A Dutch company has built a completely stunning reimagination of a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti as a shooting brake, a design the Modena brand never produced in-house. The project was dreamt up by Robert Koumans of Vandenbrink Design, a Dutch company consisting of just a few coachbuilding masters, as well as Maurik van den Heuvel of Classic Youngtimers Consultancy. The design was first drawn up in 2008, but now they’re ready to build some for customers. The shooting brake style goes back to the golden age of street cars, with designers like Bertone, Drogo, Pininfarina, Touring Superleggera, Vignale and Zagato taking liberties with the original style of a vehicle to make it more usable for the rich folks that bought them to go fox hunting. Hence the name shooting brake—it was designed to hold your gun cases. A lot of shooting brake conversions end up going wrong, but this one seems to be quite nice. The subtle curve on the rear roof gives it a much more sporty look, as do the glass roof inserts above the rear passenger compartment. The interior is beautifully finished, as well as the exterior, and we assume that Vanderbrink will make it any colour you like. The 612 Scaglietti doesn’t receive much love, mostly due to its wonky face. However, turning something into a shooting brake immediately makes it look better. If you want one, you can actually buy one, if you have the cash. Vandenbrink Design is taking orders for the shooting brake, and they’ll be built on a purely custom-order
Origin: This Ferrari 612 Scaglietti shooting brake is a coachbuilt beauty
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This road patch makes pothole repairs last longer
Canadian drivers are no strangers to the pothole. We’ve all swerved to avoid one, slowed to crawl through one or had to wait behind a person holding a stop sign on a pole while a crew worked to fill one. No, there’s no such thing as a good experience with a pothole, which is why the best kind is the filled kind, and also why this product that purports to help keep them that way for longer is so intriguing. It’s called the American Road Patch and it’s basically a big bandage with adhesive that bonds to concrete and asphalt surfaces on one side and a road-like texture on the other. As the video explains, pothole repairs fail when the hole isn’t properly sealed and water gets in to the affected area, sometimes as quickly as just a few days after being filled. But when the patch is placed over the filled hole, it provides a superior seal that keeps the moisture out longer. “American Road Patch because it’s placed over the existing pothole and immediately adheres to and actually becomes part of the road,” the host of the video explains. “Where American Road Patch has been used it has provided years of maintenance-free service. Over the long run, (it) saves time and money over conventional methods of pothole repair.” The product, which is has a protective cover that you literally peel off of the sticky side just like a Band Aid, is currently in place on U.S. interstates, on state and county roads and in driveways, and has been tested mostly in the company’s home state of Alabama, far from the frozen highways of the Northern States and Canada. Will it work up here where frost heave regularly upsets the contours of our nation’s roads? There’s a ‘where to buy’ section on the company’s website that includes Canada, so if you get one for that stubborn pothole in your driveway and test it out this year, please let us know.
Origin: This road patch makes pothole repairs last longer
Jaguar head designer Ian Callum stepping down this summer
Ian Callum, Jaguar head designer.Handout Ian Callum, the well-known head of Jaguar design who helped shape the marque’s modern look, will be leaving the company effective July 1, he revealed early June, to be succeeded creative design director Julian Thomson. Callum, 64, has spent the past 20 years working with Jaguar, and said while he’s stepping away from the brand to explore other design projects, he will still work as a styling consultant for the automaker. The designs spearheaded by Callum since 1999 include the Jaguar XF sedan; the F-Type two-seat sports car; and, most recently, the I-Pace electric crossover. He started his career working with Ford, and eventually headed up Aston Martin design, leading the teams responsible for the DB7, DB9 and Vanquish. Yesterday I told my team I was leaving as Design Director for Jaguar after 20 years. I’ve done what I set out to do. Time for a new adventure. I pass the baton onto my good friend and great designer Julian Thomson.… https://t.co/Q8eC5Ir9Uw Ian Callum (@IanCallum) June 4, 2019 I came into this role with a mission to take Jaguar design back to where it deserved to be, Callum said in a statement. It has taken 20 years, but I believe I have achieved what I set out to do. Given the strength of both our products and the design team I feel that now is the right time to move on, both personally and professionally. Julian Thomson, who has been with Jaguar since 2000, also started with Ford before becoming head of design at
