Welcome back! Or perhaps, all of you should be saying that to me? If you hadn’t been keeping up via our Instagram (officialthreetwenty), to make a long story short my computer was out of commission for a period and once it was up and running again I had to catch up on other work so the blog has sat idle for what I believe is the longest amount of time ever. It was weird to have a ‘break’ from it but I will say that I am extremely happy to be sitting here now, getting a new post together for you all.

In the time since the last entry I have of course still had my cameras at my side so there’s a lot to share with you all – weekly meets have continued, some projects are nearing completion and others are preparing for makeovers, and Mustard even managed to pick up another award from a local show! During much of this Mario and Derrick were down in California with our friend Nick for a vacation, and they are returning now with a few boxes of parts for us to install that they grabbed while at Mountune – let’s just say that both Mustard and Sriracha will be making more power by Sunday School! Anyway, today’s post is not about any of that – as the first update in a few weeks I’m fortunate to have something extra special to share and that would be the star of this week’s Cars and Coffee.

On occasion something will arrive that manages to steal attention away from the already-incredible array of rare and extraordinary vehicles that show up to Quarry Park – we are very fortunate to see some of the best of the supercar world on a regular basis at these gatherings so for something to cause a commotion like this did means it has to be quite a car.This time around, the car that had ALL of the cameras pointed at it was…

…a brand-new McLaren 720S!

Interestingly, one thing I had heard and read time and time again in regards to the 720S was that photos and video apparently did not do the car justice. It was a common comment in regards to the new offering from McLaren and it only made me that much more curious to see it in person and find out if it was true. It had been announced recently that this car would be showing up to the July 4th edition of Cars and Coffee so I was looking forward to having the chance for myself to see if that often-repeated line was true.

It was.

The somewhat divisive styling of the car always was attractive to me and I have poured over media relating to it due to my interest in the new model – but indeed, to see it in person was something else. Pixels convey it as something head-turning anyway, but in person it was even better. It also had a presence like few other cars I’ve seen, though that was surely helped by the fact that none of us had seen one in the flesh (so to speak) before. That may perhaps change if and when a few 720Ss start to pop up at these events more, but it was impossible to ignore and ended up stealing the show like few other cars have done – in fact, the last time I remember seeing a reaction from the crowd like we saw with this, was when LaFerrari arrived to a Cars and Coffee back in 2015.

To touch on the car itself a bit, this particular example was a demonstrator for the new model; it was the first production 720S to arrive in North America and is one of just two here currently so will spend its summer being taken around, shown off, and test-driven.

Finished in a gorgeous but more reserved blue/gray shade (I’m unsure of which paint it was exactly, even after researching), the details were allowed to speak for themselves instead of being overpowered by something retina-searing. Inside it was a bit brighter, with the mostly black cabin having various pieces finished in a bright yellow as accents (the Black and Xenon Yellow interior package as it’s called).

I spent around two and a half hours at the meet this week, and nearly all of that time was with my eyes and/or lenses pointed at the 720S. With the size of the crowd patience was a virtue when it came to getting a full and detailed look at the car, but we did indeed all get to properly check out the new model and lots of us even had the chance to climb inside!

The cabin is probably my favourite part of the car, with its overall design and of course, the nifty party trick in the form of the hideaway instrument panel (shown here in its retracted ‘track mode’).

I enjoyed consuming all of the media on the car that I did and was already a fan, but after seeing it for myself I am only more taken by it. The styling is next-level (hi Mr JWW) and it made the surrounding 570s (one GT and one S) and 650S look incredibly tame even though they were already rather striking and exotic-looking cars. This thing is wild and flamboyant so there’ll be no missing it, but still showcases an incredible attention to detail and no shortage of clever engineering as McLarens do. After seeing it for myself, up close, there’s only one thing I have to say…

…hurry up with the LT version of this McLaren! If this is the starting point for the new generation of their Super Series, I can’t begin to imagine how wild the future variants and evolutions of it will be.

-Bill

EXTRAS:

Of course, there was no way I was going to leave the YouTube channel out of this given how special of an opportunity a preview of the 720S was, so please click Play below if you’d like to see a video from the night as well. As well, if you scroll further down you’ll find a few extra photos.