rlauferblog

The Marques D’Elegance is a weekend-long series of car events culminating in a show at Paletta Mansion. As i wrote in my review of last year’s show, it is well worth the drive to experience the VIP feel of this show.
During my drive, i came across two Ferraris and a Lamborghini…i guessed correctly that they were heading to the show and let them lead the way.

I got a great parking spot, just a few feet away from the show entrance and behind a Porsche Macan

Some nice cars on the short walk to the show entrance

I ran into some friends who informed me there was a Renntech modified Mercedes-McLaren SLR so i knew that would be my first stop. But first i registered and got a passport to the show, which i could get stamped at the various stands for special offers.

A different crowd than the ladies in my recent car show reviews lol

Ok, on to the Renntech!

Too extreme? No problem..they had a “regular” SLR as well lol

One of my favourite cars at last year’s show was a matte black G63…and although my own car is matte grey, i think the G63 looked better in the black

Right next to the G63 was this beautiful E63 wagon

In addition to these AMGs at the Mercedes display, i found a gorgeous C63 507 on the main lawn

Ok on to Porsche..I have seen Pfaff’s race prepped GT3 several times but i must say it never looked so good as out in the open on the lawn

Incredible old school RS

Love the Martini Racing livery

Lots of 911s

I was happy to see a Countach at last year’s show..this year there were two among the selection of Lambos

Aventador, if you prefer newer Lamborghinis

Gallardo

On to the main lawn, predominantly Ferrari

No 599XX this year but this Speciale and Dinos almost make up for it…almost

My favourite Aston Martin, the V12 Vantage S in white

And blue!

More Astons

The Rolls we saw pulling in earlier

Bentley

McLaren

From James Bond, the BMW Z8

And from Mission Impossible, the new i8

M5 and M3

Real AC Cobra and some new Gts

Nissan GTR

Last but not least, Lexus…who were using 3D printers to create lexus logos!

RL

Importfest bills itself as “Canada’s Biggest and Baddest” car show…I’m not sure about that but if you are into cars, loud music, and women this is definitely a show to see! And i am happy to report that this year’s show was even better than last year’s in all three of those areas!

I saw some teaser pics online so I went looking for some specific cars, first and foremost of which was this incredible AMG CLK63 Black Series!

Love those fender flares

Parked Right across from the CLK was my favouruite car of last year’s show, a Mercedes 500E…while not an AMG vehicle, the engine was designed / built by Porsche

Although Sic Ryde had different wheels on the car last year.

Another car that i wanted to see was Deadmau5’s Purrari…his new Meowclaren 650S was not at the show though.

The Purrari was wrapped by Sekanskin, IMHO the best in the biz. Here is another great example of their work, a stunning matte white AMG SLS

Speaking of my preferred automotive suppliers, I was happy to see that Eurocharged had a booth at the show. I just upgraded to their V5 tune with downshift throttle blip and am very happy with their product!

Ok by now you have seen a few of the ladies at the show..let’s take a pause from cars to see some more…

My favourite car model, Meaghan Powell! (yellow shirt) Congrats for winning the bikini contest!

The Vossen wheels girl

Hard to get near her with all the photographers but I got a pic with her at last year’s show

And the Vossen display car

The Got Ass? Girls

And the main stage where the Ms. Importfest competiton will take place

Back to cars…

Clearly I prefer German cars but i gotta say this S2000 was stunning in real life

Now on to some tuner cars…dont think i have ever seen a TV in a fuel filler door before

But if you need a bigger screen, you could always get a built in home theatre…and take junior along

Quite different than than the Lincoln with suicide doors i saw at a local car meet earlier this week

Low is still in it seems

As are crazy colours…whether paint, wrap…

Or Plasti-Dip

Finally some accessories..i tried to get a vid of the craziest car stereo i have ever heard but even my Rode microphone could not capture the bass..you could seriously feel the vibrations from 30 feet away…i did get some pics of the Kicker booth though.

Some nice wheels

Excuse the pun, but that’s a wrap!

See you next year.
RL

This year’s Yorkville Exotic Car Show was a bit of a different experience for me for two reasons. First, I have been to so many car events over the past year that I have met a lot of the owners of the cars in this show. I have seen their cars up close and driven on cruises with them. So from that perspective, it was like seeing old friends. Which leads to my second point, the generosity of organizer Phil Downe, who I met previously on such a cruise, in giving me a media pass so that I could get some up close pics. Thanks again Phil!

Phil’s car promoting the event, which again raises money for curing prostate cancer

Here I am with Phil

And here we are with some of the hostesses.

