I recently visited Toronto’s financial district. No, I wasn’t there to check in on my stock broker, nor was I there visiting the bars of gold I keep on deposit in one of the area’s financial institutions. I was there purely to witness Toronto’s first ever Motorexpo event, a new concept in automotive showcasing which was taking place within the salubrious surroundings of downtown’s Brookfield Place.
I say new, but this idea has been around for several years now. What started out as a free-to-enter automotive show in London’s Canary Wharf district has spread to New York, Los Angeles, and now (drum roll) Toronto. That’s something which should please all us Canadians. After all, it’s got to be saying something when the organizers chose Toronto over the numerous other cities in which they could have held this event.
In fact, to be placed fourth on this impressive list of venues is excellent news! Perhaps what we’ve been reading in the papers about our financial standing still being good in the world’s eyes has some truth behind it. After all, this show is really all about placing the right products in front of the right people, and as the saying goes, follow the money and you won’t go far wrong!
I was particularly interested in seeing if this idea would mirror the success stories these events have enjoyed in other host cities. The recent London show attracted over 400,000 visitors and that’s large numbers in anyone’s book. Would it be the same here?
Well, as this was the first time here in Toronto, we could hardly expect to go breaking records, and from the moment I entered, it was obvious that several manufacturers had erred on the side of caution and decided to play the old wait-and-see game. However, those who were in attendance had good reason to be happy because the place was absolutely jam-packed. I thought to myself, surely there can’t be this many people employed in the Canadian financial industry, so I decided to take a closer look and chat to a few of them.
Yes, there were plenty of pinstripe suits, and the shine coming from gold watches was blinding on occasion, but there was actually a wide selection of the general public on hand. So many, in fact, that I had difficulty taking photographs of the cars. As you’ll see from the gallery, it was almost impossible to get an absolutely clear shot of any of them.
That in itself was rather disappointing, as there was an interesting selection of vehicles on show including Porsche, Ferrari, Jaguar, Land Rover, Saab, Cadillac and Buick. There were even several race cars on display and electric vehicles from Mitsubishi and Tesla. In fact, whilst I was standing at the Tesla stand admiring their electric sports car, a businessman on his lunch break came up to chat about the new Tesla 4-door Model S, which he currently has on order.
I also spoke to a gentleman from Engineered Automotive, a Toronto-based company who offer full sales/service facilities to the owners of high-performance supercars, some of which were on display. He told me that many of their best customers work in the financial district and they’d been popping in to visit with him each day.
There were also several youngsters in attendance, and I later discovered that some of those working in the area had bought their children to work so that they too could enjoy the show.
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| Photo: Kevin ''Crash'' Corrigan/Auto123.com |
I say new, but this idea has been around for several years now. What started out as a free-to-enter automotive show in London’s Canary Wharf district has spread to New York, Los Angeles, and now (drum roll) Toronto. That’s something which should please all us Canadians. After all, it’s got to be saying something when the organizers chose Toronto over the numerous other cities in which they could have held this event.
In fact, to be placed fourth on this impressive list of venues is excellent news! Perhaps what we’ve been reading in the papers about our financial standing still being good in the world’s eyes has some truth behind it. After all, this show is really all about placing the right products in front of the right people, and as the saying goes, follow the money and you won’t go far wrong!
I was particularly interested in seeing if this idea would mirror the success stories these events have enjoyed in other host cities. The recent London show attracted over 400,000 visitors and that’s large numbers in anyone’s book. Would it be the same here?
Well, as this was the first time here in Toronto, we could hardly expect to go breaking records, and from the moment I entered, it was obvious that several manufacturers had erred on the side of caution and decided to play the old wait-and-see game. However, those who were in attendance had good reason to be happy because the place was absolutely jam-packed. I thought to myself, surely there can’t be this many people employed in the Canadian financial industry, so I decided to take a closer look and chat to a few of them.
Yes, there were plenty of pinstripe suits, and the shine coming from gold watches was blinding on occasion, but there was actually a wide selection of the general public on hand. So many, in fact, that I had difficulty taking photographs of the cars. As you’ll see from the gallery, it was almost impossible to get an absolutely clear shot of any of them.
That in itself was rather disappointing, as there was an interesting selection of vehicles on show including Porsche, Ferrari, Jaguar, Land Rover, Saab, Cadillac and Buick. There were even several race cars on display and electric vehicles from Mitsubishi and Tesla. In fact, whilst I was standing at the Tesla stand admiring their electric sports car, a businessman on his lunch break came up to chat about the new Tesla 4-door Model S, which he currently has on order.
I also spoke to a gentleman from Engineered Automotive, a Toronto-based company who offer full sales/service facilities to the owners of high-performance supercars, some of which were on display. He told me that many of their best customers work in the financial district and they’d been popping in to visit with him each day.
There were also several youngsters in attendance, and I later discovered that some of those working in the area had bought their children to work so that they too could enjoy the show.
 |
| Photo: Kevin ''Crash'' Corrigan/Auto123.com |