Canada auto news

Motorsports: Penske hires Jacques Villeneuve for two NASCAR Nationwide races

Unlike his pre-BAR Honda F1 days, Jacques Villeneuve's NASCAR career has been strewn with potholes - and by "potholes" we mean crashes, mechanical failures and lowly finishes. But there have been a few successes, with third-place finishes at Montreal in 2010 and at Road America in 2011 - both road courses - and pole position at Montreal last year in the Nationwide Series.

Penske Racing is giving Villeneuve a chance to improve those placings, having offered the French-Canadian a drive in the #22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger for both of those races. Villeneuve subbed for regular Penske team driver Brad Keselowski during those two rounds in 2011, adding a 27th in Montreal to his third at Road America.

The adventure will give Villeneuve 12 NASCAR starts in the last five years, and having taken pole position at Montreal and been on the podium twice, it's not outrageous to figure he's in with a chance. "I feel, after winning the pole last year at Montreal," he said, "that we can have a lot of success. A NASCAR victory is something I want."

Video: MotoMan at Targa Newfoundland, Part Two

The crew at MotoMan has rolled out the second episode of its Targa Newfoundland coverage. This time around, Brandon Fitch and I spend plenty of time talking with the guys about the challenges of Day One, how the Flyin' Miata supercharged NC MX-5 Miata handles some of the more technical stages and joy of hauling ass through a subdivision. Meanwhile, team MotoMan gets a few valuable lessons on competition in targa from veterans of the race like Rob Pacione and learns a little about Newfoundland hospitality at the same time. As the week continues, competitors are forced to overcome a variety of challenges, from an entire engine swap in a Lotus to a water-logged 911.

Part Two gives us all a better idea of what it's like to compete in Grand Touring, where the goal is to hit a specific time and speed, rather than simply beat a time like in Targa class. Both competitions are challenging in their own right, but we have to sympathize with MotoMan's frustration at being forced to limp a Dodge Challenger 392 along at 40 miles per hour with an open road ahead of you. Scroll down to check it out for yourself.

Continue reading MotoMan at Targa Newfoundland, Part Two

Video: Japanese owner of Harley-Davidson that washed up on Canadian shore found

As far-fetched as it may seem, the owner of the Japanese Harley-Davidson motorcycle that washed up on the coast of Canada has been found. Beachcombers sent photographs of the bike to Harley-Davidson, which managed to track the registration to Ikuo Yokoyama in Miyagi Prefecture. Yokoyama lost three family members and his home in the tsunami that struck Japan a little more than a year ago and assumed his bike was gone forever. But the beachcombers have extracted the bike from the remote shore, and at its own expense, Harley-Davidson reportedly plans to have the machine shipped back to Miyagi, where it will be restored and returned to its rightful owner. Yokoyama is still living in a temporary shelter.

The bike drifted some 3,100 miles across the Pacific ocean in the back of a cube van. Yokoyama was using the box as storage for the bike on his property. Harley-Davidson says that despite plenty of corrosion, the motorcycle is in surprisingly good shape given what the machine has endured.

Miyagi Prefecture was one of the hardest-hit areas of Japan, where the disaster left 11,000 people dead or missing. Click past the jump to watch a CBC report on the remarkable story.

Continue reading Japanese owner of Harley-Davidson that washed up on Canadian shore found

Video: Harley-Davidson lost in Japan's tsunami washes up in Canada

With the longest coastline in the world, Canada is bound to get all sorts of weird things washing up on its shores from every which direction. But a Harley-Davidson motorcycle? That's what one Peter Mark found while riding his ATV on a secluded island off the Pacific coast of British Columbia. It's origin? Japan.

The bike - enclosed along with other random items in what appears to be the compartment off a moving truck - appears to have traveled some 3,000 miles across the North Pacific from Japan's Miyagi Prefecture to the Canadian province of British Columbia. That's where Mark found it, rusted but recognizable inside the white cube that was apparently washed out to sea by the tsunami that struck the island nation one year ago.

The finder of the piece of iron driftwood left it where he found it and contacted the Japanese consulate in Vancouver which is trying to track down the original owner whose fate remains unknown. Scroll down to watch the fascinating video report.

Continue reading Harley-Davidson lost in Japan's tsunami washes up in Canada

Report: Mitsubishi Mirage headed to Canada, U.S. sales chances "50-50"

Automotive News reports Mitsubishi plans to bring its recently unveiled Mirage to the Canadian market, and that the five-door hatch has a 50-percent chance of making it to U.S. buyers as well. Mitsubishi pulled the Mirage nameplate from the U.S. in 2002, but unveiled a new version of the car in Thailand just last month. At a smidge over 146 inches long, the tiny hatch would be a suitable competitor for the likes of the Chevrolet Spark and give dealers a much-needed product infusion. The company killed off the Eclipse, Eclipse Spyder and the Endeavor just recently and Mitsubishi showrooms are starting to look decidedly emaciated.

