New Car Reviews
Test Drive > 2012 BMW 650i Cabriolet
2012 BMW 650i Cabriolet Cruising topless has never been so classy Story and photos by Russell Purcell There are few things as pleasant as motoring around in a luxury convertible on a warm evening. And when the car is as a refined and sporting as the BMW 650i Cabriolet, you truly feel like all is right with the world. First impressions The BMW 650i Cabriolet has been thoroughly re-designed for 2012. It is however, immediately recognizable as a BMW product due to the inclusion of several of the brand’s more iconic styling features such as the requisite twin-kidney grille…
Test Drive > 2012 Toyota Tundra Double Cab SR5 4X4
2012 Toyota Tundra Double Cab SR5 4X4 Story by Russell Purcell. Photos courtesy Toyota Canada. They like things big in the state of Texas, so it makes perfect sense for Toyota to build their full-size pick-up truck there. Sales surged initially, as the Tundra offered big rig looks and prodigious power from its 5.7-litre V8. However, much like its rival the Nissan Titan, demand cooled for the truck as the price of gasoline began to rise to unheard of levels. Unlike Nissan, Toyota was quick to react, and in short order they were able to introduce a smaller and …
Test Drive > 2012 Hyundai Genesis R-Spec
2012 Hyundai Genesis R-Spec Big bang for the buck Story by Russell Purcell. Photos provided by Hyundai Large luxury sedans have always been regarded as a status symbol, but unfortunately, many of these premium automobiles deliver a very unsatisfying driving experience. When Hyundai introduced the Genesis sedan for the 2009 model year it represented the Korean company’s first product aimed directly at the luxury car segment of the North American automotive market. While the well-equipped Genesis proved to be a pleasant car to drive, its overall handling prowess and lack of visceral grunt left many enthusiast drivers feeling cold,…
Test Drive > 2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS 63 AMG
2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS 63 AMG Different style, more substance Review by Mark Hacking. Photos provided by Mercedes-Benz San Diego, CA — When the original Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class debuted in 2004, it represented a bold statement for the German manufacturer…and it was made in a somewhat non-Germanic tone. The fast and flowing design of the sedan conveyed a distinctly feminine mystique and gave rise to a new category of car for the 21st century—the four-door coupe. Fast forward some seven years: The second-generation CLS debuts and the sedan that signalled a changing direction in car design had changed itself. Gone were…
Test Drive > 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera 4
2012 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 Review & Photos: Amee Reehal You’re gawking at the 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera 4— bold, brash, and badass as ever, peeling away into the sunset, leaving it’s mark as the last of the 997 era, making way for the next-generation 911, internally-coded the new 991. Well, technically, the redesigned 991s are already here, available as the 2012 Carrera and Carrera S models, whereas our tested 997 Carrera 4 retains the current guise. So, if you’re seeking the wider, all-wheel drive version of the 7th-generation redesigned 911, you’ll need to hold tight till next year….
Test Drive > 2012 Ford Explorer Limited with EcoBoost
2012 Ford Explorer Limited with EcoBoost The Full-size SUV That Keeps Getting Better… Review and Photos by Amee Reehal Ford continues the trend offering fuel efficient, responsive powered vehicles with the introduction of the 2012 Ford Explorer Limited with EcoBoost—the market’s most fuel efficient 7-passenger SUV. Seeing as more than half of last year’s 2011 Ford Explorer early buyers cited fuel efficiency as their primary purchase motivator, coupled with Ford’s goal to fit 90-percent of their products with the award-winning engine, the EcoBoost-Explorer marriage was an inevitable one. Not that Ford has had any trouble selling the iconic SUV,…
Tuner
Tuner: 1992 240sx SE
Timeless Story By Nick Chow. Photos by Amee Reehal There’s nothing like nostalgia to bring back fond memories and good times, like a classic Biggie track or the smell of sweet perfume. We see so many builds throughout the years that might be hot for a minute but a season later the style or trend has hit the recycling bin. Then there are individuals like Jeevs Sidhu who opt for a build that will always buck the trends, who would rather go with a project that will endure the times. The Calgary native has shown a unique sense of…
Tuner: 1999 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4