Now on to the show…taking a step back, i arrived early as they were still setting up.

This TVR owner was kind enough to oblige me with a request for some revs…it was LOUD!

Thankfully the policeman stopped to take pics / vids instead of issuing a ticket lol

In keeping with my previous reviews, i’ll start with a shoe on red carpet pic lol

Ok on to the Porsches!

Starting with a 356

1975 Porsche 935

Glad to see my favourite from past shows, a genuine RUF 930S slantnose

911 in Martini Racing livery

Boxster in a very eye catching orange

50th anniversary 911

nice wing on this GT3RS

The new Macan Turbo SUV

Porsche swag

Not many Mercedes but these two are among my favourites, McLaren SLR and AMG SLS

This year’s selection of BMWs included two of my all time favourites, original M5 and M3s, circa 1988

As well as this 1974 2002

I am big fan of Sekanskin and think they do the best wraps in the business, as you can see on their Audi R8

Moving to Italian cars, lots of Ferraris…

my favourite was the BB512!

New FF with nice HRE wheels and beautiful paint job

lots of 458s and a 355GTS

Lambos

Too hot to touch

I really like the way this pic turned out

Beautiful British cars such as this Morgan Aero..not sure i could fit inside but it sure looks stunning!

Another TVR

Jaguar

Aston Martin

A couple of Nissan GTRs

and finally, American Muscle…corvettes, including the new Stingray

and this beautiful Ron Fellows limited edition

Mustang Boss Laguna Seca edition

And some classic mustangs

Ok, a quick drink in the paddock before heading out

As is customary after the Yorkville Exotic Car show, some shoe shopping…

No luck there but i did get some stuff at Rolo, the best gift shop i have ever seen Organ donor lunch box and ninja pen complete with schwinnnggggg sound effects

Next i checked in with the Spotters who show great dedication to capturing local supercars.

Here is a small sampling of what you can see in Yorkville in an average weekend

Finally some of “the best cheesecake in the universe”

washed down with some Bailey’s

See you next year.

RL

Saturns Drives is a group created for members who share a passion for cars to ” connect, share and participate on drives, cruises and events” (per their website). Essentially this translates into by invitation only exotic car cruises and events that happen twice a month during the season. Last week i attended my first one….here’s how it went down.

First we all meet in a large parking lot for a “cars and coffee”. Some of the highlights of this portion for me were:

The first Ferrari 458 Speciale in Canada, picked up by the owner 2-3 weeks ago

Compared to a 458 spyder

Another recent acquisition, this 731HP Ferrari F12

Not a Ferrari you see every day, a 456

I saw this beautiful chrome wrapped R8 at Signature Luxury Division a few weeks ago…now driven by its new owner.

Sadly not many AMGs, except mine

and this Black Series…i was hoping for an SLS Black Series but perhaps at the next meet

LOTS of 911s though, including GT3s and 50th anniversary model

A VERY loud Lamborghini Aventador

Iron Man Mercialago

And a Mercy spyder

One of several Gallardos

Beautiful Bentley

Lotus Esprit

and Elise

Incredible Viper ACR

And an SRT10

I was so happy with the big turnout of GTRs (I think there were 6)…and i got to see them take off using launch control 🙂

A group shot to give you an idea of the approximate 100 cars!

Next we were given maps and headed out on a 2 hour cruise with the final destination being Eurocharged!

The cruise itself was fantastic on many fronts. First of all the scenery was incredible, both natural and the mere sight of 100 exotics. Thanks to Ghalib Zamir for providing some of the shots below https://www.facebook.com/GhalibZkPhotography

Next, you really feel like a “celebrity”…we passed through small towns and there were literally dozens of people lined up taking pics / vids of us…throughout the drive people were pulling over on the side of the road to film us!

One of the funniest moments was passing by a policeman who pulled over a gardener, seriously a pick-up truck full of lawn mowers and pulling a trailer! Imagine the look on the policeman’s face as 100 Lambos, Ferraris, ford GTs etc. rolled past lol

Speaking of rolling, the cruise was a great opportunity to get rolling shots. I had two photographers in the car with me, Chris Picken and Jack Donahue and they were literally hanging out of the window to get these shots!

The last leg of our cruise was a barbeque at Eurocharged! I am a huge fan of Eurocharged and do have their tune on my car. Sadly i forgot to wear my Eurocharged t-shirt (sorry Vlad!) to represent properly.

I finally got to sit in a Bentley, thanks to the owner! Finally a car that fits with room to spare.

