Classic Car Show at Guelph Ribfest 2013

As summer is coming to a close, one event worth attending is Guelph’s Classic Car show at Ribfest. With over 200 classic cars in attendance there is something for all car enthusiasts. Organized for the whole family by the Rotary Club of Guelph Trillium, the event includes music, amusement park activities and of course, the delicious Ribfest. Along with the ribs there is a variety of other summertime foods including; cupcakes, fries and the famous blooming onion rings. Here’s a glimpse of some of the classic cars on display at this year’s event.

Ford Bucket Hot Rod

Ford Bucket Hot Rod

1980s Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme

1980s Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme

Hemi Cuda

Dodge Barracuda

1954 Ford

1954 Ford

Chevrolet Camaro

Chevrolet Camaro

Chevrolet El Camino

Chevrolet El Camino

1950s Convertible

1950’s Chevrolet Convertible

Ford Pick-up

Ford Pick-up

1930s Saloon style

1930s Saloon style

1957 Chevrolet Hardtop

1956 Chevrolet Hardtop

1950s Chevrolet Pick-up

1950s Chevrolet Pick-up

Be sure to check out their Facebook page for next year’s details.

Honda Indy Toronto Part 2

As promised we have some coverage from last week’s Honda Indy “Fan Friday”.

Dodge Viper

Dodge Viper

It’s always a pleasure to see the “Great American” Dodge Viper in action on a North American racetrack.

Cadillac

Cadillac in the pits

True to its premium brand, Cadillac brought an amazing level of resources to Toronto from its newly developed race cars to even better team food in the pits. I guess it really does pay to be the top of the line brand of the world’s largest auto manufacturer.

Scott Dixon

Scott Dixon – Winner of both races

Scott Dixon the “Kiwi” from New Zealand driving for the Target Chip Ganassi Racing team won both races to secure the $100,000 dollar prize offered to the racer who won the whole race weekend. The victory is the 32nd of his career, making him the winningest active driver in the Izod Indycar series and the seventh most successful driver in American open-wheel racing history.

James Hinchliffe

James Hichcliffe’s car

Unfortunately, our hometown boy James Hinchcliffe finished eighth the first day and 21st the second, after his throttle got stuck in the pit lane before the start, resulting in him getting stuck at the back for the whole race.

Cadillac

Cadillac testing the track out

Stadium Super Truck

Stadium Super Truck

A new race series called Stadium Super Trucks recently launched by former NASCAR driver Robby Gordon also ran over the Indy weekend. The series consists of racing style monster trucks equipped with off road tires and massive suspensions tearing around while also hitting BMX style ramps. With a field of star drivers behind the wheels including Canada’s own Paul Tracy, the new series is quickly becoming a fan favourite throughout North America. Although Paul’s day was not so good with him hitting the wall hard as seen in this video it was great to see him driving fast on Toronto’s downtown street circuit once again.

Make sure you block out next year’s Honda Indy Toronto dates so you can be a part of this racing enthusiast experience.

Honda Indy Toronto

Once a year, the Indy series comes roaring into town for a three-day party like no other so make sure you head down to Toronto’s Exhibition grounds to take it all in.  This year, there is a “Fan Friday” event where admission is free and you can you walk the grounds and see the practice runs all for a donation to the Make a Wish Foundation.

As for Canadian talent in this year’s race, Alex Tagliani and Oakville’s won James Hinchcliffe will be gunning for podium finishes. We wish them good luck!

Honda Indy

Image source: Sportsnet.ca

For more info and tickets check out the Hondy Indy Toronto site.

Be sure to stay tuned for coverage from this weekend’s racing action next week.

Getting Ready for Pikes Peak 2013

As the second oldest auto race in the US, there is no shortage of buzz surrounding the 2013 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb set for Sunday, June 30th. With an immense range of different classes of competitors it is one race that provides something for every auto enthusiast.

Pikes Peak

Source: blogs.hotrod.com

This weekend’s race will be an exceptionally interesting one as it’s Peugeot’s first appearance at Pikes Peak in 24 years. The last time Peugeot ran up the mountain was back in 1988 in the 205 Turbo 16 rally car. This year’s version is a heavily modified black on black version of the 208 hatchback piloted by the most winningest of all rally drivers, Sebastien Loeb.

Peugeot Pikes Peak

Source: Peugeot

This video gives you a real flavour of what Peugeot has brought to Pikes Peak in the past as well as what they are bringing this year.

Last year, we wrote a post about the spectacular crash from the 2012 race. Thankfully, the driver and co-driver were not seriously hurt.

We wish all the racers a safe and successful race on Sunday!

