Fans of luxury cars lean into the lifestyle at social clubs, specialty condos

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There’s no hub for Toronto luxury car culture. Or at least there wasn’t until Adam Westland opened RClub in the city’s Leaside neighbourhood in 2019.

“There wasn’t a singular spiritual home for car culture in Toronto,” he says. “It’s all very underground. People meet in parking lots, do car shows and are in online forums. But there’s not historically been a single spot where all these people can congregate. That’s what we hope our club can be with its inclusivity.”

The club is a place for social gatherings and F1 viewing parties, for mechanical workshops and a DIY auto shop, and it’s a white-glove storage service for luxury and vintage car owners.

Owning a car isn’t even a necessity to becoming a club member. “It’s just about having an interest in cars and a passion for them,” Westland says.

Ancillary services for luxury car owners and enthusiasts are on the rise. A report from the consulting firm McKinsey says the luxury car market is in growth mode, with price categories ranging from US$80,000 to over US$500,000 expected to grow by 8 to 14 per cent by 2031. (Sales in the mainstream car market, by comparison, are expected to be stagnant.)

In late 2020, Halifax-based car enthusiasts Steve Davies and Erin Horton launched DreamDrive Vacations, holidays in Nova Scotia for car enthusiasts who are keen to get out on open roads, like the picturesque Cabot Trail, through organized group trips. In 2021, U.S.-based Hagerty Garage and Social opened its doors in Burlington, Ont., offering car storage facilities as well as social amenities for members, including a cigar lounge, bar and restaurant, and golf and racing simulators. And two car condos are planned for Toronto for storing and showcasing vehicles, one close to RClub’s location in Leaside, the other, called Toybx, across town in south Etobicoke.

In short, car fans have growing opportunities to lean into the full lifestyle of luxury and vintage vehicle ownership, particularly for those living in urban environments who don’t have their own spaces and facilities to store and care for their auto collection.

“This is a luxury,” says Ming Zee, one of Toybx’s three founding partners. “It’s nothing that’s necessary, but everyone who collects cars wants it.”

Aside from the programming that happens at RClub’s clubhouse, Westland says the most popular gatherings that his team organizes are track days, which are typically held four times a year.

“We rent the driver development track or the Grand Prix track at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, and kind of throw a party at the racetrack,” he says. “It’s so liberating to be able to drive a vehicle at speed in a safe environment.” Coaches from within the club’s membership pool are hired to lead skills-development training at the venue in Bowmanville, Ont.

Exclusivity to event access like track days is a key element to the success of these organizations. At RClub, membership is required and a code of conduct is strictly enforced, part of Westland’s work to preserve the club’s reputation as a safe and accessible space for all car lovers. Applicants go through a screening process, including filtering for aggressive, sexist and racist behaviour, before being accepted to ensure they will respect fellow members and can be trusted in the space.

“We’re very much not your traditional scotch-and-cigars private club. We try to be as far away from that as possible,” he says. “It’s very family-friendly. We find that having all generations under one roof keeps the bad behaviour at bay.” Club members range in age from mid-20s to late-70s and work in diverse fields from technology to industry to architecture.

The exclusivity at Toybx is about the privacy of each unit and control each buyer has over customization of the space. The structure is housed in a three-storey repurposed and retrofitted distillery with 180 units available. The smallest will accommodate four vehicles with a car lift and can be customized with cabinetry, flooring, lighting, mezzanines and the installation of a humidification system. “The amount of upgrades you can do is endless here,” says Zee.

And both spaces are equipped to have users set up a workspace or small office so they can “work from garage,” as it were, something many RClub members take advantage of. “We have people who will work from here and meet with clients here,” says Westland.

“This is a long time coming in the city of Toronto, where there are quite a few car enthusiasts who are always looking to collect more cars, but their biggest issue is, ‘Where am I going to put them?’” says Zee.

Car communities elsewhere in the country are looking to bring similar services to their cities. “We have people in Victoria asking to open a club, for instance,” says Westland. “They have a pretty strong car culture there and don’t necessarily have a home base for it.”

Westland has found that members (and prospective members) are responding as much to the potential of community as they are to the access to auto-specific facilities.

“We have a very high quality of network. You get out of it what you put into it,” he says. “And the club is a shortcut to expanding that quality network.”

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