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Celebrating 50 years of Grand Prix in Canada at CIAS

February 21, 2017 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

As a kid in the Seventies, I used to look forward to the Toronto auto show every year. My parents had split up, which meant no more race cars for me, but my step-father always took me to the auto show and for a number of years that was the only place that I got to see racing cars. Then, at some point, someone in charge of the show decided that race cars did not belong at a show for new cars and the show got boring. Over the years, you began to see more fun, but never to the same level.

Until, that is, Jason Campbell took over as the General Manager of the show, now known as the Canadian International Autoshow. With a background in international motorsport marketing, think Red Bull, Campbell immediately set to work making the show fun again. It meant the return of motorsport in a big way, with a celebration of the 100th running of the Indy 500. With the fun came attendance and the 2016 show saw more guests go through the turnstiles than ever before.

To open the 2017 show, Campbell worked with my old boss, Norris McDonald and using their combined talents brought together a collection of individuals who have been influential in Formula 1 in Canada since the earliest days along with some incredible cars that were part of the action.

Legendary Canadian motorsport journalist, Norris McDonald used decades worth of connections to help bring this celebration together and acted as emcee.

The day before the show opened for the media preview, a crowd of maybe 100 or so people gathered in a hall at in the MTCC to oogle race cars and listen to this group swap tales. The conversation began with Bob Hanna, the man who brought Grand Prix racing to this country.

Originally scheduled for an hour or so, the event ran closer to three, as people such as former Canadian F1 team owner Walter Wolf and F1 driver Alan Berg reminisced. As time progressed, Canadian racing legend Ron Fellows, who now co-owns Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (home of the Canadian Grand Prix when it was called Mosport) was followed by 1997 Formula 1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve. The latter was joined by his Mother and Sister.

Jacques Villeneuve



The racing machinery, which remains on display throughout the public show, is even more impressive. The Villeneuve connection is strong here, as the first car one sees when they enter in Gilles Villeneuve’s Ford Mustang, freshly restored and looking perfect. A Ferrari 312 T3 that Gilles drove sits across from the Williams driven by his son.

There is a Cooper, driven by Bruce McLaren and the ’78 Vel’s Parnelli Jones Racing machine piloted by Mario Andretti. A Lotus driven by Ayrton Senna sits across from a Nigel Mansell Ferrari.



With the FIA Masters Historic Formula 1 Championship coming to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in June, the track also has a multimedia display in the collection, offering up free entry to the event, printed on cool reproductions of the 1967 Grand Prix of Canada tickets.

To learn more, visit the Canadian International Autoshow online

Related posts:

James Hunt and “The Punch” at Mosport Shutter Speed: Two in a row Shutter Speed: Returning Home Gallery: Thursday in the paddock at Grand Prix of Mosport Revson’s Last Formula One Victory: Rebuilding a Race Lap By Lap

Subaru and Volkswagen take top honours in Canadian Car of the Year Awards

February 16, 2017 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

In a live reveal this morning  at the fantastic John Basset Theatre in downtown Toronto, the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada announced the Canadian Car/Utility Vehicle of the Year.

As I have for the past number of years, I had the honour of announcing the Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year, which for 2017 is the Subaru Forester. Program director David Taylor joined me in the announcement, by crowning the Volkswagen Alltrack the Canadian Car of the Year.

 

 

CCOTY Director David Taylor presents the Canadian Car of the Year Award to Volkswagen Canada President and CEO Maria Stenström
Subaru Canada Vice President Ted Lalka accepts award from CCOTY Co-Chair Gary Grant

Since 1985, AJAC has named the Canadian Car of the Year as a tool to aid consumers who are researching a new vehicle purchase. As the program has evolved over the years, the Canadian Truck of the Year distinction was added and then morphed into the Utility title in a nod to the increasing presence of crossover vehicles into the light truck segment.

A full year of planning goes into the award each year, the highlight of which is the annual Testfest event, where Canada’s top automotive journalists spend the better part of a week evaluating vehicles. Of course the awards ceremony is the most visible and important aspect of the program, but while a week of testing cars is actually work, it is good fun too.

This was the program’s first year on the stage in the stunning John W.H. Basset theatre, having opened the show in past years, in a secondary hall in the South building of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The announcements followed the global unveiling of Aston Martin’s stunning new AM-RB 001 concept vehicle. The combination of the two events kicked off the show in a fashion more in keeping with some of the more prominent shows on the global circuit. More on that in a story to follow.


 

Photo credit Michelle Siu via AJAC
Video credit James Davidson & Sam Fellows via AJAC

Related posts:

Small car scribbles VW Presents Alltrack Concept for New York Auto Show 2014 Canadian Car of the Year awards ceremony Video: Day 2 at Testfest Eight “Best New” Winners Announced for 2017 AJAC’s 2017 Canadian Car of the Year Awards

2014 Canadian Car of the Year awards ceremony

May 10, 2014 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

garyandreid

Time for a bit of shameless self-promotion here in The Garage. Regular readers may know that I am a Co-Chairman of the Canadian Car of the Year awards. One of my responsibilities in that position is to put on a dress jacket once a year and announce one of the winners. This year, I was very proud to award Chrysler‘s Reid Bigland with the Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year for the fantastic new Jeep Cherokee.

The awards are in January, so you might wonder why I am sharing this now. Well, I just came across this video of the entire ceremony, including yours truly doing my thing, which I hadn’t seen before. I thought it might be worth sharing on a Saturday morning.

Canadian International AutoShow 2014 Press Preview Day, Canadian Black Book, AJAC Winners, Thursday, February 13, 2014 from Peter Mykusz on Vimeo.

Related posts:

The Garage visits AJAC TestFest A new milestone for The Garage Blog The Jeep Cherokee Returns Formula Off Road Racing is the shizzle!

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