Brendan McAleer 
When I was a kid, Darth Vader was a total badass: six-foot eight of Force-choking menace in a shiny black helmet. Come 1999’s Phantom Menace and suddenly he’s an adorable tow-headed tyke with an interest in robotics. Then he develops a crush on Natalie Portman (who hasn’t?), goes all emo … Read More
In 1953, General Motors pulled the wraps off a pure white confection of fibreglass and chrome; a two-door, two-seat convertible roadster that was pretty as a pin-up and, unfortunately, a total slug. Not to worry: a few years later they’d shoe-horn in a small-block Chevy V8 and there was no … Read More
The ‘90s: the heyday of the Japanese Supercar. The Acura NSX was a reliable Ferrari, the Supra Twin-Turbo was a Nipponese muscle car, and then there was the undisputed driver’s choice: the twin-turbocharged, rotary-powered third-generation Mazda RX-7. A tendency to burn oil like a two-stroke lawn mower might cause the … Read More
Walked past a newsstand lately? Chances are the entire automotive section has been emblazoned with the same glossy, hi-res shots of one of the Toyobaru twins: the Scion FR-S or the Subaru BR-Z. Both the Firs and the Birz are being loudly lauded as a return to cheap, rear-wheel-drive, sports-car … Read More
MISSION, BC – Here’s something you won’t find in Forza: this racetrack is patched, heaved, soaking-wet and strewn with debris. Unforgiving concrete barriers loom at every corner, eager to make your acquaintance; it’s the kinda place you want to be piloting a rally-scarred Subaru – not, for instance, a 400hp, … Read More
