CANADIAN INTERNATION AUTO SHOW 2006

Yesterday I attended the 2006 Canadian Internation Auto Show in Toronto. The cars and concepts were amazing.

I went with the intent of taking some digital pictures with my cell phone and forgot my cell phone in the car.

Anyway I went with my father to the show and it turned out to be a really great show.

I saw a few a cars that I was interested in at the show and I thought I'd describe to you all of my favourites (by the way this does relate to technology so "stay tunes").

I was in Toronto about an hour early so we ended up walking arround for about a half hour. After that they let us into the show. First lesson. BE EARLY. Since we were so early we had the chance to really get up close and personal with a few of the cars.

We started in the Rogers center (formerly Skydome) and the first thing we saw when we first arrived at the base of the Rogers Center was Chrysler.

The PT Cruiser was the first thing my father saw and he immediately asked a woman near-by if he could open it up and check it out. She says sure and immediately helps opening the doors, hood and trunk.

Funny thing about the hood. The hood on the PT Cruiser requires a prop to hold it up. Someone stole it.

As you probably know the PT Cruiser was all the rage a few years ago when it was released with its "retro" styling. You know what. Even though this vehicle isn't as popular as it was then I have to say it still stands out. The Cruiser as I'm going to call it has many things going for it. It has a lot of head room and leg room as well as a pretty comfortable seat (in the command style). Four-cylinders reside under the hood (if you can find the engine because it is really squished in there) along with all the other amenities needed. My father really like the two-tone colour scheme equipped to the dash of the Cruiser. I like the command-centre (where the stereo and climate control are located amongst other things) and the guages as they were easy to see and find.

The car that really struck me at the show was the new Dodge Caliber. We litterly opened everything up on this baby. This car or crossover is has been deemed is taking the place of the SX line that Dodge has in place of its aging Neon line. The Caliber has all the things you need and some that you don't need but are REALLY COOL. The Calibur has cupholders. I know, I know. All modern-day vehicles come with cupholders. WRONG. While most do a few still don't. I own a 1992 Mercury Grand Marquis (beautiful car). NO CUPHOLDERS and guess what. There are no cup holders in the current 2006 Ford Mercury Grand Marquis. Anyway beyond the cupholders. One of the coolest ideas was actually the cupholders. The darn cupholders actually house lights. How convenient when its dark is it not? When you open the hatch on the back there are a couple of things to be interested in. This car has an option for a 8.1 speaker sound systems. Thats cool but not as cool as the next thing. Two speakers are locked-in the hatch itself. Why did I use locked-in? Because these to speakers, when the hatch is up, can be flipped down to be used as external speakers. You can host your own tailgate party in the hatchback of a car instead of a truck ladies and gentleman. The quirkiest thing was the fact that you could actually take out the interior light housed the rear of the Calibur and use it as a flashlight. That's pretty cool.

Beyond the "cool factor" was the practical factor of the Calibur. It has integration for MP3 players as the lady told us, however they look specifically designed to fit a certain product from a certain company called Apple. If you don't know what I'm talking about check this link.

The last technology proficient car that we saw was the "Smart Car".

It basically gets a gazillion MPG as you all know for a hefty price. However, how small is this car actually. If you know me that is techno_babble I am not by any means a small guy. This car can house me snuggly but still comfortabley. Believe it or not this thing has iPod connectivity as well but not much else. Your basically getting a piece of plastic with 2 doors and 3-cylinder 40 HP engine. I am not talking down this vehicle at all but I want to state that you can actually get the Dodge Caliber for 1 000 dollars less than the smart car.

You decide.