Whyte Avenue dealer goes back to roots
Don Wheaton Chevrolet offers cutting-edge service, classic style
The folks at Don Wheaton Chevrolet are just putting the finishing touches on one of the company’s biggest renovations since opening for business in the 1960s on Whyte Avenue.
“We gutted almost the entire building,” said general manager David Mussell, explaining that the facility is really five “buildings” — the original structure with four additions built over the past five decades.
Planning for the major revamp started about two years ago, Mussell said, with construction beginning in February of last year. From the outside, the dealership’s new facade looks fresh and modern. The overall appearance of the business is the result of negotiations with the Edmonton Development Committee — which wanted to ensure the changes to the facade integrated well with Whyte Avenue’s “special” retail commercial character — and General Motors, which wanted to ensure the dealership incorporated design and signage elements consistent with the manufacturer’s brand identity.
Intent on preserving the building’s original appearance and street feel, the dealership chose a new neon sign that’s a nod to the signs of the ’60s, despite the fact that more modern, LED-lit signs would consume considerably less electricity. Still being refurbished is the store’s iconic space needle, a significant visual piece of history that recalls the dealership’s beginnings on the avenue decades ago. It should be back home in its original location on the roof by October.
Inside, the renovations are similarly impressive. “The new windows and lighting make the showroom brighter and give the impression it’s been enlarged, but that’s an illusion”, explains Mussell. “The three showroom areas — one each for Chevrolet, Buick/GMC and Cadillac — can hold 35 new vehicles. Don Wheaton is the only full-line General Motors dealership (carrying Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac) north of Calgary.”
The entire shop area has also been modernized, with improved lighting, the addition of several service stalls (now 21), a new tool room with a computerized retrieval system, wheelchair ramps throughout, and the eight-stall drive-thru has been fitted with highspeed opening doors.
“We’re delighted with the improvements,” Mussell says.
Although the dealership remained open for business during the renovations, a grand reopening celebration is planned for early October.
2013 Ford Escape passes track test
Last week, Ford’s public relations machine rolled into town, giving media and the public a chance to test drive the new 2013 Escape as well as learn more about other new products, including the Focus Hybrid and Fusion.
I was thoroughly impressed when I road-tested the 2013 Escape (the review was published in last week’s Driving Section), but this time we got to test the vehicles at Castrol Raceway. Let me rephrase that. We got to wring the Escape’s neck at the racetrack, using one lap to flog it in more of the kind of extreme braking, cornering and acceleration tests than a typical owner likely will experience in an entire lifetime.
Ford brought along five racecar drivers to act as instructors for our group of racetrack rookies, including NASCAR racer Daryl Harr, who hails from St. Albert.
On the street, the 2013 Ford Escape has a taut, responsive chassis — one of the best in the compact SUV segment.
On the track, the new Escape impressed me even more. When at one point I entered one tight right-hand turn waaaay too fast, with the steering cranked hard right and the tires screeching, I lifted the throttle and assumed the Escape would simply slide midcorner off-course, blowing through the orange cones. Instead, it actually braked and slowed itself. Driving editor Shelley Bindon — riding shotgun — also felt the vehicle slow noticeably, even though I hadn’t applied the brakes.
When we asked Ford representative Carlos Gonzales what technology made our Escape slow down and successfully take that curve, he attributed it to the “intelligent all-wheel- drive” system and Curve Control. Curve Control measures how much the vehicle is turning compared to how much the driver is trying to turn. When the vehicle is not turning as fast as the driver is steering, it immediately reduces power and increases brake pressure (without the driver’s intervention, and, according to Ford, much faster than drivers react on their own) to help bring the vehicle under control.
Let me just say this technology is blindingly impressive. I was driving our tester much too fast for that corner, but the 2013 Escape’s advanced technology saved our bacon. In my opinion, the Escape’s handling at the track and that real-life demonstration of Ford’s “active safety” Curve Control technology catapults it to the top of the compact SUV segment.