Car FYI

Photo Credit: Nissan Canada untitled The charm of an affordable sports car is a timeless, enticing way for drivers to experience the truest thrill of motion. During the 1960s and into the 1970s, the appetite for fun-to-drive performance vehicles led to the creation of the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro as well as the popularity of small British sports cars such as the MGB. Nissan seeking to expand their reach as an automobile company globally under the Datsun brand realized the importance of stimulating sales was by offering an attractive, exciting sports car. Debuting in October 1969 as the Fairlady 240Z, the sports car was mercifully recognized in North America as the 240Z thanks to the then-president of United States operations Yutaka Katayama taking proactive measures to remove vehicle’s badging before being sent to dealers. Since the 1970 model year Z sports cars, Nissan had an iconic symbol of accessible performance that was recently reflected with the 370Z. N...

Photo Credit: Chris Nagy/Car FYI Canada Theme of the Show: Beyond Expectations For an event that featured the Canadian debut and/or exhibition of several high-performance vehicles, the opening ceremonies were a particularly high-octane affair. The late Sergio Marchionne, than-CEO of Fiat Group and later Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), took to the stage for the company’s press conference followed by a Q&A in an act that could be viewed as brave or foolish. Just ahead of the auto show, his automaker had been reportedly asking for $700 million in government assistance to upgrade their Canadian manufacturing short of five years after the company accepted nearly $3 billion in loans from the Ontario provincial and Canadian federal governments in order to restructure Chrysler Group. Despite the allegations there was some serious hardball being played by the auto company, Marchionne’s speech and tone attempted to divert any hostilities drawing heavily on his personal Canadian conne...

Photo Credit: Chris Nagy/Car FYI Canada   Theme of the Show: The New Era The first Canadian International AutoShow I attended, the 2009 Toronto exhibition was an event that operated in an uncertain economic time for the industry.  The great recession ended the decade causing considerable reassessments on many fronts. With roughly 1,674,100 vehicles sold in Canadian during 2008 equating to a roughly 1 percent drop compared to the previous year, the data actually showed a radical increase in passenger car sales while truck sales fell to its deepest level in seven years. Smaller, economical cars were favoured among new vehicle buyers while traditional truck-like struggled as a hangover of high gas prices and over-saturation of the marketplace. The fickleness of the 2009 buyer would be highlighted when auto sales took a deeper plummet in Canada with 1,484,900 new vehicles sold. Besides the attitude of car buyers, the biggest change that would appear over the course of 2...

Photo Credit: Nissan North America While auto makers can talk about giving birth to a form, he human form is the ultimate creation. Despite what the automobile means to many, we all owe the existence of the ultimate creation in this world to two people. On May 8th 2016, we pay tribute to the ones who brought life to automotive innovators and admirers. For mothers in the United States, one auto maker has prepared a very amusing gift. The Nissan Mother's Day Chocolate Contest showcases the versatility of moms through their vehicles and is powered by a medium corresponding with the sweetness associated with that special person. The specially-created gift boxes feature a total of 15 vehicle-shaped chocolates depicting some of the products Nissan gives birth to in a manner of speaking. Three of Nissan's top vehicles each represent five types of candy with chocolate type and automobile combining to serve a theme. Milk chocolate is used to cast the impression of the Nissan Ro...

Photo Credit: Chris Nagy Introduced in 2015 as one of the most affordable auto racing touring series in Canada , the showroom stock based Nissan Micra Cup excelled in providing a fun motorsports experience for drivers and race fans. Heading into the second year of Canadian racing, the 2016 Nissan Micra Cup will be fought in areas outside of the province of Quebec. Planning 8 race weekends in 2016, the Nissan Micra Cup will involve two races in each event. Races held within the province of Quebec will continue to feature three staged at Circuit Mont-Tremblant as happened in 2015. Also serving as a return date for the Nissan-supported series sophomore season, the tour will also be part of the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres again in 2016. Three races will be held in Ontario that includes the season-opening race weekend at Calabogie Motorsports Park (a 5.05-kilometer track located west of Ottawa). The other two events in the province will take place at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park...

Photo Credit: Nissan Nissan is an automobile brand definitely focused on going places. Intent to become a global challenger, the Japanese-born car company has increased its profile on almost every front. In the past several years, Nissan expanded their commercial vehicle brand into the lucrative United States/ Canada, made their electric-powered Leaf one of the most-produced vehicles of its kind and has expanded their motorsport interest with NISMO. At the beginning of this week, Nissan introduced the successor to last year's Le Mans-contending ZEOD RC as they took the covers off the GT-R LM. In Sweden, a produced-based product of Nissan's NISMO brand found the fast lane on a surface very familiar to Canadians in the middle of winter. Turning an all-wheel drive Nissan Juke NISMO RS into a mean 197-horsepower snowmobile, a level of winter traction has been made possible by replacing the tires with tracks. Fitted with snow tracks provided by...

A reoccurring tale of many organized sports is the cost to compete. Tragically, the various expenses of even minor league sports (namely the proud Canadian past time of hockey) has caused a social disconnect. Arguably the most expensive competition for an individual to attempt is auto racing. The vehicles, operating costs such as fuel and tires, as well as considerations such as storage of race equipment makes maintaining the sport prohibitive for athletes. In Canada, the auto company with the most affordable new car in the marketplace will bring some racers a chance at budget-minded competition. Using the exact under car starting at a $10,000 base price, Nissan has paired with JD Motorsports and Motorsport in Action (MIA) to ready the Micra for the race track. Launching next year in the province of Quebec (a province long-regarded as a haven for small car sales), the one-vehicle Nissan Micra Cup is slated to compete during five race weekends under the Auto Sport Quebec sancti...

Years ago, there used to be general expectations for luxury cars with big and expensive garnering the most attention in high-society. However, in this new age of motoring, premium vehicles are judged with a much broader, more complicated scope where size no longer (in fact rarely) justifies a car's claim to fame. Seeing concept as well as production examples of small car luxury supplied by Lexus, Cadillac and Lincoln, the Infiniti Etherea design study debuting at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show furnishes other enlightening presentation to luxury vehicles. Formulated through a simple brush profile which Infiniti released ahead of the vehicle's unveiling, the Etherea is indeed created with a small but enchantingly shape. Only about 168 inches long, the Etherea take a car form but echoes styling cues found on the Infiniti FX crossover platform. Given a tall roof line that helps maximizes cabin comfort, Infiniti clearly states that the Etherea is not a crossover vehicle. As a matte...