What is your favorite Canada-only car?
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I just noticed there is a poll feature, so I wanted to test it out
It only lets you do 5 choices, so I had to pick 4 and let the last one be something else
We never got the awesome Echo hatchback. It looks so cool and has so much room in a tiny space with the legendary Toyota Quality and economy and shit that you can only find on a 4-cylinder Toyota
Some people like to hate on the Echo, but fuck them! It's a cool car in a fun body style we never got. Plus, they even made a sporty RS model, and it came in cool colors like a really pretty shade of blue and gold too. We didn't get those colors, either.
Canada got the Yaris 4-door hatch from the beginning (2006, when it replaced the Echo). We had to wait until 2009 to get the Yaris 4-door hatchback, and we never got the sporty Yaris RS.
No Echo or Yaris was ever available with a sunroof, but Webasto can take care of that.
The Mercedes B-Class is fucking awesome. I like it more than I should even though I know they're not as good as Toyota. Canada got the first two generations of B-class, while down here we only got the second-gen, and even then, only in EV form. Canada got the non-electric B-class in the first two generations (but not the new 3rd gen that just came out, so no more B for Canada)
The first-gen B-class was available in 2.0L turbo and non-turbo (called B200 and B200 Turbo), manual and automatic (6-speed for turbo, 5-speed for non-turbo). An awesome panoramic sunroof was available.
The Chevy Orlando is a cool MPV thing like the Kia Rondo and Mazda 5, available with 3 rows of seats and 3 pedals. If you're lucky, you can even find a manual Orlando with a sunroof, but they are very rare. I only found a manual sunroof Orlando once while looking on Kijiji. GM considered selling the Orlando here but decided not to. It has the 2.4L Ecotec.
The Nissan Micra is quite handsome, easily the best-looking new car under 20k IMO. Jalopnik FP did an article about the Micra shortly after they killed oppo there. It starts under 10k in Canadian dollars and comes with either a 5-speed manual or 4-speed auto. They even have a Micra Cup Car. Down here, the cheapest car is 13k US dollars, so about twice as much as the cheapest car is Mooseland.
There are so many other awesome cars we never got here that are worth mentioning:
Nissan X-Trail. A crossover sold in the mid-2000s. It's cool. Basically an ancestor to the popular Rogue, which eventually became Nissan's best-selling model. Had they given us the X-Trail when they sold it in Canada, they might have started that success earlier and been in better shape.
Kia Rondo. Down here, we only got the first-gen Rondo, and only with an automatic. Canada got both first and second-gen Rondo, manual and automatic.
Mazda 5. Down here, we only got the manual with sunroof for a few years, then they relegated the stick to the base model, then dropped it altogether. But Mazda sold it for a few more years in Canada, and for the entire run they could get manual with the top model with the sunroof.
Mazda 323 Neo. For 1995 only, Canada got the 2-door hatchback version of the 95-99 Protege. It's cool.
Nissan Axxess. We only got it in 1990, while they got it for 5 more years.
Canada also got the diesel smart car for a few years before they started selling them here, but then they stopped getting it and made it gas-only in both countries.
McLaren's cheapest car is sold in Canada but not the US. Too bad we don't get the 540C. Specifically listed as having a softer suspension than the 570S, it would be perfect for the way most expensive exotic cars are driven in the US.
There are possibly others I missed.
NOTE: the Chevy Epica and Optra don't count because they were sold in the US, but under a different name. The Epica was called Suzuki Verona, while the Optra was called Suzuki Reno (hatchback) and Forenza (sedan and wagon)
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(f) None of the above. And based on that, I'll let my fanboyism rule the day and say the Orlando.
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No Asüna, no vote!
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Echo hatch just for Psych. I still don't know the story of that, it seems odd they picked a Canadian car for a show set in CA....
Current DD - My badass grandma's 2001 Accord EX 5-speed
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@exage03040 said in What is your favorite Canada-only car?:
No Asüna, no vote!
