2020 MONTREAL INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW

PUBLISHED ON 01-26 - 2020 - TEXTS AND PHOTOS BY ALAIN LEMIRE

It is a smaller auto show in number of manufacturers present that we got this year in Montreal with the absence of Audi, Volvo, Aston Martin, Bentley and Tesla. There was more room to invite the VAQ (Quebec Vintage Cars). Exotic car makers found themselves on the main floor.

Sports cars, prototypes and special attractions at the Montreal Auto Show will be featured in this article. Don’t be surprised if there are missing SUVs, sedans and trucks, some of which are in the "ambiance's pictures" section at the end of this article?

Let’s start the tour of this more than interesting show with the date change of the Detroit show in June, which may have brought us unexpected novelties such as the Ford Mustang Mach E and the Corvette Stingray C8 to name a few.

In Acura’s exhibition space, it’s like every year, the NSX sits proudly on a turntable. The ISX, a sedan whose paint or "wrap" offers a semi-glossy brushed finish was also on display.

ACURA

It is in an unusual color palette that BMW presented its 2020 linup! What do you think of this dark green (The 8), and this purple (M8)? I can’t wait to see those colors under a sunny sky! The small blue M2 CS is a new version of this small sports car and it was its first presentation in Canada in an auto show.

BMW

With the end of production of its ATS coupe, Cadillac seems less interested in the brand’s sports vision, having been involved in endurance racing not so long ago. The "V" division is still active there with the presentation of the white model CT6 V! The 2nd sedan shown in the photos is the turbocharged 2-litre engine 4 doors CTS.

CADILLAC

Genesis, the high-end division of Hyundai presented us with a prototype that breaks the image of the brand renowned for its luxury sedans. The Mint Concept is a small electric vehicle presented for the first time at the 2019 New York Auto Show.

The G90 is a large sedan and it’s more extravagant in its look than the other 2 models. All we have to do is look at his huge front grill first to see it.

GENESIS

Porsche, always present at the Montreal Auto Show with 7 vehicles, including 2 of its new all-electric car, the Taycan. A Spyder version of the 718 was also presented at the show this year.

PORSCHE

Ferrari made an extra effort this year to beautifully present us its 3 vehicles of red color. It’s actually the most well done presentation that Ferrari Quebec has given us since I went to the auto show. It felt like a European auto show with such a presentation!

The models presented

- Ferrari 812 Superfast

- Ferrari 488 Pista Spider equipped with retractable hard roof

- Ferrari Portofino equipped with retractable hard roof

FERRARI

The star of the McLaren booth was unmistakable, the Senna Can Am. The car, with its specific orange of the old days, commemorates the Canadian Can Am series victories achieved during the 1970s. The car has some body parts added to differentiate it from the regular model.

Another attraction is the 600 LT called "Blue Dragon". It has been treated to the MSO sauce and is a unique car (1/1), a nice investment made by its owner. And finally, we should note the presence for the first time at the Montreal show, the McLaren GT.

McLAREN

The last of the exotic car makers visited, present at the show is Lamborghini. It is a front end redesigned Huracan Evo Spider that welcomes us there. Follow 2 Urus models, the SUV of the brand. The star of the Lamborghini space and the Aventador SVJ in Spider version. This model was the fastest in its category at the Nürburgring circuit.

LAMBORGHINI

First introduced in Canada last year, the Toyota Supra was a popular Japanese sports car at the Montreal Auto Show. More accessible this year, because you could sit in the car and open the hood.

TOYOTA SUPRA

Presented last July in exclusivity on the web, the Corvette Stingray C8 made its first Canadian appearance at the Montreal auto show.

We were given 2 units of the American sports car with an entry-level version, judging by its fade grey rims and the more extreme version, the Z51.

CORVETTE STINGRAY C8

For its part, the Camaro was also presented in 2 versions. The entry-level black coupe with 2-litre Turbo engine or 6 cylinders 3,6 liter and the 2SS version of a rare dark green metallic color displaying decorative Le Mans stripes and whose color is dark gray metallic.

The front of the Camaro 2SS was reworked following complaints from fans of the model who didn’t like the black central bumper with the Chevrolet logo added into it.

CHEVROLET CAMARO

Ford’s big star at the Montreal 2020 Auto Show is the controversial Ford Mustang Mach E, a kind of 4-door sports SUV that premiered at the 2019 Los Angeles Auto Show last november. Three versions were then unveiled.

It was the "Premiere Edition" version that made Mustang fans happy... or not, to make an act of presence. It remains to be seen if we will see many on the road because it is not cheap!

FORD MUSTANG MACH E

For its first time at the Montreal auto show, Ford brought us the Shelby GT500 in its entry-level version. The car is equipped with black painted metal wheels and a carbon fiber rear spoiler that I saw for the first time.

