Jan 4: A chance in a million

What a great way to start the new year, with my Wheel to Wheel blog passing the one million page views just before the holidays. Not bad for a twice weekly blog that, is absolutely a joy to write for a very enthusiastic car guy. Even the Car Modelling Cat was thrilled to see this number and of course, she takes considerable credit.

So this got me to thinking about cars that, we never thought that we'd ever see here (and maybe we won't). Cars that had a million to one shot of ever arriving on our shores. The first one has been hoped for for several years and word is out that we'll soon be getting this hot little hatch from Ford, the Fiesta RS.......

For the past several years, Ford has been promising to standardize their lines around the world, so that if a Fusion is sold in North America, it is the same as the one sold in Europe. Well, now it is, but it's called the Mondeo across the Atlantic. There will always be specific models for certain markets, but the hot, little hatch category has been by and large, sadly missing in North America (thank you VW for being the exception).

Or how about this little Fiat..........

Sure, we get an Abarth version on our shores, but this one is the Abarth 695 Biposte. Instead of having a mere 160 HP, this baby packs 187 horses and a 143 MPH (or 228 KPH here in Canada) top speed. This of course, begs the question, would you really want to be going 143 in this car? Please count me out. Will we get it? My opinion? Not a chance.

Remember, Peugeot? Sure you do, but they haven't been sold here for many years and when you think of one (if at all), it might be the old 504 like this one.......

As an aside, this particular one belonged to the president of Iran, Ahmadinajad and it sold at auction for over a million dollars, the money going to fund an orphanage. But that is old news, the new Peugeot we are interested in, is this tough little number, the 208 GTi 30th Anniversary edition........

If the power doesn't get your attention, this special paint job will. Running 205 HP, this hottie also can hit 143 MPH. But, as it is a Peugeot, that one in a million shot begins to loom large. Again, not a chance, that we'll ever see this one (legally) in North America.

But we get the Honda Civic and it has been the best selling car in Canada for years. Surely, when a hotter Civic is built, we'll see it land on our shores. Not so fast, my friends..........

This is the Type R Concept, that Honda showed around the European auto shows earlier this year. Heck, we don't even get their version of the Civic, which I think looks way better than what has been selling here for the past few years. Again, not a chance in a million, that the Civc R in this configuration, will ever grace our showrooms.

So there you have it, hot hatch fans. A few tasty morsels to whet your appetite, but please don't get too excited, as you know, you'll never see most of them. Or maybe we will, if you believe in that one in a million chance. After all, this blog has had over 1 million page views and I never expected that in my wildest dreams.

Program note.........please bear with me over the next couple of weeks, as a personal issue might keep me from posting my twice weekly blog. I'll do my best.

Until next time......