Origin: Jaguar head designer Ian Callum stepping down this summer
Put on Your Judgy-Pants: Crossing the street shouldn’t be this hard
In Etobicoke last week, a woman properly using a pedestrian crosswalk was hit by a minivan and thrown several metres. A controlled crosswalk. There is video—she properly activates the overhead signal to stop traffic, she pauses, she raises her arm to increase being seen. The intersection near The Queensway and Milton Ave has a 50 km/h speed limit. The minivan carries right on, hitting her as she’s halfway through the crosswalk. Warning: this video may be disturbing to some viewers. WARNING: Disturbing content. NEWSTALK1010 has obtained video of a pedestrian getting hit by a van in Etobicoke, thankfully with non-life threatening injuries. But residents say it’s been a dangerous intersection for years and want change. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/E9zd8SARdh NEWSTALK1010 (@NEWSTALK1010) May 23, 2019 News stories can be misleading. Sure, she was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries, which is great news. But don’t tell me that getting hit by a minivan going 50 km/h (undetermined) and thrown isn’t going to give you injuries. Soft-tissue damage is real, and there is absolutely no good outcome when steel meets flesh. Dude has been charged with careless driving causing bodily harm. Anyone who blisters into a pedestrian crosswalk with lights activated should also have a search done for where their phone was at the time. That is just my opinion. Locals have weighed in that it’s long been a dangerous intersection; politicians are making noise about decreasing speed limits and increasing signals. In the meantime, shall we judge? Take Our
Origin: Put on Your Judgy-Pants: Crossing the street shouldn’t be this hard
Got a Need for Speed? This camera car from the film is for sale
If you’ve ever wanted to own a piece of movie history, now’s your chance. A company in Nebraska is offering a 2013 Mustang GT that was converted into a camera car for the 2014 film Need for Speed. The movie, starring Aaron Paul, was inspired by the video game series. Don’t expect the car to come with a matching Oscar award, of course; many critics only gave the film a one-star review when it was released. Currently for sale on eBay, the black car was upgraded by Saleen with a supercharger that boosts it to 625 horsepower, along with a 3.73 rear end, 14-inch brakes, and a custom-made roll cage. It’s got a 5.0-litre V8 and six-speed manual transmission. Modifications for its duty as a camera car include a glass compartment in place of the rear hatch, and a variety of camera mounts around the exterior. To make room for equipment, the front passenger-side airbag is missing, so you’ll have to put up with the warning light when you’re driving—along with the tire and open-door sensor warning lights, thanks to the rear hatch modification. It’s got only 7,791 miles (12,538 km) on the odometer, and for US$34,900, it can be
Origin: Got a Need for Speed? This camera car from the film is for sale
Prepare yourselves for traffic hell in Toronto this weekend
Traffic along King St. W., at Simcoe St. in downtown Toronto.Ernest Doroszuk You know summer is almost here when it becomes impossible to navigate Toronto by car. For the people who live here, that’s not such a bad thing. Neighbourhoods are meant to be people friendly, and cars most decidedly are not. Look for parts of Kensington Ave, Augusta Ave and Baldwin St in the Kensington Market to be closed on Sunday from noon until 10:30pm, part of the ongoing Kensington Market’s Pedestrian Sundays; the next one is June 30. With the Raptors returned to town for Game 5 against Milwaukee, Bremner Blvd and Lakeshore Road West to east of 25 York will be closed for a tailgate party on Saturday from 7 a.m. until midnight. And it’s a Jays afternoon game both Saturday and Sunday, so there will be thousands of extra cars roaming around the downtown core hopelessly searching for cheaper parking. Toughest for out-of-towners will no doubt be the maintenance closure of the Don Valley Parkway at 12:01 a.m. Sunday until 5 a.m. Monday. Double check subway lines for hiccups there, too. Originally scheduled to close for the entire weekend, expected rain on Saturday hampered resurfacing efforts. Toronto Island is battling its own woes, with ankle-deep water flooding much of the area. Recreation plans should be delayed while residents battle the encroaching Lake