Another up-close look at the F12

Ha, this 911 GT3RS driver had the same gloves as me (except with Porsche markings, of course)

So all in all Saturns Drives exceeded my expectations. I have been to many car meets and informal cruises with friends but this was my first organized cruise of this scale. The cars were incredible, the view was spectacular, the driving was super fun, and i left with many good photo / video souvenirs. Thanks to Saturns for having me and thanks again to Chris and Jack for making it more enjoyable.

RL

Huge thanks to Mercedes Benz Canada, the MBCA Toronto Section and Timz for organizing the 2014 Spring TechSession!

I arrived early enough to get good parking

Hmmm lots of cones, what to do, what to do?

Aha! I am developing quite the reputation for using parking cones lol.

Soon some fellow forumites arrived

Now on to the session room

Filled up pretty quickly

The theme of the day was Technical Highlights with a focus on the new CLA and S-Class

The presentation started with a video of a 4matic equipped C-class racing a snowmobile

Some nice drift action

Hard to top that, but a history of AMG will do it

A shot of the Red Pig (coincidentally i had one on the back of my sweatshirt)

Next we learned about the CLA and some of its new technologies. The topic turned to fuel economy and those of us sitting at the AMG table were like “we dont give a shit about fuel economy” lol…indeed, i get 18l/100km or 13 mpg with 94 octane fuel and the consensus at the table was if you doing better, you are not driving properly lol.

Next we looked at the new S-Class..the Canadian version has 70 control modules while the European model has 90!

These modules control things like night vision, blind spot assist, lane keeping assist, distronic plus adaptive cruise control, pre-safe brake and BAS plus, scent diffusion (choice of three scents), and hot stone massage (btw, i checked with the Tech guy after the session, the hot stone massage does NOT offer a happy ending).

To help power these modules, the S-class has a lithium ion battery…that costs $2,800!!! The battery on the hybrid version is $14,000!

We also saw a couple of videos on the new F1 cars and had some draws for prizes

the S-class model went to our table!

Now it was time for some hands-on experiences, courtesy of a stripped-down training S-class.

We all gathered around to get a closer look

And even stopped for a group pic

A shot of the Red Pig on my sweatshirt

I think Timz likes the new S-class

Alright on to the car itself…5.5 litre twin-turbo

Interior with “ribbon lighting” available in 7 colours

The 7 speed transmission…Mercedes will be releasing a NINE SPEED soon!

The larger of the two turbos

and the smaller one

A simulator to let you try the electronic features

A shot of the $2,800 battery

After the session i followed Simon part way home..your spoiler looks awesome bro!

Then i stopped off for gas where i ran into another AMG..oh the irony! lol. Also a limited edition, specifically a 45 year anniversary, one of 45 made SL65..also in matte paint!

Roof up

and down

Quick vid of the roof in action

All in all a great day..thanks again!

RL

At last year’s Megaspeed show i had one of my most memorable car-related experiences by getting to see Ken Block’s car in person. No such luck this year. In fact, i found this year’s show to be smaller and not quite as good as last year’s show. I am sad to say this is true for most trade shows that i attend…they all seem to be shrinking in size and quality and i say this based on attending about 15-20 shows per year.

My highlight this year was at the Rockford Fosgate booth. I am a huge fan of their products and had a great system years ago, back in the “if your mirrors aint shakin, you got taken” era lol. Anyway, i tried their “pressure chamber” display…basically they give you hearing protection, shut the door and then blast you with 10,000 watts of low frequency bass! there is a “panic button” in case..i could se why as i felt a bit nauseous lol…i asked repeatedly if i will still be able to have kids before going in (they said yes) but i did not film it as they warned of possible affects to my camera.

More from RF.

there were lots of sound systems around as well

here is one in action..nice touch on the Princess floormats

Next, i liked Millionaire Racing…especially the C63, 911 Turbo, Bentley…and the girls 🙂

One of my favourite cars of all time, Acura Integra Type R

This M3 is quite well known among local circles..i believe it has around 650HP

A little more subtle…and badass

Again, subtle

Classy wood clad engine in this Jag

This lamborghini was also at last year’s show…except then it was painted as a police car!!

vs. last year

Nowhere near as many GTRs as last year

But plenty for Corvette and Mustang fans

including another old school favourite of mine..notch back

Speaking of old school, a friend of mine had one of these (and its predecessor too)

more tuner cars..note the exhaust, Beast Mode sticker, and vanity plate on the first one

lol this looks familiar..if you saw my bicycle show review a few weeks ago

a few celebrities on site for pics / autographs

accessories for sale

and last but not least, more show ladies! I did not stay for the Megaspeed swimsuit competition (as i did last year) but did have a preview.

RL