with their trademark. Ever since Ferrari sent that notice, Zimmerman has switched his automotive alliance to British automaker McLaren, picking up the 650S earlier in the year.

Now, he's grown his stable of McLarens to include the P1, a limited production plug-in hybrid that's among the most buzzed-about cars of the year. It's hot enough to draw a crowd of gawkers on the streets of L.A. at a "Cars and Coffee" event this week.