Origin: Prepare yourselves for traffic hell in Toronto this weekend
This functioning Tesla Model X is the latest rad Lego fan-build
There have been many Lego replicas, big and small, come to light on the Internet in recent years, many of which we’ve covered here. What makes this latest example, a 1:10 model of the Tesla Model X, worthy of your attention is the fact its creators at RoboticLife found a way to incorporate nine small Lego motors to accomplish a variety of electric functions including four-wheel-drive, automatic doors and an adjustable suspension. And it’s all controlled by a mobile app. The suspension adjusting between ‘standard’ and ‘high’ – the latter being reserved for when the little EV needs to do some off-roading, like drive over some leaves or a small branch – is highly satisfying to behold. A hand pushing down on the front and rear of the model demonstrates the softness of the suspension. The falcon doors don’t open quite as smoothly as on the real things, but they’re made out of plastic bricks, so—. The front doors also operate automatically, just like in the actual vehicle. The Lego Model X can even do something the real Model X can’t—open its doors while moving. Inside, a paper cutout of the vertical infotainment screen is mounted to the dash. Because it’s not officially sanctioned by Lego, the kit for this Model X build isn’t for sale anywhere, but its creators at RoboticLife are offering the build instructions for just US$2. Hit them up on Facebook if you want in.
Origin: This functioning Tesla Model X is the latest rad Lego fan-build
This Bentley book costs more than an actual Bentley
Bentley is celebrating its 100th birthday, and to commemorate its long and storied history, they’ve written the whole thing down—yes, the British luxury marque’s just released a big book of stories about how it got where it is today, beginning with its inception in 1919. The Bentley Centenary Book is 800 pages and encompasses nine chapters about the famous brand. The foreword is by Ralph Lauren, while the chapters touch on subjects such as performance, design, craftsmanship, and its customers. The book also weighs some 30 kilograms and spans almost a metre across, when opened. Three versions of the book will be printed. The first is a basic’ edition which costs £3,000 pounds (about $5,100) and is limited to just 500 copies. The exterior is bound in the same leather used on Bentley vehicles in whatever colour you like, and sports a Bentley badge. Only 100 copies of the Mulliner version will be printed, at a cost of £12,500 each, or approximately $21,400. That extra cash gets you 10 portraits measuring 20-by-24-inches, each featuring an iconic Bentley, as well as 56 watercolour paintings. You also get a section of the front-left tire from the 2003 24 Hours of Le Mans-winning Bentley Speed 8, and a chance to have your car – provided it’s a Bentley – photographed and featured on special pages. The big boy is the Centenary Edition, which features 100 carats of diamonds and costs a whopping £200,000. That’s about $340,000, or almost $10,000 per kilogram. Only seven of the centenary edition will be printed, one for each continent. We’re confident if all seven owners ever get together, they will probably conjure W. O. Bentley’s ghost, who will tell them what the next 100 years will
Origin: This Bentley book costs more than an actual Bentley
Car shows and racing events across B.C. this weekend
The 1933 Ford Tudor Sedan owned by Richard Hicks and Wes Bakers 1929 Ford Model A at last weekends Langleys Cars and Crafts.Cam Hutchins VANCOUVER — I only attended one car show last weekend, but it was for a good cause and I had a chance to spend lots of time speaking with many cool car owners. One of those was a 2007 GT 500 Super Snake at the Cars and Crafts Show in Langley. The GT 500 Super Snake is the result of Shelby American in Las Vegas, which added optional performance equipment to the Ford factory Shelby GT 500. As coincidence would have it I went to the Shelby Museum and factory in 2008 when this Super Snake was being created. This Super Snake churned almost 800 horsepower on the