Automotive News Canada - October 2024 - 54

54
10.24
54
FINAL ASSEMBLY
* OCTOBER 2024
A LITTLE BROTHER
GROWS UP IN A
Racing driver Marc Lafleur
benefited from the program
and now he's giving back
BIG WAY
A SEPTEMBER CAMPAIGN BY
Mercedes-Benz Canada focused on
a Big Brother who takes his Little
Brother to a garage full of high-performance
vehicles, where they
meet racer and entrepreneur Marc
Lafleur.
Mercedes hopes to inspire a new
generation of Big Brothers and
Sisters to take on the role of mentor,
much like Lafleur's Big Brother did
when Lafleur was a
Marc Lafleur, left, tours a showroom with an
unidentified Big Brother and his Little Brother as
part of the Driving Your Future events sponsored by
Mercedes-Benz Canada. PHOTO: MERCEDES-BENZ
Art from parts
Shop owner fashions
sculptures of people from
exhaust tubing, wheels and
other pieces, and doesn't
spare the imagination
WINDSOR, ONT., AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR
scion Peter Solly has used his spare time -
and spare parts - to create sculptures honouring
such icons as classic-car impresario
and comedian
Jay Leno and
Canadian hockey
legend Gordie
Howe.
Solly,
Windsor repair-shop
owner Peter Solly
creates sculptures
out of spare parts,
including a rendition
of hockey great Gordie
Howe. SUPPLIED PHOTO
who owns
MacDonald's
Automotive
Supercentre,
uses wheels,
exhaust tubing,
mufflers and
other parts to
create the sculptures,
which
can stand as
tall as six feet.
He extended an
open invitation
to Leno to visit
Windsor to pick
up his creation,
Solly told CBC
News.
The Howe piece honours the NHL and
hockey icon as well as the under-construction
Gordie Howe Bridge set to link Windsor
with Detroit, where Howe's exploits playing
with the Red Wings became legend. The
sculpture has Howe holding a pair of hockey
sticks that in turn hold up a section of the
cable-stayed bridge. The span is scheduled to
open in September 2025. - ANC
Calgary classic-car enthusiast Liam Rathgeber has
driven his 1975 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow in the
Distinguished Gentleman's Drive
since the event's inception.
PHOTO: MOVEMBER
The draw
of the luxe
QUEBEC'S HGREGOIRE
dealership group has opened a third
Lux store, this time in West Palm
Beach, Fla. The first HGreg Lux dealership
opened in Pompano Beach,
Fla., in 2019, and the second store
opened this year in Los Angeles.
The 10,000-square-foot
MUSTACHES SPROUT POSH
MULTICITY RALLIES FOR FUNDS
Simultaneous events
make 'a real-world
difference in men's lives,'
Calgary organizer says
THE DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN'S
Drive is marking its fourth year of fundraising
to support mental health and
the fight against prostate cancer. Tied
in with the charity group Movember -
known for its November mustache-growing
fundraiser - the event invites participants
40 years or older in more than
60 countries to take a two-hour drive in
their vehicles.
In Canada, drives were scheduled to
take place Sept. 29 in Calgary, Colborne,
Ont., Montreal, Toronto and, separately,
the Greater Toronto Area. Participants,
who can be any gender, were expected
to dress formally, as if attending a royal
engagement.
" As much as I love car shows, I've
always said that I would rather drive my
car for two hours than sit next to it for
eight, " said Liam Rathgeber, organizer
of the Calgary event, which has raised
$75,000 since it began in 2021. " It's amazing
to know that our efforts are making
a real-world difference in men's lives. "
In Canada, the Distinguished
Gentleman's Drive has supported five
projects related to prostate cancer and
four supporting men's mental health,
according to a news release distributed
by Movember.
The Distinguished Gentleman's Drive
website did not specify national fundraising
totals, and a spokeswoman did
not respond to requests for comment.
- ANC
(900-square-metre) showroom sits
on 10.6 acres (4.2 hectares). The total
investment was $30 million.
" It's a great time to be shopping for
a new luxury car, " said HGregoire
CEO John Hairabedian. " Across our
network, we're finding beautiful cars
that have a great road ahead of them
and customers who are eager to enjoy
the ride these cars deliver. "
HGregoire, founded in 1993, operates
35 dealerships in North America
and plans to continue its U.S. expansion.
- ANC
Quebec dealership group
HGregoire has opened its third
HGreg Lux dealership, specializing
in luxury automobiles, in West
Palm Beach, Fla.
PHOTO: HGREGOIRE
beneficiary of the organization.
Lafleur,
31, made his
fortune building social
media apps such as Tell,
which ended ignominiously
when he accidentally
deleted his customers'
profiles. A second app,
DashTask, failed.
Lafleur went on to create truLOCAL,
which he sold in 2020 for $16.7
million, a year after sales reached $20
million, according to Lafleur's website.
In 2022, Lafleur found success on
the racetrack, winning the class championship,
overall championship and
rookie of the year for the CASC -
Canadian Automobile Sport Club -
Pirelli Sprint Championship. - ANC
LETTING LOOSE
A BIT ON THE
WONDERFUL WORLD
OF AUTOMOTIVE
'
SAY WHAT?
When [hackers] find
an industry that
pays out, like
dealerships,
they abuse
that industry.
Justin Shanken, CEO of Atlanta
cybersecurity company Black
Breach, on the vulnerability of
Canadian retailers
to data attacks.
THIS NUMBER
THIS NUMBER
THIS NUMBER
12.9%
The percentage of all newThe
percentage of all newvehicle
registrations in the
second quarter that were
zero-emission, according to
Statistics Canada, marking
a new high.
STORY/P1
STORY/P4
'
Automotive News Canada - October 2024

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