1999 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 Porsche Hunter Story by David Pratte; Photos by Amee Reehal You’ve no doubt heard of the Crocodile Hunter and Dog the Bounty Hunter. Well, there’s a new sheriff in town and his name is Warren the Porsche Hunter. I know, it doesn’t conjure up the same type of raw animal power as a croc or a K9, but it takes a bold man with a seriously fast machine to state he likes to go 911 Turbo hunting. These rear-engine autobahn burners are brutally fast off the line and not too shabby at high speeds, after all. Heck, if…
Tuner: Track Ready Honda S2000
No Agendas An AP2 tuned to perfection, on it’s own terms. Story and Photos by Amee Reehal © In today’s market, there is no shortage of high-end, high profile show cars backed by reputable aftermarket manufacturers and suppliers displaying their wears or perhaps by unlikely corporations looking to reach out to a “younger” demographic. Gleaming rides plastered with corporate logos, supporting sponsor icons, and anything else that will garner attention. And rightfully so, this is the nature of the business after all, and a demo car is perhaps the most fitting marketing vehicle, literally. But once in awhile, a…
Tuner: 400+hp Vintage Mini
A Case of Yellow Fever Zahir Rana took an average 1970 Mini and turned it into something truly exotic. Story by Barry Brazier; Photos by Amee Reehal © Believe us when we say that we get more than a few dozen e-mails each week from Mini owners telling us about themselves and their wild cars. Usually, however, the cars just aren’t that wild. They are nice, but just not that spectacular. So when a Canadian subscriber wrote to us about a really wild yellow Mini up in Calgary, Alberta, we were a little skeptical. After all, Calgary is perceived, as a frontier town with lots of…
Tuner: 1997 Eagle Talon with 850+hp
Pursuit of Happiness An 850hp 1997 Eagle Talon literally built to perfection. Story and Photos: Amee Reehal © People will go to any length in the pursuit of happiness. Sometimes this involves blood, sweat, and tears. But more often, this involves the easiest, quickest, and usually the least-cost effective path. Legs too skinny, get some calve implants! Feel old and getting sad, just buy that drop top red Miata (and get those frosted tips in your hair too)! The tuning world is a little more reasonable, where enthusiasts will drop loads of cash on the best possible parts available…
Tuner: Nissan S14 / 240SX with RB26 swap
Downright Dirty An S14 with a GT-R Complex Story & Photos: Amee Reehal © Within the Japanese domestic market, to the world of drifting, to the guy in Suburbia who just sold his drag Civic, a clean 240SX is arguably the most sought after car within the aftermarket arena these days. It simply appeals to different people for various reasons. From crazy S13 sliders to insane S14 RB25DET swaps, it’s all new and exciting to the masses. But then there’s Nguyen Nguyen’s all-round, daily-driven S14, a car that is so far from just exciting, it’s rather (as the cool kids say these days) completely disgusting. Absolute,…
Tuner: 1977 Celica Turbo
A Standing Ovation for the Toyota Celica The Tale of a 1977 Toyota Celica Turbo with Classic Charm and Modern Muscle Story & Photos: Amee Reehal © It’s hard to believe how something so adored and innovative can one day simply lose its awe-inspiring luster, only to fade out of existence—an all too common thing in today’s unforgiving, fad-induced society. When this occurs, we usually lay our heads low and sulk with disappointment, or conversely, rise with glee to pay homage to a long-lived life. With the tale of the Toyota Celica, an innovative product of the early ‘70s…
Tuner: BMW E36 with LS1 Corvette Engine and 535HP
Reincarnated A 1993 BMW E36 reenters life…with a Corvette engine and 535hp. Story & Photos: Amee Reehal © Many believe in the doctrine of rebirth; that the Soul can return into a new body. Perhaps as a plant, maybe a goat, or in this case, a clean 1993 325is—simply, the belief that one’s energy never really dies. So when Rob Leech, owner of Tunerworks Performance Inc. based in Calgary, Canada decided to play God with his E36, he did so in divine fashion, resurrecting it into a 535hp monster powered by a GM LS1 (C5 Corvette) engine and the…
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Motorcycles
Tuner
Motorcycles
2002 Suzuki SV650
Some folks collect stamps. Others collect coins. Story by Greg Williams. Photos by Amee Reehal John Whitby’s hobby is far more interesting. He collects dysfunctional motorcycles. Working in his suburban two-car garage — already stuffed to the rafters with two hot rods, a metal lathe, welding gear and a half dozen other bikes — he takes them apart and puts them back together in a way the original maker never intended. But Whitby insists if he could afford one, and he didn’t already have a skunk works full of completed projects, he’d have a brand new dual purpose Triumph XC800….
