Happy Canada Day!

Happy birthday Canada!

While I won’t do this to my car, I will celebrate by going on a drive on part of this great land!

Canadian Kid Kicks Ass Against Ferrari F1 Pros

Remember that 11 year old kid from Montreal that was causing quite a stir at pro-karting events? He was so good that he caught the eye of Ferrari who quickly signed him to their Driver Development Program.

Well, there’s been an update on Lance Stroll. He’s embarrassing all the F1 driver’s at Ferrari!

Stroll came in second place in a friendly pro-karting challenge full of Ferrari F1 veterans, including Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa. Even test driver’s that drive the Scuderia models were involved in the race. And Stroll kicked all their asses. Well, except for the guy who came in first which, by the way, Ferrari is keeping tight lipped about. Having an 11 year old beat almost your entire elite F1 lineup is a bit embarassing afterall.

But who cares, they’ve got a driving prodigy on their hands. They know the future of Ferrari racing is going to be alive and well with Stroll on their team.

Thanks for doing Canada proud, kid!

[Ferrari]

Ferrari’s Development Program Signs 11 Year Old Canadian Kid

I am consumed with jealousy.

At 11 years old, my biggest accomplishment was likely scoring the winning goal at a soccer game, or being able to successfully make a girl laugh.  Lance Stroll on the other hand, apparently has much higher aspirations for his age.

The Montreal native recently caught the eye of Ferrari due to his ability to kick ass in pro-kart racing. He was even named Rookie of the Year and Driver of the Year by Le Federation Sport Automobile du Quebec. Ferrari quickly saw Stroll’s potential and offered him a contract. Stroll will be taking part in Ferrari’s Driving Academy with driver’s much older than him. The Driving Academy has a reputation for molding drivers into Formula One Champions. That’s why Ferrari only hand picks the best of the best to participate.

Congrats, kid! I’m sure we’ll be seeing you at the Montreal Grand Prix in the future reppin’ Canada.

[Ferrari via Autoblog]

McLaren Choses Toronto for First Canadian Dealership

McLaren has just released a list of new dealerships around the world where it hopes to sell quite a few more of their exotic hypercars. Unsurprisingly, the centre of the universe Toronto was the lone Canadian city on the list.

The States managed to snag seven cities, Europe got 12, the Middle East got two, and South Africa got one.

I suppose we should be thankful that McLaren believes such a market exists in Canada – enough to sell cars here.

McLaren will be announcing 12 new dealer locations across the world next year, so we may even see more McLaren dealerships on Canadian soil.

(Pick Halifax!)

Alfa Romeo Spyder Likely to Be Built In Ontario

In its 5 year business plan, head of Fiat Sergio Marchionne let us in on which Alfa Romeo models will be heading to Canadian soil. One of which is the Sypder.

During the presentation Marchionne was asked where the Canadian destined Alfa’s will be built, and he hinted right here in our backyard.

“That car may go to Brampton (Ontario)” replied Marchionne of the Spyder. Italian cars, Alfa’s specifically, aren’t exactly known for their reliability scores, so Canadian made Alfa’s is great news. If the Spyder gets built at the same Chrysler plant in Brampton, there’s a good possibility that other Alfa’s will be built there as well, which naturally, will create more jobs.

Expect Alfa Romeos to be available for sale sometime in 2012.

Good Karma: Fisker Announces North American Tour

Fisker has announced that they will be taking their highly anticipated Karma on a tour of North America in the hopes of generating more buzz. Tke Fisker Karma is dubbed as being a premium plug-in sports hybrid. Fisker is claiming that the Karma can run up to 480 kms on the electric battery alone before the gas engine kicks in. Pretty impressive. If it can hold its own on the track, colour us very impressed!

The Karma has made limited appearances at car shows and at private parties where one has to pay to just take a look at it. Kind of snobby, Fisker, but this new tour should help shake that image.

The Karma’s Canadian stops will be in Toronto on June 6th, Calgary June 18th, and Vancouver June 24th.

Chrysler Counting on Canada

Of all the Amurrican manufacturers, it could be argued that Chrysler has the least competitive portfiolio save for the Caravan and the Ram. Ford and GM have recently stepped up their game and we’re patiently awaiting for Chrysler to do the same.

We have high hopes for the brand now that Fiat is at the helm, especially since they have promised to bring over the adorible and highly entertaining Fiat 500 to our shores.

But Fiat is apparently really depending on us Canadians specifically to help give Chrysler their boost.

Counter to our neighbours down south, we Canucks love small cars, and we love our small hatchbacks even more. As a result, the sub compact segment here is expected to be the top segment to compete in, and there is definitely some tough competition from already established players like the Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris. Ford will throw the Fiesta and Mazda2 into the fray very soon, Volkswagen is strongly toying with bringing the Polo over, and GM is promising that the new Aveo will be nothing like the old one (meaning it will actually be a decent car).

Therefore the Fiat 500 is imperitive for Chrysler.

