Vince's Stuff

Sunday, February 11, 2024

2024 Montreal Auto Show

I went to the car show with Rob a couple of weeks ago. I find that going in with low expecations is the best way to enjoy it. We had a nice discussion about sports/sporty cars with a Toyota rep (in front of a GR Corolla, a GR86 and a manual Supra). As usual, the new cars on hand were generally of little interest. Luckily, there were a bunch of cool cars from the Poirier collection, mostly Ferraris, like last year. There were also some cool tuner cars (though most were over the top). As is usually the case, there were very few race cars on hand, although the local autocross club had brought a Toyota MR Spider. Here are a few pics.

The new Z06 can run an astounding 1:22 at Mosport (I can manage a 1:38 in my Civic)

Ferrari hypercars

... all of them.

Who can resist the F40

I like the F50 more and more over the years

360 Challenge Stradale

599 GTO

512 BB

... and a Daytona

512 TR and Testarossa

First time I've ever seen a F512M

Nismo 400Z

Elantra N TCR (from Ontario?)

Ioniq 5 N, not bad-looking

Modern Mclaren

I was surprised to see the Cybertruck

I said to Rob "Hey, a rally-themed Mach E"... the Mach-E Rally in fact

Mclaren and 911 Dakar

New Mustang, has not changed much

Weird concave tail lights

992 GT3 Touring

Huracan STO

Huracan Steratto, kind of cool

Dakar seems less intersting in comparison

Lancia Beta with an Alitalia livery

And an old 911 in a Gulf livery

Sleek wide-body FD3 RX7

And a sleek wide-body Supra

Insane V12 twin-turbo STi

Another wide-body: NSX on vintage OZ wheels

Cybertruck looks like it could cut you

Lovely vintage Mustang (or Shelby?)

Bugatti Chiron

Sunday, February 4, 2024

A pretty mild winter

There was no snow at Christmas, and not a ton of snow since then either. The weather has been a bit strange this winter. Today is one of the first sunny days in a long while. Apart from a couple of road trips during the holidays and on my birthday weekend, we haven’t driven much. It’s hard to believe, but I have barely driven the Subaru in winter conditions at all. Fortunately, there is a navigation rally coming up on February 17th and I should be able to see how the car does on twisty backroads in winter.

Oscar was happy with his Lego space roller coaster

Cool photo ops in Cours Mont Royal

Nice to see people enjoying sporty cars in winter

Classic winter car

A bit of snow on this lowered Civic

I guess the wing works in winter too...

A bunch of 50-year-old guys who went to high school together

Nice plate on this WRX in New Hampshire

I saw the same car as we were about to drive off

GR Corolla in the neighbourhood with an obnoxious exhaust

The STi hit 100 000 km on our trip to New York

Electric cars outside the car show

Cool colour for this G-Wagen

Also liked this colour

Not a car you would usually see in winter

I love these retro-themed Toyotas

Black as night

These are getting rare, especially in winter

The cleanest 92X Aero I've even seen (from B.C.)

Monday, January 22, 2024

Cars of New York City

This year, for my birthday weekend (51 years old!), Alex and I travelled without the kids to New York City. It was our first time there in almost 20 years, and the city really seems to have changed for the better. Although there was basically no snow in Montreal when we left (it snowed in upstate New York on our way there), there was not even a trace of snow in Manhattan. We stayed in an inexpensive hotel in Chinatown and, as planned, we walked and walked. We even walked to Brooklyn on the last day. It was a lovely little trip. The STi performed flawlessly, and I discovered that the drone of the exhaust on the highway is less unpleasant in fifth gear than in sixth. I love that people in New York will take out their interesting cars all year, even in what passes for winter. Here are some of the cars we spotted.