Sources: MotorTrend and Peugeot

Yorkville Exotic Car Show

What better way to spend Father’s Day than a hit up a charity car show in the heart of Toronto’s tony Bloor/Yorkville area.  Sponsored by Porsche, McLaren Toronto and Prostate Cancer Canada, the one day, Yorkville Exotic Car show charity event raises  funds for cancer research. In spite of some rain earlier in the day, the event was well attended with solid crowds coming out to see these exotic autos. We too, had a great time checking out all the cars and even bumped into the Globe and Mail’s Drive Editor, Peter Cheney who is always up for a in-depth chat about autos. Peter had his amazing Lotus Evora parked on display along with other Lotus models.  There was a plethora of cars from all eras including; classic hot rods to Corvettes, Ferrari’s Lamborghini’s, BMW’s, Maserati’s, Aston Martin’s, Bentley’s, Mercedes’ and of course Porsche’s.

Peter Cheney

The Globe and Mail’s Peter Cheney and a 1969 Camaro he was driving home

Lotus

Lotus line-up

Aston Martin

Aston Martin DB9

Lamborghini

Lamborghini

Ferrari

Ferrari line-up

Porsche GT3

Porsche GT3

Ferrari 360

Ferrari 360 Motor

BMW M6

BMW M5

Corvette

1968 Corvette

Be sure to check this out for more information about the Yorkville show.

 

Getting Revved up for Montreal’s F1 Grand Prix

Montreal, Quebec is one of Canada’s most interesting cities and once a year it puts on its biggest show as it plays host to Canada’s only Formula 1 automobile race the Grand Prix of Montreal.  Scheduled for this Sunday, June 9, Montreal will see an influx of 150,000 tourists who flock to the city to take in everything F1.

This supreme racing league with its multi-million dollar cars, infamous team owners and young superstar drivers is in a whole other league. Second only to soccer in popularity, Formula One racing dwarfs every other sport with its truly global television audience. For the next three days, all eyes will be on the Île Notre-Dame as the drivers go for victory at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Map of 2013 Circuit Gilles Villeneuve course

Map of 2013 Circuit Gilles Villeneuve course

Along with the racing, the city comes alive with the spirit and sound of people from all over coming to watch and have fun at the same time. Unfortunately, Team RedlineNorth did not plan this out well and will be missing this year’s festivities however, we will be back next year. For the racing enthusiast this is a must attend event at least once in your lifetime.  As for the racing, last year’s winner was the UK’s Lewis Hamilton seen here celebrating on the podium.

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton wins 2012 Montreal Grand Prix

If you are not lucky enough to be at the race in person be sure to watch on Sunday to see who crosses the finish line under the checkered flag.  The race will be broadcasted on TSN here in Canada.

California Part 3 – Santa Barbara Wheels and Waves show

After LA, we jumped in the Camaro SS and headed north on Route One to our next destination Santa Barbara. Along the way, we had a fun brunch in Malibu where we bumped into Chuck Zito, aka. Frankie Diamonds from FX’s Sons of Anarchy TV series.

After filling our stomach’s with some amazing grub we attended Santa Barbara’s Wheels and Waves classic car show.  Well, it certainly lived up to its reputation as one of the better classic auto shows in the southern California area.  With the town’s main street packed with lines of all types of classic cars and trucks the show had everything to offer for the enthusiast.  The level of show cars was top-notch and the cars look so darn good in the California sun. Here’s a glimpse into the unreal rides we experienced and to what California dreaming is all about….

Hot rods:

hot rod

1957 Chevy

hot rod

50s Chevy

hot rod

Custom hot rod

hot rod

Three window Ford Coupe

hot rod

Custom hot rod

hot rod truck

Chevy 1950s truck

hot rod

Chevrolet Corvair

hot rod

Custom resto business coupe

custom wagon

Ford Surfer wagon

Ford hot rod

1930s Ford wagon

Ford hot rod

Ford custom hot rod

Ford hot rod

Blown out Ford hot rod

Classics:

Porsche Speedster

Porsche 356 Speedster

Shelby Cobra

Matte black Shelby Cobra

Chevrolet Chevelle

1970 Chevelle -454

Ford Bronco

Ford Bronco

Low riders:

Monte Carlo

Chevrolet Monte Carlo

Ford low rider

Ford LTD with Impala in background

Japanese classics:

Datsun hot rod

Classic Datsun truck

Japanese hot rod

Datsun Fairlady

California Part 2- LA’s Petersen Automotive Museum

After driving around town for the first few days, we headed over to check out LA’s amazing and historic Petersen Automotive Museum.  The pictures do not do it justice but the gist is, this is a must see for any car enthusiast.  The Museum entails the typical historical details and stories about cars and the people who built them but the really interesting part is the guided tour of The Vault. The Vault consists of all the vehicles that are not on display as well as many of the vehicles on loan from benefactors. Unfortunately, there is no photography allowed in this section so we were not able to take any pics which just means you must come here yourself. Nonetheless, here is our coverage from the museum section which included a range of vintage and new vehicles.

