Generally, at this time of year, I write a column based on the wonderful holiday song, Driving Home for Christmas, written and performed by Chris Rea. That is usually the only reference to cars or driving you will find.

I’m driving home for Christmas 

I can’t wait to see those faces  

This started years ago when Mark Richardson, who was editor of Toronto Star Wheels before me, walked over to my desk one day and said these exact words:

“I don’t have anything to put in the Wheels section this week. It’s Christmas and everybody has gone on holiday. You are my only hope. Write about anything you want. Tell our readers some of your stories. Just remember: write long.”

That is not a good thing to say to me. I have been known to type a dozen paragraphs, just to get warmed up. Editors usually send my stories back to me with the instruction, “write this tighter.” In any event, I took a deep breath and let loose with an opus that took up two full pages in the paper. I am not making this up.

I told a story about my dear friend, Roger Stanion, who is now past tense, and how we took a couple of women to Montreal for the weekend (we were both single at the time), and how, driving home, I got us stuck in a ditch on Highway 17 near Ottawa in the middle of a raging snowstorm and how a transport truck came along and pulled us out and if that hadn’t happened, I’m afraid, we’d have been goners.

One of the girls, the one I was sweet on, was so furious that she hasn’t spoken to me since, which is a long time to get the silent treatment, let me tell you.

Since then, this particular column has evolved into reminisces of Christmases past, a farewell to people in my life who have died, and stories that haven’t been in the paper but should have been.

You can’t beat stuff like that at Christmas.

So settle back, pour some hot chocolate or a coffee, and take a little trip down Memory Lane with me. A gingerbread cookie might go good too.

Driving home for Christmas 

With a Thousand Memories . . .  

I used to tell this story every Christmas to my little girl, who’s now all grown up and has two kids of her own.  It’s about my father, the late J.A. (Al) McDonald, and a rather amazing coincidence. But first, I have to tell you a about him. He was a very capable and talented guy, a good man.  When World War II ended, he got a job with the Spruce Falls Power & Paper Co. in Kapuskasing. He did well with the firm but his real love was a Young Man’s Bible Class he conducted at the United Church on Sunday nights.

I was an asthmatic kid, so he got involved with the TB and Respiratory Disease organization (now called the Lung Association). He was a member of the Lions Club and served as a District Governor.  He did a lot for the community.

One interesting thing (of many) about my father was that the further up the corporate ladder he climbed, the unhappier he got.  Spruce Falls was a subsidiary of Kimberley-Clark Corp. and KC moved him into their corporate lineup and transferred him from Kap to Niagara Falls, then to their factory in Rexdale and finally to head office in downtown Toronto, where he retired, having had enough.

His job near the end was to negotiate contracts at company facilities across Canada. He didn’t like having to nickel-and-dime union people who were only trying make a living. It really bothered him. I think if he’d stayed in Kap and continued his church and volunteer work that he’d have been a much happier man.

My father was born in 1913 in the farm country of Nova Scotia’s East River Valley. It wasn’t an easy life for a kid because you went to school and then had major responsibilities at home. Keeping cattle, goats, sheep and chickens was a lot of work but you had your chores and were expected to tend to them without having to be reminded.

There also weren’t that many other children in the Valley. My father went to school in a one-room schoolhouse that went from Grade 1 to 12 (can you imagine being the teacher!). His best friend was another farm boy, Hoyes Cameron, who was six years older

One night in early October, when my dad was seven, Hoyes suggested they go after a salmon. A good-size fish could feed a family several meals. But he wasn’t thinking of standing beside the East River with a fishing rod (salmon were out of season anyway); no, he was suggesting spearing, which is even more illegal. That’s when, in the dark, you shine a light on water and the fish get curious and swim over for a look. You can imagine what happens next.

So Hoyes went home to get a lantern and my father went to get his pitchfork.

An hour later, down near the river as it ran through the nearest town, Bridgeville, Hoyes held his lantern over the water and, as expected, there was a flash. My dad had his shoes off and jumped in and speared the fish. He’s standing there, holding the struggling fish up and out of the water, the two of them giggling like crazy, when they hear a deep, booming voice:

“YOU TWO!

