THE INSIDE MAN: McLaren Beverly Hills
It’s not everyday a new McLaren dealership opens on this side of the pond– in fact, it’s never happened in their 46 year history– so when I got the last-minute call asking (as co-creator of themclarenforum.com) if I wanted to attend I jumped at the chance. Who wouldn’t?
Dealership openings aren’t typically very exciting (pony rides and balloons, anyone?) but when you’re known worldwide for your Formula One team, producing the uber-exclusive McLaren F1 road car, Mercedes SLR and the new MP4-12C a different crowd tends to show up and help you celebrate:
Ron Dennis, Chairman of McLaren Automotive
Jay Leno, first in line to get his MP4-12C
..and there were a whole host of others who wandered in and out of the party all night. To be honest I don’t usually keep track of such things (unless I’m jockeying for a spot at the bar and bump into them) but it was just a sincere treat to get up close to a few of my dream machines that night.
Unfortunately I also figured out that since I’m well over the standard driver height it will probably never be possible to pilot a contemporary F1 car, but who cares? It would sure look pretty sitting in my living room:
Kimi Raikkonen's Formula One Car.. acres of beautiful carbon fiber in impossible shapes.
More my speed, the M8FP 72-09 Can-Am racer. It's my honest opinion that McLaren needs to incorporate those intake stacks into future models. Do you hear me, Mr. Dennis?
The star of the show.. the MP4-12C. Much better looking in the flesh than I anticipated.
In between all of this we had women hanging from the ceiling in all sorts of aerobatic poses, DJ Lindsay Luv spinning (with Top Model winner Caridee English on drums) and the excellent race simulator from CXC Simulations. I definitely see an ESM field trip to Seat Time in our near future (sorry Chas, I really didn’t feel like shaking up my stomach after a few Vodka tonics during the night- better to decline than be that guy).
Having been to a few Auto Gallery parties in the past I would expect nothing less than one hell of a party and certainly wasn’t let down. If you’re in the market for a McLaren in the LA area you can rest assured that they take their service and sales to an equally high level, but we have just one question.. can we tag along on the test drive?
More Pics:
http://www.gettyimages.pl/editorial/search.php?eventid=40681
http://blogs.insideline.com/straightline/2012/01/mclaren-beverly-hills-grand-opening.html
When not at ESM, Chris can be found cycling up and down the Santa Monica Bay, re-engineering a turkey fryer into a pizza oven or reading about survival techniques in the Gobi desert.