1977 Honda CB750F2 Brat-Style Bike
Punk’d The do-it-yourself ethos of punk music inspired a man born long after the music itself had died. Story by Greg Williams; Photos by Amee Reehal As a teenager skateboarding to punk music, Marco Luk couldn’t have known how closely his future bike-building career would reflect the chorus of Minor Threat’s eponymous song: Make do with what you have / Take what you can get / Pay no mind to us / We’re just a minor threat Along with The Clash and The Exploding Hearts, Minor Threat is one of the 22-year-old fabricator’s favourite bands. And it’s a gritty…
1960′s Triumph Pre-unit Builds
Stripped, Slammed and Sinuous There are two kinds of vintage motorcycle enthusiasts. The first has garages full of half-finished projects and the second turns out pristine machines at a breakneck pace. We don’t need to tell you on which side of the divide Bob Klassen falls. Story by Greg Williams; Photos by Amee Reehal A freakishly fast sport bike it’s not. Nor is it a long and lazy chopper with chromed sissy bar and forward controls. Neither would be Bob Klassen’s style. But the bobber, as it turns out, is. Klassen became a believer in stripped-down customs after constructing his…
2001 Buell X1 Lightning Café Racer
2001 Buell X1 Lightning café racer Saturday Morning Special Story by Greg Williams; Photos by Amee Reehal
Honda CB750
HONDA CB750 Story by Greg Williams, Photos by Amee Reehal Few machines have impacted the motorcycle market quite like the Honda CB750 Four. Arguments for other machines that have shaken the industry can be made, but when the inline four-cylinder CB750 was introduced in 1969 the motorcycle was literally a game-changer. And as a game-changer, Honda’s CB750 became the machine that set the pace for the early part of the 1970s. Calgary’s Peter Gilding was 13 years old in June 1970 when he first saw a Honda CB750. “I was so blown away by the four pipes and four mufflers,…
Sunbeam S7
Sunbeam S7 “The Gentleman’s Machine” Story by Greg Williams, Photos by Amee Reehal © Catching a glimpse of a Sunbeam motorcycle moving down the asphalt is a rare experience, especially in Canada. A product of the British manufacturing industry, there are two distinct periods of Sunbeam motorcycle production. The first was from 1912 to 1939, and the second from 1946 to 1957. John Marston of Wolverhampton, England first produced fine quality bicycles in the late 1800s, and these pedal-powered conveyances bore the Sunbeam badge. Mechanized transport caught Marston’s attention at the turn of the last century, but…
1972 Triumph T100C
Triumph T100C Enduro-style 1972 machine a step back in time Story by Greg Williams, Photos by Amee Reehal © Some could argue this 1972 Triumph T100C is the last of the line. Let’s flashback to 1937. Triumph designer Edward Turner pens the 498cc parallel twin-cylinder engine that fits into the Speed Twin. The Speed Twin was something of a seminal motorcycle, as its engine influenced Britain’s entire motorcycle industry. Other makers — including B.S.A., Norton and Royal Enfield – all developed and produced their own parallel twin engines after witnessing the success of the Triumph. But Turner could not…
1968 Norton Atlas
1968 NORTON ATLAS Norton’s Rocketship – 1968 Norton Atlas a dependable missile Story by Greg Williams, Photos by Amee Reehal © The slogans ‘The Unapproachable Norton’ and ‘The World’s Best Road Holder’ defined one of the most fabled British motorcycle builders. Founded in 1898 by James Lansdowne Norton, or Pa, as he was commonly known, Norton brought to the motorcycling masses several technological advancements. Not the least of these developments was the featherbed frame as designed by the McCandless brothers. Since the early 1940s the brothers had been working on advanced frame designs, labouring at improving the handling…
1973 KAWASAKI Z1 900
1973 KAWASAKI Z1 900 Superbike – Owner finally connects with a 1973 Kawasaki Z1 900 Story by Greg Williams, Photos by Amee Reehal © Some folks are pretty impressionable — especially those who are interested in motorcycles. Take Calgary’s Wade Youngman, for example. Back in 1973 he was 16 years old, and he’d just bought a brand new Kawasaki Trail Boss motorcycle. It was a 100cc machine, but that wasn’t enough for him. No, later in the year he decided he also had to have a 1973 Kawasaki H2, the 750cc triple-cylinder two-stroke screamer. In 1973, however, there was…
Honda Super Hawk
Honda Super Hawk Legendary 305cc machine helped bring Honda to the masses Story by Greg Williams; Photos by Amee Reehal © In 1959 Honda changed the way many people thought of motorcycles – and motorcycling — when they introduced their clean and quiet machines to North America. And it was in 1961 with the CB72 Honda Hawk, a 250cc motorcycle, and its larger brother the CB77 Super Hawk at 305cc, that some rather unique features became available in mass-produced machines. An inclined vertical twin engine that could be revved to 9,200 r.p.m powered both models. The bikes included…
Traction Photo...
