Made in Canada, eh? #blogpost

Introduction

OK, it may or may not be a secret that I am really proud to be a Canadian. Being a gearhead as well, I think that Canada doesn’t get near enough credit for the role it has played in the automotive industry. I would like to change that. So, while you read this article, grab a bottle of Canadian whisky, throw on a hockey sweater (or bunnyhug), put some maple syrup on your Canadian bacon poutine, and sit back on your Chesterfield and read why I think that Canada is one of the most underrated countries in the petrolhead universe.

Detroit Lite

Did you know that Motown has a Canadian conjoined twin? It’s called Windsor, Ontario, and it’s the gateway to one of the world’s most under-appreciated automotive production corridors. In fact, the Ford Windsor V8 engine was named after this city! Follow the #401 highway (the busiest road in North America), and you will find that southern Ontario is full of car factories. There’s a General Motors plant in the city of Oshawa, a Ford factory in the city of Oakville, and a Chrysler facility in the city of Brampton! Honda (Alliston) and Toyota (Cambridge, Woodstock) even have facilities in Ontario, as did Suzuki (the CAMI Automotive joint venture between Suzuki and GM is still running in the city of Ingersoll, producing the Chevrolet Equinox and the GMC Terrain). Many Canadian-made cars are exported around the world, especially to the United States. If you drive a Ford Edge or a Dodge Grand Caravan, for example, you can thank a Canadian.

Canada Even Had Its Own Car Companies, Eh?

While there have never really been any mainstream Canadian brands in the autosphere, we have made some pretty crazy creations. Below is the Bricklin SV-1, which was a gull-winged sportscar made from 1974-1975 in the province of New Brunswick. Although it was unreliable and not very popular, it’s still a pretty cool-looking car in my opinion.

Another Canadian supercar that you may not have heard of is the HTT Plethore. Built in Saint-Eustache. Quebec, the Plethore is said to be capable of 247 MPH, thanks to a 750-hp supercharged version of the 7.0-litre V8 from a Corvette C6 Z06. It certainly looks like a hypercar, but few examples have been produced to date. Still, it’s the fastest car to be produced in Canada, to date.

Canadian Players in the Global Car Market

While Canada might not have any mainstream car manufacturers to brag about, there are several Canadian companies that have a big influence on the global marketplace. The first company worthy of mention is Magna International, the 3rd-largest auto parts manufacturer in the world. Chances are that some of the parts on your car were made by Magna. Magna also owns the Magna Steyr production facility in Graz, Austria. Magna Steyr has made many different cars for the global market, including the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, BMW X5, Chrysler 300, Mini Countryman, Aston Martin Rapide, and even the body for the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG!

A famous subsidiary of Magna has also been responsible for some of the most innovative engineering in the automotive world. Multimatic (and its racing team, Multimatic Motorsports), is another Ontario-based company which has been flying under the radar as a company that has shaped the modern supercar. Multimatic was responsible for engineering the Aston Martin One-77 concept into a real-life production car. They built its carbon-fibre body as well as its suspension system. While the final product was assembled in Aston Martin’s Gaydon plant in England, much of the car was built in Canada. Multimatic has also built components on other Aston halo cars, including the CC100 and the Vulcan. Multimatic recently partnered with Ford to build the new Ford GT in their Canadian facility. The list of contributions to supercars and motorsport is endless, but they have also made a great impact on the design of cars for everyday people like you and I. In fact, if you live in London, you can thank Multimatic for prototyping the EV Metrocab of the future.

Conclusion

OK, so maybe I went a little overboard. But there are a lot of things in the car world that I never even realized had a Canadian connection. Call me a nationalist, but I would like my home country to be known as a bona fide driving force in the automotive world. In fact, my list doesn’t even cover half of the Canadian players out there. But I think I’ve made my point: we can do more than ride a moose or build a snowmobile to take us to our igloos. Not to sound all uppity or arrogant, but all of these little contributions make me extremely proud to be a Canadian petrolhead.

Sorry if I made it seem a little rude. Really sorry if it looked like I was bragging.

No, seriously, I am sorry.

http://www.multimatic.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magna_Steyr
http://www.httsupercar.com/competencies.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bricklin_SV-1