Mopac dyno and runs over 140 m.p.h. in the quarter mile. The owner showed me the Shelby American-added driver’s side mirror warning “Objects in Mirror are losing”. This car is audacious and earns a special spot in my heart. Another audacious beast at the show was a 1956 Packard Patrician with the push-button automatic transmission. This giant four-door car was the last model built by Packard before their “merging of equals” with Studebaker left them both crumbling. The car was restored many years ago and is longingly looked after by its present owners who drive it sparingly and respectively. One thing this car needs is the ring that fastens the engine ignition switch. It is broken and the couple he found on online are unsuitable. Any Packard fans out there with this little piece gathering dust? Readers know that I am a huge fan of British cars. I grew up with them, and even though the industry fell on hard times throughout the 70’s there are still so many great cars of interest. During the 50’s and early 60’s the mix of cars in Vancouver were almost 50 per cent of British decent. And as always, if you attend tomorrow’s All-British Field meet at VanDusen Gardens, you’ll see a huge a variety of British cars, from quirky little Mini Moogs to graceful old Rolls-Royces that still get regularly driven. Almost every British car has a passionate group of fans keeping their beloved cars alive. Which ever event you get to this long weekend, make sure you bring a kid along for the ride! SHOWS SATURDAY, MAY 18 What: All-British Field Meet Where: VanDusen Botanical Garden, 37th Oak Street, Vancouver When: 10 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. Admission: Adults $18; Senior $14; Youth (13-18) $14; Child (3 12) $8; Child under 2 and under free Info: 604-736-6754 or jstewart@westerndriver.com Website: westerndriver.com What: 11th Annual Holiday Trails Resorts Show Shine Where: Camperland RV Resort, Bridal Falls When: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission: Free Registration: 9 a.m. $10 per vehicle includes lunch Info: 604-614-4815 or george@cantexx.ca SUNDAY, MAY 19 What: All-Brit Run Vancouver to Whistler Where: 8:30 a.m. start at Park Royal Mall, West Vancouver 8.30 a.m. Info. 604 736 6754 jstewart@westerndriver.com Website: westerndriver.com What: Creston Valley Cruisers Blossom Fest Show Shine Where: Downtown Creston When: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission: Free Registration: $25 at the gate Info: crestonvalleycruisers@gmail.com Website: crestonvalleycruisers.com What: 22nd Annual Kaslo May Days Car Show Where: Front Street, Kaslo When: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission: Free Registration: 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. $10 and open to all vehicles Info: 250-353-2500 or superdavekaslo@gmail.com Website: kaslomaydays.com What: 22nd Annual Peachland World Of Wheels Car Show Where: Beach Avenue, Peachland When: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission: Free Registration: 7 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. $20 and open to all vehicles Info: 250-767-6718, 250-215-8085 or peachlandcarshow@gmail.com Website: peachlandcarshow.com COMPETITIONS MAY 17 What: Friday Night Drag Racing Where: Mission Raceway Park, 32670 Dyke Rd., Mission When: Gates open at 4:30 p.m.; racing starts at 5 p.m. and ends at 11 p.m. Info: 604-826-6315 or info@missionraceway.com Website: missionraceway.com MAY 18 What: P.N.D. Soil Gravel Night at the Races Where: Western Speedway, 2207 Millstream Rd., Victoria Info: 250-474-2151 or denise@westernspeedway.net Website: westernspeedway.net MAY 18-19 What: 62nd Annual Knox Mountain Hill Climb Where: Knox Mountain, Kelowna When: 9 a.m. to 5p.m both days Admission: Day pass $20; weekend pass $25 Info: 250-878-1233 or bryanfulton@shaw.ca Website: knoxmtnhillclimb.ca What Young Guns Memorial Weekend Where: Penticton Speedway, 2070 Carmi Ave., Penticton, When: Racing starts Saturday at 7 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m. Info: 250-809-9117, 250-460-0121 or pentictonspeedway17@gmail.com Website: pentictonspeedway.com Date: May 18-19 Where: Saratoga Speedway Oval Track Racing Event: Monster Truck Show, Crash to Pass, Mad Max Extreme Racing, Figure 8 Cars, Hornet B Division. Rain or Shine Info: 1-250-337-5024 race@saratogaspeedway.bc.ca Website: http://www.saratogaracing.ca To have your event included in the Carnut Corner please e-mail
Origin: Car shows and racing events across B.C. this weekend
Toronto traffic report: You’re going nowhere this summer!
