McLaren Dallas opens on Lemmon Avenue

McLaren Dallas opens on Lemmon Avenue

Park Place Premier Collection is the only dealership in Texas to represent legendary British racing brand

Park Place Dealerships chairman Ken Schnitzer with Allison Holmes, Corporate Market Director, Go Red For Women Luncheon, American Heart Association; and McLaren Dallas General Manager Heath Strayhan. Park Place Dealerships donated $5,000 to the American Heart Association at the grand opening of McLaren Dallas.

The British are coming! In fact, they arrived in style with Park Place Dealerships’ newest addition to its Premier Collection on Lemmon Avenue in Dallas.

McLaren Dallas officially launched its new showroom with a proper celebration Jan. 19, featuring a culinary cornucopia of British fare and marking the arrival of the McLaren MP4-12C high-performance sports car.

“We are pleased to be adding McLaren to our Premier Collection,” said Ken Schnitzer, Chairman of Park Place Dealerships.

“McLaren has a rich heritage of producing premium sports cars for the track and the road. Texas and the bordering states are a big market so we are excited about the enormous potential of the McLaren. We anticipate a strong demand for this limited production car,” Schnitzer said.

McLaren MP4-12C at McLaren Dallas on Lemmon Avenue. Photos by Jack Kemp.

McLaren Dallas is one of only 10 dealerships throughout North America to represent the luxury brand.

In addition to marketing McLaren throughout Texas, McLaren Dallas will reach out to prospective customers in Colorado, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. Park Place expanded its Lemmon Avenue facility, which houses Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Bugatti, and Maserati, to accommodate its newest brand.

Guests toasted the new dealership with Moët & Chandon Imperial Champagne for a toast as well as British inspired cocktails using Belvedere Intense Unfiltered 80 vodka. Central Market supplied a cornucopia of British Cheeses that recently received top marks at the British Cheese Awards. They also sent each guest off with scones upon departure to highlight the new Central Market opening at Preston and Royal in mid-February. The James Gabriano Flamenco Jazz Trio entertained guests.

Wendy Krispin Caterers treated guests to passed hors d’oeuvres such as microgreen smoked salmon and egg salad on a chive biscuit, miniature buffalo blue cheese burgers with shallot aioli as well as a small plate station that included a tossed pomegranate, roasted turkey, butter lettuce and avocado salad in a balsamic vinaigrette; crab and spicy bacon risotto with manchego cheese shavings; and beef filet tips on truffled creamy polenta and asparagus spears.

The McLaren F1 road car, which was launched in 1992, set the world land speed record for a production car, and was the first road car to feature a carbon fiber chassis.

McLaren also worked with Mercedes-Benz through a joint venture to produce the Mercedes SLR McLaren, which sold almost double the volume of the next highest produced carbon fiber based high performance sports car. Now McLaren has developed its own distribution and retail network in the U.S.

“Even with a car as meticulously designed and engineered as the MP4-12C, we know that satisfaction from driving the car must be matched with a world-class retail experience…

…and that is why we’ve selected partners like Park Place to represent us in North America,” said Tony Joseph, Director, McLaren North America. “Driving a great sports car is only part of the experience of owning a McLaren. As we establish an identity in the Texas market, we hope that customer service and support become as identifiable with McLaren as our success on the F1 circuit.”

McLaren Dallas will service the vehicles from the dealership’s specially equipped facility in Dallas that will house a duplicate set of parts for every McLaren sold by the dealership. By keeping parts in stock at all times, the dealership will expedite the car being returned to the owner.

With the arrival of the 12C in North America, it becomes the first in a range of high performance sports cars from McLaren Automotive. Along with future models within the range, it will challenge the world’s best sports cars, benefiting from the expertise and virtuosity of the McLaren Group. The 12C is set to re-write the rules of sports car design through Formula 1-inspired engineering, a revolutionary carbon fiber MonoCell chassis, and an absolute focus on efficiency and quality. It represents ‘pure McLaren’; from unique engineering to bespoke design where everything is for a reason.

Park Place Dealerships was founded in 1987 by Ken Schnitzer with a single Mercedes-Benz dealership on Oak Lawn. Celebrating 25 years of “Experts in Excellence,” today Park Place Dealerships operates 16 full-service dealerships representing Bentley, Bugatti, Jaguar, Lexus, Lotus, Maserati, McLaren, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, smart, Volvo and Rolls-Royce. In addition, the dealership group includes two Park Place Bodywerks locations. For more information about Park Place Dealerships, visit parkplace.com.

Photos by Jack Kemp. Story by David Alvey. Edited for publication by Blue Ribbon News. 

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