Castrol Alley will stoke your inner child
Exhibits include eSport competitions, vintage hot rods, Hot Wheels collections
For the past 23 years Castrol has been a proud co-sponsor of the Canadian International AutoShow and they return again this year with a featured mix of displays and attractions along the 700 level, christened “Castrol Alley.”
One exhibit will feature 50 years of Hot Wheels, the No. 1 selling toy in the world. A Hot Wheels super track will be built and a dedicated display area will be set aside featuring Hot Wheels collectors and their treasures. Six life-sized Hot Wheels cars will be on display including the Darth Vader car and the 1967 Chevrolet Camaro RS.
The original line of die casts were first produced in 1968 and are now known in collector circles as the “Sweet Sixteen.” Extremely rare are the original Beatnik Bandit and the VW Beach Bomb. Today, they are commanding prices from serious collectors more than $75,000. Plan on spending some time at what can only be described as a hot rod show in miniature. Children are requested to keep their parents well-behaved while the adults are playing with the Hot Wheels.
For a classic car show in real life, Castrol Alley leads to the Art and the Automobile-Jewels presented by Cobble Beach. Located next to the Hot Wheels display are 17 rare vintage classic cars. Rolls-Royce, Packard, Pierce Arrow Bentley, Delahaye are all works of art as well as transportation, but there are two vehicles that stand out as being extra special.
The1907 Thomas Flyer Model 35 is a four-cylinder 70 HP touring car that is the identical sister car to one of the most famous cars in automotive history. Made in Buffalo, N.Y., the Thomas was known for quality, engineering and design.
In 1908, an E.R. Thomas Car was entered into “The Great Race,” which ran on open roads from New York City to Paris. The decision to enter was made at the last minute and there was little time to properly outfit the car for the race. Instead, the company pulled one of the production cars off the assembly line and entered it into the race. The race began in New York on Feb. 12, 1908, and proceeded to San Francisco, Calif. The entrants then were loaded onto a steamer and some travelled to Alaska and then Siberia. Once they arrived at Siberia via Japan and China, the race continued. This was a time when there were almost no roads and bridges in the U.S.A. and even fewer in Siberia.
The race lasted for 171days and cov- ered a distance of 21,404 kilometres. At the conclusion of the race in Paris, it was an E.R. Thomas Flyer in first place, claiming the overall victory. The car returned home to a tickertape parade in New York.
Take a close look at the Thomas on display at the AutoShow and try to imagine yourself in the dead of winter, 1908, climbing on board and embarking on a journey to drive it around the world.
Part of the GM Heritage collection, Firebird III was the most radical of all the 4 Firebird concept cars. Internally it was described as a laboratory on wheels with emphasis not only on the futuristic family but also high performance. This concept was created in 1958 but ushered in the performance cars of the 60s even lending its name to the Pontiac pony car.
It promoted some radical ideas such as a driverless car guided by cables embedded in the road that is now being tested with the use of GPS. Its use of radical fins pre-date the 1959 Cadillac.
But Firebird III’s most innovative concept came with use of two engines, one to power the automobile via a gas turbine engine and a second smaller one to power the accessories. This led to the initial thinking that goes into today’s concept of a modern hybrid vehicle.
Motorsport gaming makes its debut in “Castrol Alley.” The eSport Motorsport gaming competition will feature Xbox and Forza 7 Motorsports.
ESport gaming is a growing worldwide competition using the Forza 7 Motorsports game platform. There will be competition every day during the show with the top competitors returning on the last day to compete for $10,000 in cash prizes.
During the month of May a competition will be held with the top 100 gamers in the world invited to France for the LeMans 24-hour race and a chance to win the $100,000 in prize money. Make sure to drop by the exhibit and take a try, you may be good at it.
Lastly, Castrol-sponsored NASCAR Pinty’s series driver D. J. Kennington will not be at the show on the first weekend. Castrol is co-sponsoring Kennington in the Gaunt Brothers #96 Toyota Camry in the NASCAR season opening Daytona 500. A Canadian team with a Canadian driver sponsored by Wakefield Canada and B.C.’s Lordco Auto parts. It doesn’t get any better than that. We wish them the best and Norris McDonald will have all the results of the race in his regular Monday Toronto Star column.