Signs warning motorists of a construction zone stand near RioCans ePlace project, a commercial/residential development in Toronto, Ontario, Canada December 19, 2017.Chris Helgen / Reuters Toronto, we have some good news and some bad news. First the good: three days ago, Mayor John Tory tweeted the launch of “Toronto’s busiest construction season ever, with more than $1 billion in work planned for roads, bridges, expressways, sewers, and watermains. This is the largest investment into a City of Toronto construction season yet.” After a decade of significant dissolution in the city’s infrastructure, a major cash injection will not only boost the economy in the short term, providing well-paying jobs, it’ll help in the long term too, improving flow of movement. Now the bad news: three days ago, Mayor John Tory tweeted the launch of “Toronto’s busiest construction season ever with more than $1 billion in work planned for roads, bridges, expressways, sewers, and watermains. This is the largest investment into a City of Toronto construction season yet.” Translation? Get yourself some comfortable sneakers or ask your boss for permission to telecommute, because it’s going to be an unprecedentedly slow summer in the Smoke. If you thought traffic was bad here before— Some $590 million of that billion-plus is going towards pasting and duct-taping the Gardiner Expressway (“Expressway”? Sue them for false advertising) once again, plus towards more cycling infrastructure and Tory’s wobbly Vision Zero, the traffic plan that aims to prevent any more pedestrian or cyclist deaths by drivers. Not that walkers and riders have much to fear about speeding automobiles this summer. According to the Torontoist, “A whopping 600 roads (or more) are going to be under construction this summer, equalling up to 140 kilometres in road paving”. The natural reaction is to flip out, especially if you’re unfortunate enough to live or work beside one of these hundreds of projects and simply can’t avoid its inevitable time-consuming and frustrating consequences. But that’s the unfortunate reality of all city life. Construction is a by-product of success. A city is better compared to an organic, aging body that needs maintenance and care than a suite of lifeless engineering projects you complete and leave for posterity. Remember any of the scenes of the Eternal City in that mid-2000s HBO show, Rome? The creators very wisely depicted streets with chaotic construction abounding. Rather than the pristine paintings of a fully formed and idealized Rome that you’d see in, say, Cecil B Demille movies, wide sweeping vistas were constantly interrupted by wooden cranes and scaffolding. Noisy, living chaos. That’s how cities work until they don’t. Ponder that while you review the following. Again, from the Torontoist, here’s just a soupçon of the improvements coming to our roads, bridges and highways this summer: Kipling Avenue, Bloor Street West and Dundas Street West, Six Points Interchange Reconfiguration; Four bridges over the Don Valley Parkway, rehabilitation of Don Mills Road, Spanbridge Road, Wynford Drive and Lawrence Avenue bridges; Gardiner Expressway Strategic Rehabilitation from Jarvis Street to Cherry Street, first phase; Bloor Street West from Bathurst Street to Spadina Avenue, watermain replacement, streetscaping, bike lane construction and road resurfacing; Richmond Street from York Street to Bathurst Street, watermain replacement; Jarvis Street from Dundas Street to Queen Street, road resurfacing (resuming from 2018); Don and Central Waterfront, first phase, Coxwell Bypass Tunnel boring; Queen Street East and Eastern Avenue, TTC track replacement; Birchmount Road from Eglinton Avenue East to Lawrence Avenue East, road resurfacing; Midland Avenue from Danforth Avenue to Lawrence Avenue East, road reconstruction; Old Weston Road from St. Clair Avenue West to Rowntree Avenue, road resurfacing; Royal York from Dixon Road to Summitcrest Drive, road resurfacing; York Mills Road from Leslie Street to Don Mills Road, road resurfacing; Willowdale Avenue from Empress Avenue to Finch Avenue, road resurfacing and bike lane installation; and Bayview Avenue over the west Don River, bridge repairs Having trouble cheering up and thinking of the long-term good that’s coming of all that work? Well, it seems that every day lately the city learns about more subtle budget cuts from the province to countless other aspects of city life; maybe tomorrow the mayor will announce he’s canceling all this work instead, to save
Origin: Toronto traffic report: You’re going nowhere this summer!
All about car 