Sedan Ramblings

2004 Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto

by Traian Popescu

SEE ALL THE PICTURES FROM THE SHOW HERE!

It's that time of the year again, bringing the Fantasycars.com team back into the spotlight and international prestige at the 2004 Toronto AutoShow. I can hardly stress enough the joy and anticipation that this monumental event brings to us every year, except by stating that free food was involved, which will make even a 6am wakeup bearable.

Sleepy, sore and groggy, we arrived at the Metro Convention Centre in downtown Toronto and were quickly hushed away to an ongoing Kia presentation. Or was it Hyundai? In any case, we used this lull for some photo ops and a close up inspection of the BMW 6-series, conspicuously located near the entrance. At least this is what I was in the midst of doing, while my colleagues were discussing the virtues of Honda's hybrid powertrain. Or it may have been the virtues of the Kia presenter.

BMW's 6-series was one of my personal favourites at the show, in dark black with matching leather, beckoning me to sit inside and feel and touch all the knobs and buttons until they popped out of their sockets. Which they didn't. Because BMWs are high quality automobiles. I wanted to spend more time with the gorgeous Bimmer, but duties beckoned. We passed next to Subaru, which showed off their mildly interesting convertible B9 SC concept, which would have been quite stunning had we not already seen it a few times on magazine covers.

General Motors put on the only impressive showing of the day, pulling off a "sure our market share is dropping faster than Michael Jackson's pants at a chlidren's playground, but we're still gonna give you one heck of a show" show. Chevrolet's new Corvette and the Pontiac Solstice stole the show, and the Solstice above all is quite a beautiful car! Saab also unveiled the Subaru WRX Wagon, and renamed it the 9-2X. It features a 2.0-litre 227-hp 4-cylinder boxer engine. The Buick Allure, which replaces one of those…em, creaky old Buicks, was spectacular simply by virtue of being an all-new Buick! Saturn showed us the Relay, a 'crossover' sport van that combines mini-van-like styling with the functionality of a mini-van and the marketing of an SUV. The Cobalt, Chevrolet's replacement Cavalier coupe; the Pursuit, Pontiac's 4-door cousin of the Cobalt; and the Pontiac Wave, a renamed Aveo, also deserve a mention.

But enough of such trifling matters, if it was but cars we desired we could have stared at a parking lot; no, the moment had arrived. The Media Lunch! Tuna sandwiches, bagels with cream cheese, carrot sticks and water was no dinner at the Ritz, but after a hard morning's plodding around the autoshow staring at beautiful cars, horse meat would've sufficed. With a tearful eye, we remembered last year's royal treatment, which included filet mignon and wine, served up by Land Rover's gracious staff. In times of hardship, however, compromises have to be made.

Apparently Mercedes, Ford, Bentley and Rolls Royce didn't get the message: the 550-hp Maybach, 617-hp SLR McLaren, 500-hp GT, 552-hp Continental GT and 453-hp Phantom were all present, flaunting their superiority and inaccessibility. Yeah, well I drive a Taurus and I'm proud of it! On the other side of the spectrum, the MCC Smart will be sold on the Canadian market starting in the fall, in all its 599cc glory. Other manufacturers slyly included their own little concoctions, but it was the Smart that took the cheese, at least in my eyes.

Finally we arrived at Ferrari and Maserati, whose representatives reluctantly handed us undeserving mortals copies of their shiny, colourful brochures (which were translated in Italian, no less!). We gawked at the 612 Scaglietti, a beautiful car by any measure, took photos inside the 360 Modena and just generally behaved as normal people usually behave when surrounded by beautiful models. Ferrari models, that is. But it was the Maserati Quattroporte that stole the show for me. It was shiny, smooth, voluptuous, and the only car at the show that managed to divert my gaze away from other more potent Ferraris, Porsches and Bentleys. It was simply the most beautiful car on display. And if ever some gracious fan decided to contribute a hundred large or so toward this site, it would be my first choice.

© Traian Popescu , World's Fastest Sedans (http://www.fantasycars.com/sedans/), 2004.

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