Photos and Captions by Gerry Frechette
The Vancouver International Auto Show enjoyed another successful running in 2018, highlighted by some amazing cars and a beautiful backdrop in the Vancouver Convention Centre and surrounding B.C. landscape. Below you’ll find some highlights of the latest and greatest that this year’s show had to offer.
Acura RDX
The all-new Acura RDX made its Canadian debut at Vancouver. It looked very sharp, and the previous V6 is replaced by a turbo four with ten-speed automatic.
BMW M5
The sixth generation of the legendary BMW M5 made its Canadian debut at Vancouver. The limited-production First Edition was resplendent in Frozen Dark Red Metallic paint.
BMW X4
The only North American debut at the show, the BMW X4 is meant to be sportier in both appearance and performance than other compact CUVs
Bugatti Chiron
The latest Bugatti, with a quad-turbo 16-cylinder engine putting out 1,500 hp, manages 0-to-400 km/h in just 42 seconds. Yours for $3.6 million Canadian.
Buick Regal GS
We quite liked the new made-in-Germany Buick Regal GS. The interior is particularly nice.
Dodge Challenger Demon
Vancouver saw its first Challenger Demon at the Show, in a rather low-key display. No staged burnout smoke or wheelstand.
Ford Edge ST
An interesting new model of Edge, with go-fast specs. With the popularity of mid-size crossovers, why shouldn’t there be mainstream performance-oriented versions of them?
Ford Mustang Bullitt
On the 50th anniversary of the iconic Steve McQueen movie, it was no surprise to see yet another Mustang Bullitt model in Highland Green. The familiar 5.0L V8 is up to 475 hp.
Ford Ranger
B.C. got its first look at the upcoming Ford Ranger mid-size pickup, which was oddly located on the far back edge of the Ford display where it would garner the least attention. We noticed its 2.3L four and ten-speed transmission in the specs, though.
Genesis GV80 concept
There was little doubt that what we were looking at here was a thinly-disguised production-ready Genesis crossover, the first under that nameplate and hitting dealers soon, although probably without the fuel cell propulsion of this concept.
Honda Insight
It’s the year of the hybrid sedan at Honda, and the new Insight, unlike the past two such models and a few other hybrids including its big brother the Clarity, is a conservatively-styled car, that slots in between Civic and Accord.
Infiniti QX50
The new QX50 is notable for more than its curvaceous new design. Under the hood is the new four-cylinder VC-Turbo engine with variable compression ratio, said to combine the power of gas and efficiency of diesel.
Kia Forte
The new Forte, to be launched later this year, was shown in prototype form. It is bigger in every dimension than the current model, and once again quite handsome.
Koenigsegg Agera RS
If you simply must have the fastest car in the world, this is it. At least officially, with a documented run of 457 km/h. Perfect for those weekends at the salt flats near you.
Subaru WRX STI Type RA
Surely setting some kind of record for most initials in a car’s name, the RA (‘Record Attempt’) is an even more hyper STI tuned for track use with more power and performance hardware. So equipped, it is now the quickest sedan around the Nurburgring.
Ram 1500
The all-new Ram 1500 pickup looked very handsome in silver, with a few other versions on display underlining the importance of this truck to FCA.
Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross
With the Eclipse Cross, Mitsubishi joins the mainstream compact SUV market, in all ways including design. Its Super All-Wheel Control might be the best AWD system in the category.
Lamborghini Urus
The high-end SUV wars continue, with the Lamborghini Urus the latest salvo. With 641 hp, it will reach 190 mph. Next up will surely be Ferrari.
