Open House

Pfaff McLaren’s 2022 Open House Event.

It’s hard to find the words that describe the relief I get when winter comes to an end. As the snow melts and the trees start growing back their leaves in the spring, it reminds me that good is yet to come. Warm weather, sunny days, awesome cars, and most importantly awesome events will be back before we know it. After months of contained anticipation, the day has finally come for us to get together again and attend a great season opener.

The McLaren Open House is hosted by the Pfaff McLaren dealership in Vaughan on a yearly basis, with exceptions made due to the uncertainties that Covid had brought upon us. The last time I attended was back in August 2020, and just like their most recent event, it did not disappoint one bit.

At their first location, you are greeted by the McLaren Senna. In all honesty, when I first saw the photos of this car surface the internet, the design left me feeling a little doubtful. I couldn’t believe that this was gonna replace the P1. But here I found myself judging cars based on first impressions and only aesthetics only to be proven absolutely wrong.

I don’t remember when was the first time I’ve ever seen this car, but from seeing it on the internet to seeing one in person totally changed my perspective on aerodynamics. The Senna’s shape mimics that of the 720s yet totally redefines it. The aero ducts right under the headlights will leave you wondering about how the airflow might look like in a wind tunnel as it moves in sync with the huge active aero wing. The panels are all dressed in carbon fiber with weaves glimmering under the sun, and the glass at the lower side of the doors will give you and your passenger a theatrical view of the tarmac you are ripping.

I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who wasn’t a fan of the Senna when it first came out. But upon knowing more and more about the car, I’ve come to realize that the name of the car is a well-deserved homage to the great Ayrton Senna.

A new comer you are presented with is the $1.7M McLaren Elva in their Magma theme with color combinations of dark red (close to Burgundy) and black interior. It was my first time seeing one in person and I felt quite underwhelmed by it, but what made it interesting right off the bat is the open top and the absence of any glass surrounding the vehicle.

Obviously I’m judging it based on its appearance like I did with the Senna — which can bear all the false conclusions when it comes to judging automobiles. The Elva is the lightest production McLaren which weighs roughly 2,900lbs. with a twin turbo 4.0 V8 paired with a double clutch 7 speed transmission, with no windshield, no roof, and no windows.

While I may not be the expert in all the technical specs, I do think that the exhilarating sensations delivered by this car would be unlike any other. I have had my fair share of time with top down sports cars, motorcycles, and go-karts, and unfortunately, that is the best comparison based on experience that I can come up with to put this into perspective. While that in itself is an understatement, I can’t deny that this is probably all of that combined. Except… it’s more than that — like, way more.

Walking down to their second location, you will see an assortment of cars coming from all sorts of places; causing traffic jams I wouldn’t mind being stuck in.

At any event like this, you will always see a pool of Porsches from different eras. I just love how they were set up at the event that day,

It’s rare enough to see a 997 GT3RS these days… but what comes as a treat is seeing two of the 4.0 versions as opposed to the original 3.8 lined up wearing the same spec. It’s awesome to see such an important car in Porsche’s history. The 997 GT3RS was the last 911 to house the engine designed by Hanz Mezger. In case you didn’t know, he was responsible for the engine that brought Porsche’s first win at Le Mans with the Porsche 917 back in 1970.

Whenever I look at this car, I see more than just a 911; I see a very important piece of history.

After taking a good look at the 997s, the door to the dealership leads to a new Porsche surprise: the 1993 Turbo S Leichtbau. With only 86 made in the world to commemorate Porsche’s success at the IMSA Supercar Championship race series, I was very surprised to see this at the event.

To the untrained eye, it may just look like any other regular 964 Turbo. But as the name of this iteration suggests, this is a much lighter chassis. The term “leichtbau” directly translates to “light construction,” which was achieved through the removal of insulation, sound-deadening materials, thinner glass, and aluminum materials and lightweight composites to replace steel panels.

I know I’ve been rambling on about old Porsches at a McLaren event, so let’s take a break and shine some light on some of the newer kids in town: The SF90, AMG GT Black Series, and the Senna in a snow trooper spec was incredibly cool to see.

Right across the storm troopers is this bright M3 GTS tribute. There’s not a lot of E92s I see as often anymore and definitely not on the track. But this iteration is such a great reminder of what the car was actually made for.

One of the crowd favorites was definitely the Zonda R Liquid displayed like a trophy — and for good reason. The crowd gathered right in front of it as they stared in awe with what was in front of them. I had already seen it when I first attended 2 years ago, so I’ve definitely had my fair share of admiration. This time around, I couldn’t even get a good enough moment to take a photo of it. So for all of you who weren’t at the event, I’m going to reuse the same photos I took 2 years ago.

The 992 GT3 also made an appearance in the Ruby Star color. The PTS Porsches are always so interesting… You’ll never really know what color an owner will choose and to be honest, you’ll never really know how you’ll feel about the color until you see one.

Last but not least, I headed to the shop bays and was greeted by a couple more goodies and a couple of reds.

I find it fascinating when the cars are up on the hoist and disassembled or getting worked on. It’s one thing seeing them on display, but it’s another thing seeing the components that make up the machine.

With all of the rare collectibles and awesome new cars at the event, the last few ones I spent time with were some of my personal favorites.

As this is the first event I’ve attended to since last year’s car season, it’s definitely gotten me excited and ready to make some fresh content. To end the day, I was lucky enough to witness the F40 being transported back into their basement vault and was able to capture my favorite shots for the day.

The lovely F40 makes for a great wallpaper on my iPhone. Sometimes, timing is everything.