Auto Gallery to open a McLaren showroom in Beverly Hills...

The Auto Gallery to open a McLaren showroom in Beverly Hills by this fall...

The Auto Gallery is excited to announce that they will be among the first McLaren dealerships in North America designated by McLaren to sell the company’s brand new supercar, the MP4-12C. By October, the showroom should be open and functional.

McLaren itself is unique because of their special attention to the driver; before they began the concept sketches of the MP4-12C, they started by diagramming the driver for optimal usability. The way they do this is by first drawing the driver, and from that point, McLaren sketches-in forward sight lines in order to optimize forward visibility while also allowing the driver to see the top of the 12C’s front wings, optimizing overall car stability in cornering situations.

Another major part of McLaren’s car-building philosophy lies in the shaving-off of as much curb weight as possible while maintaining functionality. The main difference is in the automakers’ use of magnesium as opposed to steel. According to McLaren, magnesium is just as strong as steel, while weighing 50% less. The MP4-12C is the first production sports car of its class to use magnesium as part of its construction, and by reducing weight through magnesium-construction, the car is not only lighter, but CO₂ emissions are lowered while performance improves. The McLaren engineers saved around 9 pounds just by constructing the dash support beam from magnesium alone.

McLaren’s sense of engineering is as impeccable as their sense of weight reduction and usability. In fact, they’ve been successful in developing a MonoCell structure that allows the car to be built without joints or seams, while maintaining it’s integrity. This single-piece construction protects the driver in the same way as McLaren’s formula-one, carbon-fiber monocoque, and with a net weight of less than 177-pounds, the automakers’ carbon MonoCell weighs considerably less than most all-aluminum chassis.

A combination of feather-weight construction and manageable performance, McLaren is one of the best supercars available today, and with the introduction of their McLaren showroom in Beverly Hills, Auto Gallery will definitely help Southern California to reinforce their identity as the exotic-car “Mecca” of America.

- Sal Alaimo Jr., B. A. (7/20/11)

S. J. A.

Warner Center (Vol. 1)

The Warner Center Sunday car meet brings together some of the Valley’s best rides...

Last weekend’s turnout at the Warner Center Sunday car meet was even better than usual, as we were lucky enough to have one of those auto events where a large display of muscle and exotic cars worked together to create a diverse atmosphere. My good friend who is new to the area from Germany, Azim Abdullaev, was great company and was much more than helpful in making it possible for me to capture these great photos from Sunday’s meet; to him I owe so much, as these were excellent photo opportunities...

By far an example of vintage, American road racing that captured

both my heart and attention was this clean example of a Shelby Daytona coupe. While a lot of road car enthusiasts build GT40s and Cobras, not many Daytona cars are running around.

Even though the Gallardo isn’t my favorite Italian exotic, I was still happy to get up-close with it. This is the Lambo that uses Audi’s V10 R8 platform.

Another beautiful Gallardo; if she were a woman, I’d be officially in-love!

Azim was smart on this one; nothing represents Ferrari better than the prancing horse...

This yellow-on-green Cobra is a frequent participant at the Warner Center meet. It’s the most unique color combination I’ve ever seen on a Shelby, but I must say that I like it...

There is always a nice collection of

911s at the Sunday meet; this 911

turbo and GT2-RS are just a couple...

I don’t know much about Maserati, but this one I had to include because the interior is just so beautiful...

Azim told me a little of the story behind this one: the Gumball 3000 is apparently a popular road race in the U. K. that this 458 Italia was either entered in or sponsored

- Sal Alaimo Jr., B. A. (7/19/11)

S. J. A.