Found in the Wild: Rallye Rig

SUV's don't get much more agricultural than this. With a manufacturer name like "International Harvester" this 1978 Scout II Rallye was never going to be a sophisticate. But sophisticates rarely last in the hard off-road world of real 4X4's.

Found in Captivity: The Oldest Driveway Kept Car in Alberta?

Calgary is not Phoenix. Unlike cars sitting out in desert climes, Calgary cars tend to get ravaged by the elements pretty quickly. That just makes it all the more remarkable to find a 74 year-old car kept outside. Built just before the start of WWII, today's 1939 Plymouth (Business?) Coupe seems to be holding up just fine.

The Best Automotive Feelings

A recent post on Reddit garnered a lot of debate and participation after the original poster asked, "What's the best non-sexual sensation ever?" Well if we narrow that down to car related feelings, there are a few pretty good ones.

It's a Love/Hate Kinda Thing

I usually try to avoid writing in the first person but I feel it must be done this time to truly convey my experiences with my worst car ever. My coming of age experience in a controversial car was full of highs and lows. Sometimes I wanted to hug it, other times I wanted to sell it for pennies just to get it gone. But every now and then I wanted to be a hooligan and drive the crap out of it. This was my 1988 Pontiac Firebird Formula and his name was Rumbly.

Found in the Yard: The Many Faces of the Cultus

Marketed through over a dozen different model names and sold by seven different manufacturers, the Suzuki Cultus is a very worldly and versatile platform. Popularly known variants including the Suzuki Swift, Geo Metro and Chevy Sprint revolutionized the sub-compact world in the 80's and 90's. But today, we're looking at a variant that was only sold in Canada.

From Raceway to Rubble

A satellite image of Calgary's Race City Motorsport Park before demolition

Race City had been in decline for several years. During it's final year, the stands were rickety and breaking, paint everywhere was faded and peeling and the drag strip was hardly level or smooth from end to end. And yet, despite all the dilapidation and decay, Calgary's Race City Motorsport Park was a Mecca for the city's gearhead population.

Old School: Diving Into the SAIT Archives

Students of the Automobile Mechanics program circa late 40's

SAIT Polytechnic has been around for 97 years. And for decades the Calgary, Alberta based technical shcool have taught diesel, automotive and aeronautical classes. Luckily for us, the SAIT Archives have 1,000's of digitized photos of all programs and SAIT developments since the early 1900's. We're going to pull various photos from this vast archive to show what mechanical courses were like decades ago.

Photographer Spotlight: Evan Buhler

Lots of sports seem to mellow with age. Rally just isn't one of them. While modern WRC rallying has certainly tamed from it's lethal Group B days it remains a fair bit more "raw" than many other forms of circuit racing. Photographer, Evan Buhler found this to be all too true when he was nearly run over by a turbocharged projectile. You don't see that happening in NASCAR.

Wheel Design Comes Full Circle

The wheels on the McLaren MP4-12C might look airy but the brakes they mask are quite substantial 

Puns are awful. But these interesting wheels from the 2013 Calgary International Auto Show are anything but square. Sometimes hiding bright rotors and calipers, wheels are absolutely integral to a cars structure as well as its appearance. 

2013 Calgary International Auto Show

Rather than inundate you with every new model present at the 2013 Calgary International Auto Show, we'll be going through select trends and details that caught my eye. Let's press the big red start button on the dash and get going!

Time Stands Still

Found in the Wild: From Siberia to Suburbia

There were a Lada these built, but you Niva see them anymore. Now that we have the world's best pun put away, let's discuss what we have here. The rugged and simple Lada Niva started production in 1977 and you can still buy one new if you live in the right part of the world. How many could possibly be left as daily transportation in Alberta? 

Fun With Google: Why Do Mercedes Smell Like Crayons?

Start to type any query into Google and the Google overlords will kindly display what other people have been searching. Now this can be pretty helpful to save you some typing but today were going to play with its comedic uses. 

Found in the Wild: Cave Dwelling Compact

It would be nice to tell you that the incredible depths, lack of sunlight and intense humidity ruined the quality of the following photos. But, unfortunately that's just not the case. This dusty first generation Toyota Tercel was found during some parking garage spelunking and looks as if it hasn't seen the sun in quite a while.

Ice Racing Revisited

Ice racing is hardly a spectator sport.  A winter storm warning was in effect during the Calgary Sports Car Club's final ICE Cup event of the season. The snow and wind was blinding without goggles and stands are nowhere to be found. Facilities consisted of a few tupperware containers full of radios and waivers and a lonely outhouse on the nearby island. Field sports like soccer and hockey are great for the spectators, but winter rallying is a sport best experienced as a participant.

The Complete Timeline of Toyota

In recent times Toyota has been showing signs of life. After a seven year drought of fun, cars like the LFA and FR-S are bringing back some of the playful and sporty attributes that used to make so many Toyotas desirable. Toyota has clearly been taking notes from it's past and recently launched a massive interactive timeline so that anyone can check out the brand's storied past.