It was a different type of car show than the Jamaican public may have been used to when Film Solutions Plus and The Auto Paddock hosted the first Invitational Exotic Car Show on Sunday, December 15, at the northern car park of the National Arena, St Andrew.

“The show was excellent. We were blessed with an amazing day and a great turnout by the patrons and the participating car owners. The patrons appreciated and loved the display that we put on,” Gregory Wright, managing director, Film Solutions Plus, told the Jamaica Observer’s weekly Auto magazine.

As the name stated, the car show was by invite only, unlike other car shows or car competition events. The field of cars on hand was personally curated through Wright and Film Solutions Plus, as the company deals in automotive protective solutions — a service that is of paramount importance, given the state of local roads and the values associated with ownership of an exotic.

“The genesis of this event was really a customer appreciation event,” said Wright.

However, that sparked even further when the level of his clientèle was primarily niche super car and exotic car owners.

“Once we started to get the cars together we realised the calibre of cars we would have.. [W]e thought that this is something the public would be really receptive to, so we turned it into a show. But it’s also about appreciating our customers too,” he shared.

The invite-only nature meant a smaller number of cars than the typical car show. Still, quality made up for quantity as automotive aficionados piled into the venue and soaked up the opportunity to see cars up close that they may have only ever seen in videos or pictures.

McLarens, mixed with Tesla Cybertrucks, Porsche GT3 RS, and even a Lamborghini Huracan amongst other high-end brands and rare high-performance machines formed the line-up.

Eyes were opened wide and cellphones in constant action as the crowd tried their best to capture the aura of the exotic machinery surrounding them.

“It was not difficult to get our customers to be a part of this event. We’ve worked hard to earn our customers’ trust, and they believe in us, as they already leave their prized possessions for us to work on. So when we presented the opportunity to get them together, they were very receptive to the idea,” said Wright.

Given the success of the Invitational Exotic Car Show and the wide range of client vehicles untapped, Wright is looking to make the event a yearly staple moving forward while expanding and increasing the range of the vehicles invited to participate.

“It has gotten our creative juices flowing and we’re looking at having more stagings,” he said.

— Rory Daley