The patriotic tradition of visiting the Canadian International Auto Show began this week. Opening day was Friday, and big crowds are expected all weekend, and especially on the holiday Monday. There are some interesting featured exhibits at the show this year, but for some hardcore gearheads, the sparkle has faded. The Auto Show is just so family-friendly now with a Hot-Wheels display and a full-size Lego car. Some of that ‘edge’ has been lost.
Originally called the Toronto Auto Show back in 1974, the event grew in size, attracting all the ‘international’ manufacturers. But those old shows were great because of all the locally built cars on display. Prime example, the Bricklin SV1 which was Canada’s answer to the Corvette. Composite body, gullwing doors and hi-viz colours, it was great example of Canadian ingenuity.
Throughout the 80s & 90s the highlight of the Auto Show was the exotic cars. For many car-crazy kids it was the first place to ever see: a De Tomaso Pantera, Brabus Porsche or the latest Jaguar. In fact, upon entry to the show, the visitors pathway went directly to the exotic cars display. It was the one part of the show nobody wanted to miss.
Not to say that regular production cars are a let-down. Getting the exotics out of the way early allows people to spend more time browsing the locally-made Honda Civic. In fact the province of Ontario produces more vehicles than any other province/state in North America, with assembly plants building cars for Honda, Toyota, GM, Ford and Chrysler, now called Stellantis. And for anyone looking for a combination of an environmentally-conscious electric car and a tire-shredding muscle car, remember that the Dodge Charger is built in Canada.
So head on down to the Canadian International Auto Show running at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre until next Sunday February 23rd 2025. And remember to do the patriotic this and buy Canadian!
nice post. that lego car is insane. the kit would cost $20k i bet if such a thing existed.
And imagine how many weeks to put it together!
legos are so cool. i loved visiting legoland in new york a few years ago.
Im just not sure Lego deserves to be a deatured exhibit at the AutoShow. Maybe the toy show…
eh, i figure it’s probably a nice feature for kids which would expand the variety of the visitors. unless the display takes space that some new canadian model would take, i’m gonna say more power to them.
That is surely the idea. Attract families and young kids. The car crazy people were already going to go.
Cool cars. I didn’t bother to look to see when our Super Nationals were held this year.
Is the Super Nationals a car show, or a race?
A car show.
Got it. There’s a go-kart race called Super Nationals that some IndyCar drivers compete in. I thought it was in NM.
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