A biweekly roundup of automotive news, good, bad and just plain weird:
Canada wins Le Mans. Sort of.
On July 1, it seems only appropriate to acknowledge the fact that the world’s premiere endurance race showed that the true North strong and free sure knows how to build some serious racing machines. If you want to go out for a pretty good rip there bud, we gotcha covered, eh?
Returning to Le Mans after a lengthy hiatus, Ford was able to celebrate a convincing win as their Ford GT dominated the day, and ended up parked atop the podium. Once again, rivals like Aston Martin, Corvette, and Ferrari stood vanquished by the blue oval. Their secret weapon? A little maple syrup infusion.
You see, the twin-turbo Ford GT is actually built in Markham by Multimatic, an experienced composite materials specialist. Multimatic fields cars in several racing series, but this is the big time. Toyota, with their huge R&D budget and enormous racing experience stretching back decades, saw their lead car die with just a single lap to go.
So, wave the flag a little harder this weekend, in the spirit of Moore and Villeneuve. We may be a bunch of puck-chasing hosers, but at least we know you gotta finish your checks if you’re gonna finish first, eh?
The Blackbird can become any car
Imagine being a modern automotive manufacturer shooting a commercial. What colour is best? What if you want to show off the mid-level trims as well as the one with the big wheels? What if you suddenly need to upgrade the commercial to the 2017 version?
Enter the Blackbird. Built in the same hangar as the CIA’s SR-71 (hence the name), the Blackbird is a sort of electric-powered go-kart that can use computer graphics to become any sort of car at all.
Think of it like a wheeled version of a motion-capture bodysuit. Thanks to laser scanning, an adjustable chassis, and a body structured to meld with CGI, the Blackbird can transform on-screen to become anything from a Chevy Spark to a BMW X6. It runs on electricity, so the motors can be tweaked to emulate a front-wheel-drive, all-wheel-drive, or rear-drive configuration.
Basically, it’s a shape-shifting car. That next car commercial you see might be trickery – and you’d never know.
Irish football hooligans repair car
It’s been a tough week to be British. If you’re Irish, though, things could hardly be better. Your team is in the European football cup, the Brits just got trounced by Iceland of all places, while the boys in green are doing well for themselves.
Buoyed by high spirits, a group of Irish fans ran amok through Lyon, France, and came across a car with a badly dented roof (perhaps by other exuberant fans). So they decided to fix it.
First, the fans tried to jam money through the windows, by way of apology. Then, they began trying to bang out the dent, shouting and cheering.
And then – and this sort of thing only happens to Irish people – the dent suddenly popped out, good as new. Everyone cheered, and then wandered off to a match where Ireland beat Italy for the first time in a long while. If Brexit is ruining your portfolio, buy stocks in potatoes and marshmallow horseshoes.
Jay Leno nearly dies
It was a terrifying crash. Headed out for a ride-along in the well-known wheelie-car Hemi Under Glass, comic and car fan Jay Leno suddenly found himself turning an unexpected barrel roll.
With 2,500 horsepower on tap, bad things happen fast. The drag racer first lifted, and then flipped when it hit a bump in the tarmac. Leno was quick to draw his arm in and good thing too – the spin was violent and harsh enough that a replacement chassis will be needed.
Thanks to a hefty roll-cage, everyone walked away from the classic Plymouth Barracuda without injury. Still, that sort of thing is enough to have you soil your all-denim Canadian Tuxedo.
Electric cars rule at Pikes Peak
I had a chance to run up Pikes Peak a few weeks back in a turbocharged Macan. Even with the forced induction, the thin air is enough to have any normal combustion engine gasping.
The historical solution has been boost, and lots of it; the more futuristic approach is to simply go electric. This year, the electric approach took off, with Rhys Millen’s e0 electric running up the hill in less than nine minutes.
The course record stands at 8:13, from Sebastien Loeb’s inhuman effort in 2013, but it’s notable that the electric-powered machines are starting to get close. Most notably, an all-electric version of the Acura NSX simply trounced the hybrid version, posting a time in the nine-minute range.
Turbocharging was born atop Pikes Peak, a power solution brought about by the requirements of the aviation industry. Soon, the sprint could be more about the flexibility and altitude-proof nature of the electric motor.
Top Gear starts grinding
As the world’s biggest automotive TV program, the new Top Gear has a lot to live up to. Thus far it’s been hit and miss, and more miss than hit.
The latest blow comes in the form of a rumour that ex-Friends star Matt LeBlanc is prepared to leave if his co-star Chris Evans doesn’t leave first. Evans has been panned by critics and fans alike, thanks to his noisy, abrasive style on camera.
Meanwhile, the well-known crew of May, Clarkson, and Hammond are readying their Grand Tour, a new series that will focus on the trio’s adventures around the world. It was always about the people anyway, but new Top Gear could still prevail. They just need Chris Harris, a runway, and a bunch of extra rear tires.
Classic Car Appreciation Day is just a week away
Come down to First Street between St. Georges and St Andrews this July 10 to check out a very special car show. Running from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., the entire street in front of the Pebble Beach winning restoration shop RX autoworks will be closed, for a mix of classic cars and motorcycles. Grab a coffee, get a rare chance to see inside the shop at RX, and just generally shoot the breeze with your fellow car enthusiasts. Everybody's welcome!
The Viper hisses its last
Consider this less a news item than an appeal. The Dodge Viper is about to end production, and I’ve never even sat in one, let alone driven one.
That’s a great shame. I get the feeling that Dodge’s massive-engine, manual-only machine will emphatically be the last of its kind. They won’t ever make anything like this again. It’ll probably be illegal.
So, if you’ve got one, I’d love a chance to spew some hydrocarbons in a last hurrah to a last-of-breed special. Shoot me a line and I’ll pay you back in six-packs. Somehow, that seems appropriate.
Watch this space for all the best and worst of automotive news, or submit your own auto oddities to [email protected].
