Canadian International Autoshow 2025
Audi did an excellent job with the displays
I love the AutoShow. There's something about the idea of it that appeals to me, and always has.
It's a giant show devoted to cars, yet it's so much more than that. As a kid you get to see neat cars you've only ever seen on TV. Or maybe it's a chance to escape your parents' grasp for a while and roam around freely checking things out at your leisure.
I'm finding as an adult, just like many of my favourite events it's a chance to catch up with my 'car friends' whether it's in passing at the show, or chatting up the brave ones actually working the show.
Media festivities kicked off at 8am, so in order to make it from our neck of the woods West of Barrie required some early alarms. Facing a 4 foot wall of compacted ice and snow the decision was relatively quickly made that I wasn't going to try to barge my Multipla through and the C43 would once again hove to come to an Italian rescue. This seems to be a common thread in a lot of our adventures I may add....
This is not the way
I personally cannot stand being directed where to go on my own time. I can tell you whatever is of interest is usually in the opposite direction to hundreds of people being directed by disinterested security guards towards whatever photo op is coming up next. I find myself having the same conversation every year:
'Sir you can't go that way'
'But I want to'
'But the tour is this way'
'Yes but I want to go see that car over there'
'But the tour is this way'
'Bye'
I understand the show is trying to create a curated experience for the press, however it's impossible to film or shoot anything with hundreds of others jockeying to get that perfect shot. All the good photo ops are the other way :D
The first real grabber of the AutoShow was the Cadillac Celestiq, I actually quite liked it (apart from the name, I don't know why auto makers choose these unpronounceable, unspellable names for bespoke products)
I understand it's not a manual. I understand it's an EV. I get all of that, however one cannot deny that a big part of the future is electric, so let's just focus on doing it right instead of bickering over dogma. I enjoyed seeing the obvious care that went into the styling of this vehicle and I'm glad GM is putting some effort into something notable like this.
From there one notable standout is the Jeep offroad track. I'm glad it's back, it's a hell of a time and what a great way to showcase how much fun offroading can be. We managed to get a ride with the wildest driver out there, Mr. Stop & Go in a pink 392 Wrangler, being added to a Stellantis mailing list is well worth it.
Speaking of Stellantis, I'm a sucker for anything Fiat, and I can't help but like the new Charger as well. It just has presence. The buttons felt like they were ready to fall out of the dash, and the fake exhaust was underwhelming but hey, it's a fun gimmick can't blame them for trying. I'd love to test drive one.
Notable mentions for the AutoShow, Autostrada knocked it out of the park as always. There's nothing like a Diablo that screams CAR I WANT TO SEE AT THE AUTOSHOW. Their inclusion of a few resto modded classics was cool as well. The amount of organization, planning and handshake deals to bring these cars to the AutoShow must be mind boggling.
Ultimate Exotics has become a fixture at the AutoShow. The fact that you can actually go out and DRIVE the cars they have displayed is a unique concept. See Supercar, drive supercar at a later date. I first encountered Ultimate exotics at the AutoShow years ago, and signed up to do their 6 hour tour with a friend of mine. I've come back 3 more times since. It's THAT good. Seriously. You owe it to yourself.
The Cobble Beach exhibit was excellent, I was very much intrigued by the Mercedes typ 130, it was fairly unremarkable until I looked at the interior and it felt like the spitting image of a Volkswagen Beetle. What a curious little car, probably the neatest suprise at the show for me.
All in all, the AutoShow did not disappoint. With the exception of Oblivion not having a space. Sure an F1 car might be ok to view, but I certainly miss seeing the 80s & 90s brought back to life. Here's hoping the AutoShow can bring that back for next year.