But Mitsubishi says it may not be as simple as dropping the new Mirage on U.S. soil and hoping for the best. The automaker has a reworked Outlander coming down the pike, and launching two models in close succession may make already scarce marketing dollars even harder to come by.

Then there's the fact that the new Mirage is a no-nonsense, bare-bones creation designed to appeal to the budget-minded buyers of South Asia. Mitsubishi has some reservations about unleashing the model on content-hungry Americans. Even so, Mitsubishi says the company has yet to reach an official decision about a U.S. launch.

Pierre Arpin turns metal into "immortal" art

We've all heard the argument that cars can't be art. As a commodity, vehicles are slaves to parameters of functionality, manufacturing and economics that simply have no bearing on traditional works, but Canadian sculptor Pierre Arpin believes that shouldn't stop car parts from ascending beyond their usual lot in life. While waiting in a repair shop, Arpin spotted a trashed hood and asked to take it home. The shop obliged, starting the artist down a lengthy path of creation. While he typically favors hoods, doors and radiators have also received his unique touch.

Arpin uses heat to remove the orignial paint before taking a grinder to the metal to create his unique designs. Depending on the work, paint may be reapplied afterward. The artist calls the process a type of "alchemy," and says that the technique gives the pieces a certain level of "immortality." We don't know about that, but as people with various car body parts strewn about our offices, we can see the appeal.

Followup: 185-mph Vancouver joyrider's motorcycle impounded [w/video]

We're losing track of how many top gunners post high-speed-run videos on public roads on YouTube and then get busted. Police take that tomfoolery personally, and you'd think they put the entire department on the case judging by how quickly the perps get caught.

Latest on the list is a Canadian motorcyclist who took his Yamaha on the Trans-Canada Highway and ran it to about 300 kph. CBC News now reports that the unidentified rider in question is 25 years old, unlicensed, riding an uninsured Yamaha R1 registered in his mother's name. Then there's the small matter of his 25 previous infractions.

Police wasted no time tracking down YouTube poster "Joe Blow," but he's been uncooperative up to now. We have no idea why he wasn't in jail already after 25 violations, but we're guessing his Internet handle will soon be changed to "Three Hots and a Cot." Scroll down to refresh your memory with a video demonstration of his stupidity.

Continue reading 185-mph Vancouver joyrider's motorcycle impounded [w/video]

Video: Stream the one-hour SPEED Targa Newfoundland special

If you've got an hour to kill and an itch to watch some exciting Targa Newfoundland action, we've got good news for you. SPEED has been kind enough to stream the network's one-hour special free online. The episode spends plenty of time following both the Modern and Classic divisions with barely a nod toward Open or Grand Touring. That's a shame for plenty of reasons, both because the competition was incredibly tight across the board this year and because I hung out with two entries in both the latter classes during my time up north.

Still, the Flyin' Miata guys get a little time on screen. The rest of the coverage details the fight between Scott Giannou in his 1981 Porsche 911 and Bob Yuille in his 1969 Chevrolet Camaro. There's also plenty of interviews with Ralph Gilles. You can check out the full episode by clicking past the jump.

Continue reading Stream the one-hour SPEED Targa Newfoundland special

Video: MotoMan gives Targa Newfoundland the documentary treatment

It's been seven months since I crammed into a supercharged Mazda Miata with the Flyin' Miata crew and fought tooth and nail for a fifth-place finish in the Grand Touring class of the 2011 Targa Newfoundland. That amount of time has done nothing to dull my desire to head right back into the fray as soon as possible. While I was there, the FM team spent a good deal of time hanging out with our friends over at MotoMan, and the crew just finished putting the final touches on its race documentary.

The first episode shows off the sweet SRT-tweaked Dodge Challenger the MotoMan guys got to play with. With plenty of suspension adjustments, a full cage and a bare-bones interior, the big white beast was as far from the NC Miata we campaigned as you could get. Watch the clip after the jump for an introduction to a few of the other competitors, including SRT CEO Ralph Gilles, as well as an interview with driver Brandon Fitch and myself. Keep an eye out for more episodes, too.

Continue reading MotoMan gives Targa Newfoundland the documentary treatment

SR Auto's Scion iQ looks like it swallowed a Mitsubishi Evo... and an Angry Birds pig

Canada's SR Auto Group likes to take a car, any car, and make it wilder. The Audi S4 they did looks intriguingly evil. The wheels they've created for the Lamborghini Reventon are amazing.

Their latest canvas is the Scion iQ, which became Project Pryzm. "The objective behind Project Pryzm was to create a car that would leave you speechless," says SR Auto. Let's just say they're getting really close, but we still have a few things to say about it.

These guys apparently took inspiration from the Mitsubishi Evo and one of the pigs from Angry Birds, and we think they've come up with mixed results. We like the idea of a more aggressive iQ, we're just not sure we're fans of one with this much going on. Passengers are treated to an upgraded interior with leather seats and diamond-stitched suede inserts on the seat centers and door panels.

Check out our gallery for more images, then let us know what you think of this pint-sized mouth-breather.