CIAS, or the Canadian International Auto Show, probably isn’t in its 12th year, nor does it have 12 cylinders, but it still has a “1” and a “2” after its abbreviation, so we sent our Toronto correspondent Lucas Elke to find out if he could find a “3” to follow it. He couldn’t. He spent an entire day there and all he found was an AWD Fiat, a rare British-Italian crossbreed, a solar panel, and a winged police car. Oh and a VW concept.
The red two-door above was the Triumph Italia 2000 Coupe, #58/329 aluminum-bodied stunners that were designed by Giovanni Michelotti and built by Alfredo Vignale between 1959-62. Those wire wheels probably caught your eye, so let’s zoom in for a closer look.
Beautifully, lovingly engraved. Overall, much more thoroughly and competently assembled than say…
…the talk of Green Town, the Fisker Karma. Its solar panel roof, much like the solar panels on the roof of your house, show the world that you care, even if they only power the air conditioning you don’t actually need. Speaking of things you don’t actually need…
…the aforementioned Fiat. Built for life in Canada. Exactly like the F-150 and Civic. And speaking of common sights…
…tell your girlfriend to grab the cuffs. Like now. Because if she locks you up, you’ll stay away from the concept cars, such as…
…this one. VAG’s concepts are unique because they peer into only one of two directions: 30 years into the future, or 30 years into the past. The paradigm-crushing XL1 is the former, this is the latter. We’ll take the XL1, but the Bulli is still cool enough in its own right to warrant production. Unlike…
…the BMW ConnectedDrive Concept, which is only notable for being almost exactly one year old (it was released at Geneva in Feb/11). Happy birthday topless office on wheels!
If you’d like to see these, and many other cars of much less significance, this is the last weekend to do it. You’ll find it all at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
Next weekend, the world’s automotive microscope rotates its lens to Edmonton and the Edmonton Motorshow 2012. Naturally, we’ll be there.
[Photo credits: Lucas Elke]