Supercar

1989 Bugatti

1989 Bugatti

Racing vehicles

Baja 1000 Bronco

Vintage Baja 1000 Bronco – rebuilt with modern technology

Ivan "Ironman" Stewart's Toyota Baja truck

Ivan “Ironman” Stewart’s Toyota Baja truck

Classic cars

Chavez Ravine

Chavez Ravine – Former ice cream truck is tribute to LA community bulldozed to make room for Dodger stadium

1950s Ford Hot Rod

1950s Ford Hot Rod

Meyers Manx dune buggy

Meyers Manx dune buggy

1934 Packard

1934 Packard

1954 Kaiser Darrin

1954 Kaiser Darrin

Ford Country Squire

Ford Country Squire

1937 Delage

1937 Delage

A real "woodie"

A real “woody” wagon

Homage to fins

1950s boat with Mercury outboard

1950s boat with Mercury outboard

Hollywood rides

 Mercedes-Benz from Hangover

Mercedes-Benz from Hangover

Batmobile

Batmobile

Suki's Custom Honda S2000 - 2 Fast and Furious

Suki’s Custom Honda S2000 – 2 Fast 2 Furious

Shanghai Auto Show – Part 2

As promised we have more action from last month’s Shanghai Auto Show.  What an incredible variety of Chinese made product along with the world’s finest and most exotic automobiles.  Here’s another glimpse of what there was to see in Shanghai for the car enthusiast taken on our whirlwind tour.

The world’s most popular Italian “sisters”….

La Ferrari

La Ferrari

Bugatti Vitesse

Bugatti Vitesse

Lamborghini models

Lamborghini models

The Norse Goddess….

 Koenigsegg

Sweden’s Koenigsegg

China’s own supercar concept…..

Icona Vucano

Icona Vucano

Germany’s proudest son….

Germany's proudest son the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans - Audi R18 e-tron quattro

The 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans winner – Audi R18 e-tron quattro

American pride…

Detroit Electric

Detroit Electric – fully electric sportscar built in Detroit, Michigan

From the United Kingdom…

James Bond approved Aston Martins from United Kingdom

James Bond approved Aston Martins

The “green” darling of Germany

Volkswagen XL1

Volkswagen XL1

What happens in China stays in China…..

France + China = Fun Porsche Speedster lookalike

France + China = Fun Porsche Speedster lookalike

Ford’s continued rally strength….

Ford WRC Rally

Ford Focus Rally

Chinese made “tuner extraordinaire

Portable DJ station

Portable DJ station

Japan’s ninja warriors….

Subaru BRZ race model

Subaru BRZ race model

Subaru WRX Rally

Subaru WRX Sti Rally

More Germany….

Aftermarket scene

Aftermarket scene

China’s number one SUV seller – Great Wall

Paris to Dakar rally truck

Team Haval truck from 2013 Paris to Dakar rally

Toronto Spring Classic Car Auction

On Saturday, we headed over to the International Centre to catch the Toronto Spring Classic Car Auction.  As always, this event offers a range of classics being sold including; trucks, cars, convertibles, race cars, sedans and sports cars.  And in spite of the continued turbulent economic times prices were strong overall with the iconic classics still pulling in top dollar on the block. Of course, there are still some great deals found especially within the “no reserve price” vehicles. Here is a glimpse of the inventory to roll up on the block over the three days.

Gorgeous "Hugger Orange" Camaro

Gorgeous “Hugger Orange” Camaro

1980s "500 HP" Ford Truck

1980s “500 HP” Ford Truck

Ford Country Squire

Ford Country Squire

90s Porsche 993

90s Porsche 993

Chevrolet Truck 4x4

Chevrolet Truck 4×4 with 454 Big Block

VW Karmann Ghia

VW Karmann Ghia

Ford Hot Rod

Ford Hot Rod

1972 340 Cuda sold for $30,000

1972 340 Plymouth Barracuda sold for $30,000

Chevelle convertible

Chevelle SS convertible

1950s Chevy

1950s Chevy

1960s Chevy Truck

1960s Chevy Truck

Maserati $12,000

Maserati $12,000

1940 Deluxe Coupe

1940 Ford Deluxe Coupe

Ford Hot Rod Truck

Ford Hot Rod Truck

Chevrolet Fleetside

Chevrolet Fleetside

Held twice a year in April and October the Toronto Classic Car Auction continues to be a must attend event for any auto enthusiast.  To check out our past coverage see here 2012 Spring and Fall.