He saw a supercar at 17 and decided he had to have one
WHY I LOVE MY CAR Dan Briere’s Lamborghini coupe is bright yellow and has 500 horsepower. What’s not to like?
Dan Briere got his first up-close look at a supercar 10 years ago when a friend of his father’s came to visit in a Ferrari. The star-struck teen vowed to have a supercar of his own one day. Two years ago, he got one: a 2005 Lamborghini Gallardo coupe, with a 500-horsepower, V-10, mid-rear-mounted engine.
Briere, now 27 and a welder who lives in Port Perry, Ont., explains how he came to own a coveted Italian sports car:
“I got an old manual Volkswagen Jetta as a birthday gift while I was in my teens. Although we never got it to the point it could go on the road, my brother and I learned to drive stick shift with it in the driveway. Then my grandparents gave us a 2003 Ford Escape that my brother and I shared.
I wanted a cool car and, by 2016, I had saved enough money to buy a 2012 Jaguar. It was a luxury car, with a red leather interior, but no one paid attention to it, as it looked like a normal four-door sedan. I figured I had to take it up a step.
I looked online for old Ferraris, but found they had a lot of problems. Lamborghinis had a more reliable transmission, could be had for better prices, and could appreciate in value. I wanted a specific colour and a manual transmission. Then COVID came, and car prices skyrocketed. I thought there was no way I’d be getting one.
Then, one came up online that was the right colour (Giallo Midas, a pearl yellow), was a manual and was fairly priced. I was sick at the time, but Dad said “Let’s go get it!,” made me get out of bed, and we drove to Ottawa. I’d never seen a Lamborghini in person before, let alone driven one. I’d spent 10 years saving the money to buy it (with a little help from Dad), put in 20,000 working hours, and spent four years looking for the right one. We made the deal and I had to drive it home.
It wasn’t luxury like the Jaguar, more like a race car. I could hear the wind, and it was a lot stiffer to drive. I thought ‘Oh, my God, what have I bought!’ It’s a lot more raw than the Huracán (the model that replaced the Gallardo in 2014). The guy who sold it said it had an issue and couldn’t be driven in the rain. I was driving it home, it started raining, and the car broke down. It was a nightmare. I was on the side of the road in the pouring rain, and had to have it towed home.
The mechanic who works on my brother’s Maserati couldn’t figure out its issue. I didn’t hand wash it or drive it in the rain. I kept looking into it, and figured the issue was with a sensor, so I bought one on eBay, replaced it myself and now it drives fine in the rain.
It was completely original. I put in new door panels, replaced the radio, upgraded the speakers, added a backup camera and dash cam, and replaced the exhaust. The next thing I’ll do is custom air intakes, and custom tail lights. Everything for it is expensive. Oil changes cost $500, the door panels were $3,000, the radio was $2,000 and the exhaust was $10,000. (It has a custom licence plate, WELDMNEY).
The best adventure I’ve had is taking it to Picton on a camping trip in the bush. My buddies couldn’t believe I brought it, but I watch these guys on the internet, Daily Driven Exotics, who do all kinds of things with supercars. I decided to drive like those guys. I don’t just park my car and use it once a year.
I don’t winter drive it. In my industry, I see how rusted metal can become, and how salt can destroy a vehicle. I live on a dirt road, so it gets dirty and muddy. I’m fine with anything but road salt.
I love going fast and people have told me I should take it on the track, but I’m also not the biggest speed guy. I’ve never gotten a speeding ticket with it. Although it’s not luxurious like the Jaguar, I fell in love with the Lambo and its stiffness is for speed and precision. I’ll never sell it.
I’ve been to car shows at Canada’s Wonderland and when I show up in the Lambo, they take me right to the front with the cool cars. I’ve met a lot of people there. I’ve met other Lamborghini owners, but none are my age; most are far older, so we don’t have much in common, other than the cars. Someone I knew had a ‘97 Honda. When it came down the road, you’d hear it and wave. I wanted something with a recognizable sound and the Lambo has that. Kids go nuts for it. They’ll run down the street with their phones to take pictures of it. It’s like being a movie star.”