As winter begins to get long in the tooth, the Canadian International Autoshow arrives to give enthusiasts of Ontario a bit of reprieve.
This year in addition to being on the ball and applying to media preview day early, Chris Johnston and Drake Nolte were able to join in on the festivities as well. Adding their coverage to the mix really helps make up for the fact that I typically get distracted at this event by gratis food, press kits, and Hot Wheels vending machines.
Collectively we all took a hefty number of photos so the coverage will be broken up into multiple parts, including a special Theme Tuesday tomorrow.
But first, part one!
Art And The Automobile
This year the area of the show previously occupied by Triumphs, Hot Rods, and Richard Petty’s race car was filled with concorus quality classic cars. Sponsored by the Cobble Beach Concours d’Elegance, and CBC’ Murdoch Mysteries, this exhibit threw back to the days when cars could almost be considered functional art more than automobiles.
A stark contrast to the cars in the other halls this exhibit was stunning, and rivaled the Auto Exotica exhibit for monetary value per square foot.
936 Delahaye Type 135 Court Teardrop Coupe… 2.5 million dollars worth of carI believe this is a 1929 Auburn Boat Tail SpeedsterI spent quite a bit of time taking photos of this 1912 Stutz Bearcat, a couple more will appear tomorrow
The unmistakable ’36 Cord
This Cadillac Seville tucked tire from the factory, now cars have fistfulls of wheel gap. Where did we go wrong?I really wish this Chrysler Turbine car was parked somewhere with better lighting and better vantage points, positioned where it was I’m not sure people noted the significanceDespite that it was still pretty awesome to see one of these in person, check out the video below if you want to know a little more about this car
Auto Exotica
As always the Auto Exotica section of the show was full of cars that will be forever out of the average person’s price range. There were a few stunning vehicles in this area but the ‘Belle of the Ball’ was the Paganai Huayra, which there will be photos of tomorrow.
While technically across the hall from Auto exotica this Pfaff Tuning McLaren 12C was I couldn’t leave out this Pfaff Tuned McLaren 12-cThe Pfaff logos adjacent to the exhaust were a nice bit of attention to detailWhile still a concept I was told that The Maserati Alfieri will be in production by 2016, relatively unchanged according to the man in the suit standing near byThe detailing between the spokes was pretty cool, keying it to the vents and the calipers was a great touch to tie everything together
OEM’s
Most of the cars at the Canadian International Autoshow actually been debuted at the North American International Autoshow in Detroit but it’s always nice to see the latest and greatest in person.
BMW’s i8 with its unique swing up doorsNaturally being the only motorcycle rider of the three of us, Chris nabbed a shot of one of BMWs two-wheeled offerings
While the Ford both was pretty much dominated by the new GT, this Hot Wheels Rip Rod was pretty coolSublime Green Shaker package Dodge ChallengerI had to take a look at the Hellcat, mighty understated considering the power it makes
The 707hp supercharged heart of the beastIn addition to featuring talking ipads that followed you around on Segways (seriously) Mazda’s booth prominently displayed the new MiataNot a bad-looking little number, and respect is due to Mazda for keeping this marquee aliveI was in the right place at the right time for the Scion press conference where they unveiled the new Scion IMIt looks as though it falls somewhere between a Honda Fit and a Mazda 3 in sizeNissan’s blade glider concept takes bits of the Delta Wing concept to the streetStill pretty early in the concept phase the idea is that it wold be powered by a hub-mounted electric motor on each rear wheelI’m told Kia has been lugging around the GT4 Stinger concept for a few years nowWith no word on if it will enter production the 315-hp 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder coupe just remains a neat idea more than anything elseWould you drive a Kia sports car?The 2016 NSX was one of the biggest debuts of the Canadian event
Twin turbo, electric motors, 9 speed transmission….for those who get a chance to drive this car I bet it will drive unlike anything else.The Infiniti Q80 inspiration, should it be released, would fit into the lane currently occupied by the S- Class and 7 seriesIt’s quite a unique concept, though sedan in length, it’s a 2 door car with suicide doors
The headlights are said to be inspired by the human eye and were, in my opinion, one of the best of the showThe tails were quite beautiful as wellClosing out today’s coverage will be the Mini Supra Leggra conceptDubbed a familiar face with a twist this car is Mini’s modern take on Italian speedsters
The aluminum body is all hand crafted which allows for unique details like thisThe interior is a unique combination of luxury and exposed framework
There’s a lot of very interesting details throughout car such as these really cool union jack tail lights
Going to call it here for part one but there’s much more to come this week, stay tuned!
** Eldorado** … Seville, sheash, i dont wanna live here no more…
Eldorado Seville you are correct I forgot a word.
Dope!
That Q80 is sweet I can`t believe I missed that