March 2: The big show, part 2

 Let's start blog two at the Toronto auto show with a couple of station wagons. Hey, call these things what you will, they are station wagons, but of course to use that term in North America translates to sudden death on the showroom floor. Hence the Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo. If that doesn't fool an unsuspecting public, then nothing will. The unusual looking (be kind, Barry) Callaway Corvette a wagon? Ok, maybe I'm stretching the definition, but this is my blog. I'd take the "normal" white Stingray to the right.

Wagons can be beautiful and that Sport Turismo is no exception, as it just might be the best looking car in Porsche's varied line up. My friend, KF, just spit out his beer, since he believes anything with four doors ain't no Porsche, mister. Relax KF, as you can still drool over the classic 911.

Expect the unusual at a big auto show. Something you wouldn't expect to see and maybe didn't even know existed in Canada. One car in that category would be this Mercedes AMG GT race car. Only a handful in the world and usually racing in Europe, so to see one living in Toronto and being campaigned in the US came as an unexpected surprise.......

Well sponsored, but rather pricey at $1.5m Canadian, this represented a very serious racing effort. Another very serious Mercedes street car, is the AMG Project One........

Don't expect to see one of these at your local Walmart, as there will be only 250 worldwide, thirteen in Canada, six in Toronto and all carrying a price of about $3.5m Canadian! Interested? Too bad. They are all sold out everywhere and not even on the market yet. I work out with a guy who has been testing these for AMG in Northern Italy. Something for his resume?

Ah, auto show dreaming! Now for a couple of upcoming intros that I believe are guaranteed to be successful. First the Jaguar I-Pace electric. Why not E-Pace, I'll never know. Sure to give Tesla a real run for its money.

The other significant vehicle was the upcoming Genesis suv.........

This should be the thing that gets people into the fledgling Genesis showrooms and puts Hyundai's luxury brand on the way to stardom (nice turn of phrase?).

All of these cars have been seen elsewhere before landing in Toronto for their Canadian premieres. Nice to see, but not what makes the TO show worth viewing. No, it's the variety of other car stuff, like the 70 years of Porsche display or the Cobble Beach Concours exhibit or just the unusual old stuff, you'd never see anywhere else. Examples, please........

1931 Imperial

GM's 1950's Firebird Dream Car

And completely unexpected (for me), the famous 1955 Pontiac dream car, the Club de Mer, now belonging to a collector in Toronto. Watch for it at the next cruise night.

The Firebird and the Club de Mer were from a time when "dream cars" were flights of fantasy. Cars predicting a never to happen future, but giving us hope that one day, we could be behind the wheel of something similar. Nowadays our dream cars are concept cars and are often lightly disguised upcoming models. One that harkens back to the old way of doing things is this Infiniti.........

........which is  a modern interpretation of a 1930's race car. Long hood, skinny tires and a lack of safety features, that pretty much ensured that the driver wouldn't make it out of any crash alive. The good old days. 

If my brother and I have anything in common (and we don't have much), it is our love of cars. We can talk for way too long about the marketplace, the new cars, the old cars and any other auto minutia. So, since he and his son joined me at the show, it's only right to have them in one or more of the pics from these last two blogs. He'll go nuts trying to find himself.

Until next time.......