The Asuna models were sold under other names in the US, so they don't count
Another rebadged Metro/Swift, Impulse/Storm, Tracker/Sidekick. We already got at least 2 versions of each
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Can confirm, Mercedes B200 turbo with panoramic sunroof. I loved that car
2007 Porsche Cayman, 2018 Toyota Tacoma SR5, 2019 Mazda MX-5 RF
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@midengine said in What is your favorite Canada-only car?:
Can confirm, Mercedes B200 turbo with panoramic sunroof. I loved that car
WOW that's awesome! Yay I love it when people have those cars!
Would you buy an A-class hatch or C-class wagon? -
@dogisbadob clearly the answer is the
Daewoo MagnusChevy Epica.
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@milky said in What is your favorite Canada-only car?:
@dogisbadob clearly the answer is the
Daewoo MagnusChevy Epica.
It doesn't count because we got it under the name Suzuki Verona
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@dogisbadob said in What is your favorite Canada-only car?:
Suzuki Verona
Oh didn't those come with a transverse inline six?
2006 Accord K24A8/5AT
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Not sure if my vote registered or not but Echo for sure. I love mine and this is the only picture I can find at the moment, so I've included some bonus pogo action.
Mine isn't an RS, but it's got the RS seats, which is really all that matters in an RS anyhow.
I remember Orlando. Didn't know it came in manual!
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@s65 said in What is your favorite Canada-only car?:
@dogisbadob said in What is your favorite Canada-only car?:
Suzuki Verona
Oh didn't those come with a transverse inline six?
Yes, that's the one with the transverse I6
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@dogisbadob technically all my cars have been Canada only since I’ve never driven them to another country.
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@ibrad said in What is your favorite Canada-only car?:
Not sure if my vote registered or not but Echo for sure. I love mine and this is the only picture I can find at the moment, so I've included some bonus pogo action.
I remember Orlando. Didn't know it came in manual!
YAY you have an Echo hatch! That's awesome! I like the hubcaps you got for it
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@dogisbadob 68 Chevy! Hard to believe that car came with the same size wheels as an Echo
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Not sure if my vote counted. None of them seem very thrilling though lol.
2018 BRZ, 2011 Mazda3, 2015 Rogue, [Rust in Pieces - 2002 Miata]
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@dogisbadob After 1990? But that takes away the fun of all the Canuck-specific rebadges that somehow must have been profitable but I can't imagine how.
I like the 60 Meteor, like a 60 Ford, but weirder:
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@fintail My dad had one of these. Nearly bankrupted him if I read between the lines.
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@jarrett said in What is your favorite Canada-only car?:
Not sure if my vote counted. None of them seem very thrilling though lol.
How did you vote?
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So the Nissan Micra and Echo/Yaris hatch are the type of miserable tiny shitboxes I thought I left behind in the UK when I moved to Canda.
I will confess they do seem fun and charming when you see them as huckable dirt cheap transportation in a sea of monster trucks.
But when you're a car nerd in your early 20's and these minimum viable products are the only cars you can aspire to own due to crippling insurance, fuel and licensing costs - and even then it still won't be cheap - its a rather miserable automotive experience.
The Mercedes B is kind of the same idea but gussied up.As such I voted for the Orlando because it is all the car that 90+% of the population needs: big enough for a family plus stuff and available with a stick. So of course nobody bought it!
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@dogisbadob I can interpret this 2 ways!
I voted Micra because Micra Cup (aka because racecar).
And I voted by clicking the name, and hitting submit, and praying. No indication that I actually selected something.
2018 BRZ, 2011 Mazda3, 2015 Rogue, [Rust in Pieces - 2002 Miata]
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@jarrett said in What is your favorite Canada-only car?:
@dogisbadob I can interpret this 2 ways!
I voted Micra because Micra Cup (aka because racecar).
And I voted by clicking the name, and hitting submit, and praying. No indication that I actually selected something.
I think it worked because there were no Micra votes before
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2022 Ioniq SE
1964 Corvair Monza -
@ranwhenparked said in What is your favorite Canada-only car?:
Just a reminder - the Lada Niva was technically available in Canada until 1998.
Since most of them are at least 25 years old, they can be brought down here, and the ones that aren't will be legal within a few years
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So my upstairs neighbours picked up an Acura CSX Type-S and I had the pleasure of driving it back from Ottawa. From Pickering to North York, it was VTEC time and my god, what a car. A Mk8 Civic Si in a suit, what more could you want?
