Michael Banovsky

Yes, this is awesome. No, it’s not sold here. It’s the Suzuki APV, a small van-thingy that looks an awful lot like the Honda Crossroad (also awesome).

My thoughts? Automakers selling cars in North America better start selling more unique, personable cars that fit into the myriad lifestyles of consumers.

Yesterday and today I’ve taken the MX-5 long-termer to teh Intrawebs course. It’s been bright, sunny, and marvelous each day. I wonder, though, if living with the car through the thick of winter (as seen here), makes the sunny days that much better?

Please, don’t get me wrong: I love Ford. One of my first memories of them was when my dad came home in an Explorer Eddie Bauer, with which the family took on an extended test drive to Canatara Beach. It was brilliant. External temperature display and compass! Both very gee-whiz for a young kid.

He went with a less expensive Explorer, then into a Lincoln Continental. Green on green. Cool car.

But now I look across the Ford range — especially the Taurus X and Focus — and I wonder who the fuck has been making decisions at that company for the last ten years? in Canada the Taurus X costs $3000 more than an Infiniti EX35. Wait, what? The Focus is more than a Volkswagen City Golf! And dressing shitty vehicles up with crap like Sync won’t win you fans.

Ford, you won’t have much more time to think about selling cars until you can produce some great product. The Flex, MKS, Transit Connect, and everything Ford Australia or Europe makes looks amazing.

Why have you forsaken your home market?

Well the challenge has started, hanging out with Kathy(?), and I think we’re gonna easily win these challenges. First things first, head to Scarborough(?). listen

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So I’m just about ready to go downstairs, for an orientation meeting for the Pontiac Vibe event and I’m checking out catchthevibe.ca. Look at the challenges on the right hand side if you scroll down a little bit. They look pretty crazy and I think tomorrow will be an interesting day to see how many of them we can do. Anyway, look for more updates along the road tomorrow. listen

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This is Jott thing I just signed up for. Basically, it let’s you talk into your phone and it will post the text anywhere you likes so actually, this is finished. It’s gonna go right to my blog that you’re hopefully reading right now and it will get sent to my inbox. It’s a free service, it’s incredible to use. Super easy and unfortunately, pretty addictive. So, you maybe seeing a lot more of this in the coming weeks. listen

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Oh. My. Goodness. I generally stay away from kit cars…but this one is magnificent. Enjoy.

Thanks to the crew at Vermont SportsCar and Flatovercrest (and linked to at the Garage Blog!), here’s a clip of Ken Block doing an entire stage at last weekend’s 100 Acre Wood rally. Average speed? Over 120kph.

Today was my first drive in the Infiniti EX35 wagon. Well, not wagon…SUV? Crossover? I don’t get why we’ve got to categorize every vehicle on-sale — because inevitably something won’t fit. The wagon-like EX35 is one of them.

And, despite committing a cardinal sin (it’s marketed as a crossover), it’s alright.

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Once they leave the restaurant, this clip really picks up. The highlight?

“What kind of gas mileage am I gonna get?”

“52.”

“52 in the city?”

“Depending on the city, of course. Duluth is considered a city, but it’s not as big as Brooklyn, or whatever.”