A less extreme car than the one seen at the Super Mustang Show in August 2019 and the one presented as a Canadian premiere at the Toronto Auto Show in February 2019.

SHELBY GT500

At the Alfa Romeo boot, the Giulia Quadrifoglio, star of "6 Underground", is the green color of a film released on Netflix very recently. The other usual models were also present. The 4C wore a nice shade of metallic blue, a color that suits it well.

ALFA ROMEO

Absent from the Fiat booth, the 500 seems to have bid farewell to our market. Only the Fiat 124 Spider remains to get under the tooth for the fans of the brand. They would have to present more attractive body and interior colours to encourage sales of this rather rare model!

FIAT 124 SPIDER

It is with a surprising version with wider bodywork that Dodge presents its Charger Daytona Hellcat in Wide Body version. Its engine increases by a small 10 horsepower to reach 717.

Andrew Ranger’s Charger, Canadian Pinty’s NASCAR Series Champion, was on display. A series season includes 15 races. 2 cars are needed to make a full season, one for oval circuits and the other for road circuits. A mule is a must in case of problems.

I had the opportunity to speak with the category’s triple champion. A nice guy if he is one, and who would like to have Jessica Ménard on his team! :)

DODGE CHARGER DAYTONA HELLCAT

The Dodge Challenger Hellcat was given new rims to celebrate its 50th birthday. It will also inherit the extended rear wing of the 2019 Hellcat Red Eye. It’s a regular-body version that we saw at the show, to showcase the Charger Daytona.

DODGE CHALLENGER HELLCAT

The Japanese manufacturer Nissan presents us for a few year now, its fearsome GT-R. As for the Toyota saw earlier, it is dressed in white that the car is shown to us! His little sister, the 370Z, was presented in NISMO version. A new body design must be change, because it's been a while Nissan used the same!

NISSAN GTR

It is in a semi-glossy color that the Jaguar F-Type SVR presented its beautiful sporty convertible. The sporty sedan Jaguar XE Project 8 was just as spectacular in its orange metallic shade with its aerodynamic body parts and decorative strips.

JAGUAR

Lexus, Nissan’s top-of-the-line division, was showcasing it with its sports cars. The LC, the beautiful sports coupe whose dark red metallic color was chosen this year was in a good position to attract our eyes to the exhibition space of the brand.

Once in it, one notices the convertible version of the Lexus LC, all dressed in white. It follows the prototype presented in Detroit in January 2019.

LEXUS LC

Hyundai was the only manufacturer with its Genesis division to present a prototype. The 45 EV, offers a futuristic retro vision of what an electric vehicle might look like in the near future. The lines are inspired by the Pony of the 80s, though more square in this version.

The prototype was in its first presentation on the North American soil.

The Veloster was presented in two forms: The race car and the vitamined version by the high-performance division "N" of the Korean brand.

As I passed behind the Sonata, I couldn’t help but notice the long taillight, reminiscent of the Dodge Charger.

HYUNDAI

La Boîte Noire, a hypercar presentation concept created by OB Prestige, a very exclusive car retailer located in the Outaouais region, returned for the second consecutive year to the Montreal Auto Show.

The idea is to expose a car in a black environment and whose exposure trays are capped with a box with bright contours. Last year, the cars were in light colors. This year, they are rather dark, which complicates photographic shooting.

It’s equipped with one to three flashes that I was able to photograph these cars at my ease.

The models presented:

- McLaren Senna 2019

Value: $1,5 millions

- Pagani Huayra Roadster 2018

Value: $4,5 millions

LA BOÎTE NOIRE

The section "Expose your car" which replaces the "Performance Zone" of past years offered its lot of cars ranging from tuning, to pro touring. These are cars especially loved by young amateurs who grew up with the Fast N Furious movie series.

THE SECTION "EXPOSE TON CHAR"

The club of antique cars, VAQ, was invited to exhibit 8 cars covering the 8 decades of cars between 1910 and 1990. There are cars of all the ranges manufactured since the beginnings of the automobile.

The cars presented:
- Ford Model T 1912

- Ford Model A Phaeton 35A 1929

- Buick McLaughlin model 68 1933

- Chrysler Windsor 1948

- Cadillac Serie 62 1954

- Pontiac parisienne Custom Sport 1966

- Plymouth Cuda 1973

- Chevrolet Monte-Carlo SS 1986

I had the opportunity to volunteer at this antique car display boot and promote the association’s magazine en summer events.

CLUB VOITURES ANCIENNES DU QUÉBEC

To conclude this interesting show despite the reduction in the number of manufacturers present, here are some pictures of the atmosphere of other manufacturers and types of vehicles seen during the Montreal Auto Show.

AMBIANCE'S PICTURES