Torontoworker

Well we'll see I guess. Right now the program has until 2014 to go before it has fully recovered the equipment costs. The Government would like to end it and put new backing behind other clean air programs but if they even try to stop it the 'green' and other special groups will go off the deep end. All they will hear is 'clean air is ending' and they will freak out.

What they should do is to end it for the 20 year and NEWER cars but make the 20 year and older cars be tested. This would drive all the old smokers off the road who are really creating air problems. The car dealers might even pick up some new car sales if people were forced to buy a better car. But it won't happen because other special groups for the 'poor' will raise their heads out of the sand pile and scream murder as well.

What is happening right now in Ontario which is a dirty little secret is that people are going to junk yards and buying 20 + year old cars for 500 bucks and other then putting a set of plugs in, a little bondo and then are getting them plated. If it passes a half a**ed safety check they are good to go. How is this helping anyone? The junk yards are supposed to register these cars as non-road worthy but they don't for a good reason. The cost to junk them and the money they get for the steel (prices are on the floor) or any useable parts isn't worth it - but getting a quick 500 or higher for them against the industry $50 bucks they paid is better. The ministry does not enforce ownerships and plates being turned in by the person junking the car. It's there in the reg's but is never enforced so wreaked cars, rusted smoking hulks get back onto the street. Unless the car was in an accident and a payout was made - the insurance industry can't even flag these cars when people put insurance on them. Many of these people buying $500 junk yard cars drive without insurance anyway.

As far as the 959: notice it has dealer plates. He can't drive it around any other way. In theroy I guess he can drive it around for life as long as he never wants to sell it. It is a bit of an abuse of the dealer plate system - but there you go - one of many abuses never caught. The minute one of his guys goes to an MTO outlet and the VIN is put into the system - it will come up with a German or perhaps US location and the system will open up other windows for entry of import documents - of which they most likely won't have the Transport Canada one that is the central document that all others flow from. I'm willing to bet that the only country that this car could be imported to would be back to Germany. Transport Canada does not agree to TUV standards, only NHSTA (with modifications) - hence the only other way would be to send it to the US where you have to place a bond against the value of the car and have it shipped to a registered compliance agent. Thats why I asked if anyone knew which person modified the car. It looks like it wasn't if it has no personal registration on it.

Torontoworker

Speaking of grey market cars: The really, really rare type that in 'theory' could be plated (a few are in Europe) are the GT 1's and EVO 98's. FYI: 1/3 of the world supply of these cars reside in Canada!!! Although he has no plans to make a 'street able' one, I guess with his money he could use one as a crash test article and modify one other for the street. Won't happen but it would blow everyone away if he showed up at the GTA meet.

ibeaudoin

Short story,

In the 90's I use to work at a place in Montreal where the owner was renting some space in the basement to Lawrence Stroll for some of his car. In the lot he had a 959 which was legally plated in Qc and he was using it on a daily basis for some time. Really don't know how he managed to have it plated but he did. What a car!

For those of you who don't know this guy, he used to own Tommy Hilfiger Canada and now owns the Mont-Tremblant circuit and more. He's a notorious Ferrari collector. (FXX, all the F's you can imagine, a McLaren F1 and more) He owns a Ferrari 330 P4 Drogo Spyder, one of the 3 in the world, (10M$+) which he drives on his circuit.

Torontoworker

I remember him racing in the first Ferrari Challenge series at Montreal for the F1 support race on Sunday morning and these guys were using their cars as if they were racing Honda Civic's! I've never seen so much side to side, front to back contact in any 20 lap race! Larry was getting his share of contact in!