The 500 was one of the most popular cars showcased at this year’s Toronto Auto Show, and Chrysler smells a winner by bringing it over.

“Chrysler Group LLC’s alliance with Italy-based Fiat Auto SpA likely spells payoff for the Pentastar company’s Canadian-market sales,” said Reid Bigland, Chrysler Canada’s CEO. If the 500 does well, it will set good precedent to bring over other Fiat models to Canada.

Expect the 500 at Canadian Chrysler dealers near the end of 2011.

Thanks, Guys! BMW and Audi Show Canada Some Love

Audi and BMW, even though they are both rivals, apparently share the same love for Canada.

Audi has announced the the 335 horsepower TT-S will make a limited appearance on our great shores. 250 will be made available here, though Audi did not specify if that will be the coupe or roadster or a mix of both. The TT-S has been rumoured to go on sale in the States for some time now, but Audi hasn’t confirmed their market yet. We can’t wait for this one, the TTS is one impressive performance car. Score one for us!

The other great German car maker, BMW, is also giving Canadians an exclusive version of one of their models: the X1. We will be able to get our choice of either a Xdrive (AWD) or a rear wheel drive X1. The U.S doesn’t get that choice, they are only getting the Xdrive version. The RWD likely means a bit more of a performance advantage as it will weigh less than the AWD versions, but it is still an SUV so performance is relative.

This likely means that a base X1 will be less expensive than anticipated as AWD usually commands a premium. This isn’t the first time BMW has offered Canadians a cheaper version of one of their models. The 323i is exclusive to our market as well.

Canadian Government Will Investigate Toyota

Just to clarify, we are not suggesting that the above cash was caused by the Prius or that it had faulty brakes. It’s more of a symbol of how Toyota’s direction is looking at the moment. Case in point, investigations galore. (And yes, that is a Tesla roadster involved in the crash).

President of Toyota Akio Toyoda is currently in Washington to testify against allegations that Toyota knew of recent sticking gas pedal and faulty brake issues prior to the recall, yet chose not to act. He is also offering apologies to all Toyota customers, especially to those injured or even killed in Toyota’s that needed to be recalled. The NHTSA is investigating Toyota’s actions in the matter.

The Canadian government seems to be following suit as they plan to hold similar hearings commencing March 3, with the full support of the opposition parties.

Although the purpose of the hearing isn’t exactly to place blame on anyone (how Canadian of them), the government wants to know how this happened, how it went undetected and what can be done to prevent a similar situation in the future.

All we can say is if Toyota knew of these problems and chose not to act, then they are getting what’s coming to them. They should’ve taken a page from David Letterman and came right out with it -it would’ve blown over a lot sooner. If they honestly didn’t know a thing before hand, then that means there needs to be a serious overhaul in every single department in Toyota to ensure this does not happen again.

You Can Buy a VW Scirocco in Canada Now!

When the new Scirocco first debuted, VW was quick to crush any hope that it would come to Canada. They said they wouldn’t make any money on it because it would be a low volume seller and all the money that it takes to make it Canada-ready just wouldn’t be worth it.

The VW Scirocco is essentially a better looking, racier version of the already awesome GTI and it has been receiving nothing but good reviews in Europe. Too bad you can’t experience it yourself.

Or can you?

Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome Back! Alfa Romeo Returning to Canada

Alfa Romeo left our market back in 1995 and mostly every car obsessed Canadian has felt something lacking in their lives ever since.

Alfa’s are traditionally quirky cars that never start, always break down and make you want to bludgeon it with a bat by the end of the day. BUT, they are such amazing high spirited cars, that most are willing to put up with all the problems. Afterall, a true petrol head doesn’t let something silly like reliability affect their car buying decisions, that would be way too sensible.

On top of that, they are achingly pretty, with the prettiest being the 8C you see pictured above.

So, when will we be able to find ourselves at a local Alfa dealer? Find out after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

Lexus CT 200h Not Coming to U.S, But Will It Still See Canadian Shores?

It’s expected to make it’s debut at the 2010 Geneva Auto show in a about a month, and our Amurrican neighbours will not get a chance to have one in their driveways.

Even though Barack Obama said “Yes We Can” Toyota is saying “No You Can’t”. A Toyota Spokesperson confirmed to Edmunds.com that it will not be for sale.

This does not necessarily mean the same fate for the better country at hockey, however. In Canada we get many cars that the Amurricans don’t get such as the BMW 323i, and the Mercedes-Benz B-Class. Also, we Canadians love our small hatchbacks way more than our neighbours down south. On top of that, we’re very much into fuel efficient vehicles, so it would actually make sense for Lexus to bring out the CT 200h for Canadians only. Right now the Mercedes-Benz B-Class, Audi A3 and Volvo C30 are the only premium cheap hatches to choose from, so Lexus would be smart to enter that segment as well.

There are few details released about the CT 200h, other than it will be a compact hybrid hatchback that is expected to take the cheapest Lexus title away from the IS 250. The teaser picture above would seem to suggest LED tail lights as well.