Car Reviews

By Jim Bray

Monday, October 23, 2006

Southern Ontario. The economic, political and cultural heart of the Canadian economy, and the bane of many from outside Ontario.

As a westerner, southern Ontario has the appeal of a root canal, but as a transplanted easterner, there are deep family roots that draw us back to Canada's spleen, er, heart, repeatedly -- proving that everything is, indeed, relative.

A trip there generally entails flying into Ottawa, scene of the crime that was my birth, and then heading to the Leamington/Kingsville area, where my wife's home fires are kept burning.

By Jim Bray

Monday, July 31, 2006

"A body designed to seduce. An engine tuned to excite. Performance engineered to reward."

That's how Porsche's website describes the Cayman S, the German company's "entry level" sports coupe, and if one is ever going to start believing marketing hype this is a pretty good place to start.

By Jim Bray

Monday, July 31, 2006

There's nothing quite like the combination of a warm day and an open top sports car to put a smile on your face.

This is especially true when the sports car in question is one of the world's greats, a car that in one form or another has inspired automotive lust for more than forty years.

By Jim Bray

Saturday, February 18, 2006

Ah, Porsche, the legendary marque with the glorious racing heritage. High end performance stuff, this, even at what could laughingly be called their entry level.

That entry level would be the Boxster currently, the mid-engined, two seat open top roadster that's guaranteed to bring a smile to the face of any car buff. For a base price of a mere $64,100 Canadian, you can strap yourself into this road rocket and be treated to zero to 60 in under six seconds from its 240 horsepower, 2.7 liter flat six.

And if that isn't enough for you, there's the Boxster S, the subject of this piece. It ups the ante in every way including, of course price. In this case, for a base price of $77,900 Canuck, you get a 3.2 liter six that cranks out 280 horses @ 6200 rpm, decreases the zero-sixty time to 5.2 seconds and increases the top speed by eight miles per hour to an awe-inspiring 167 mph.

Now that's motoring!

By Jim Bray

Monday, October 31, 2005

Porsche. Like the Maltese Falcon, it’s the stuff that dreams are made of. People fantasize about Porsche, lust after Porsche.

Me, too. I’ve always loved Porsche – from afar, alas – especially the classic 911 that in its latest incarnation is more gorgeous than ever, with lines so muscularly seductive and graceful it can bring a lump to the throat of the car nut.

As a writer fairly new to covering the auto industry and working to build credibility in that niche (no laughing, please!), when I was invited to take two versions of this automotive jewel for test sessions, wild horses (or even prancing ponies) couldn’t keep me away. So it was written and so it was done: I got to try the Carrera S hardtop and the Carrera Cabriolet convertible.

Although the Porsche Boxster styling mirrors that of the wonderfully curvaceous 550 Spyder from the 1950s, made famous in James Dean’s demise, don’t be fooled:. wWith its distinctive styling and smooth flowing lines, this is a completely modern sports car. The Boxster name is derived from a combination of two words--"Boxster", for it horizontally opposed engine and "roadster", for its body style. The Boxster convertible is available in two flavours: Boxster and the performance oriented Boxster S.