“STOP RIGHT THERE!”

It was the Mounties. It doesn’t matter if you’re seven or 70, poaching is poaching. So Hoyes dropped his lantern and took off one way and my father dropped his pitchfork and the fish and ran off the other. They both managed to escape, even though they really had to scamper, that Mountie hot on their heels.

Before dawn broke, my dad was out of bed and, figuring the coast was clear, back down at the river. He had to find that pitchfork or he’d be in big trouble. You didn’t just go over to Home Hardware and pick up another one in those days. It was a tool and had to be respected.

Finally, he had to tell his father what had happened. His father, Daniel William MacDonald (or “Dan Willy,” as the other farmers called him) threatened some woodshed justice but held off, suggesting that my dad had better find that pitchfork or he would be in for some serious discipline.

For weeks, my dad continued to look for that pitchfork, but no luck. It was gone forever – or so it seemed.

In 1965, I had gone to Nova Scotia to visit my grandpa for a few days and my dad and mom were there on vacation. It was a sizzling summer day and dad and I had gone down to the river to find a spot deep enough to have a swim.  We were just wandering along.

Now, my dad was a born woodsman. He taught me how to shoot a gun for hunting, and to fish for trout. We’d be walking along and his eyes were constantly moving. He’d see a partridge before I did, or a deer. So we’re walking beside the East River and he suddenly stopped. “Wait a second,” he said, “There’s something out there in the water.”

He took off his shoes and socks, stepped off the bank, and waded out into the middle of the river where he reached down, grabbed something, and gave a mighty yank. He pulled out a black hunk of something that was covered in muck.

It was his pitchfork. My old man had found his pitchfork, 45 years after he’d lost it. The wooden handle had long ago rotted away but the fork itself, somewhat eroded, was frail, yet intact.

My dad was suddenly seven again. He whopped and hollered for his father, who was sitting outside on the front verandah of the farmhouse. He ran all the way home to show his dad. And my grandfather, Dan Willy MacDonald, looked at my dad and said, “Well, it’s about time.”

Dad found the pitchfork about a quarter of a mile downstream from where he remembered spearing that salmon back in 1920. But there was no doubt about what it was: it was his pitchfork. He cleaned it up, coated it with lacquer and mounted it. When he died in 1976, my mother gave me the plaque and it hangs on a wall in my house today.

I used to love to tell that story to my daughter at Christmas when she was just wee and if this COVID thing ever leaves us, I’ll tell it to her kids. My only hope is that one day, when I’m gone, my children and grandchildren will think of me the same way I remember my dad.

Back at the beginning, I said he was a good man. I was wrong: he was great.

Merry Christmas, everybody.

Norris McDonald is a retired Toronto Star editor who continues to write for Wheels under contract. 

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If you’re in the market for a full-size 4×4 pick-up, but for some reason don’t want a Ford F150 or a Chevrolet Silverado or a Ram 1500 — perhaps because of their popularity / ubiquity or perhaps because you’re just plain brand loyal to Toyota, you’ll probably find yourself eying a Tundra.

Not much is new with the 2021 offerings in the Toyota Tundra 4×4 lineup — save for a few less trim level options on the more “compact” Double Cab models and even more options for the spacious Crewmax models. There are now a whopping seven trim levels for the Tundra 4×4 Crewmax when you include the 1794 Edition package available on the fully loaded “Platinum” model.

Each is a little different, but to get a sense of where the core Tundra offering is relative to the very fierce competition, we tested the “Trail” model — one of the lower-spec, albeit sharp looking (at least, from the outside) models.

One standout feature on the Tundra 4×4 is its familiar, yet beefy 5.7-litre DOHC V8 with VVT-i. The Tundra doesn’t mess around with any of that turbocharged V6 or hybrid tech stuff. It’s just a proper, thick boy V8 that relies on yesteryear’s variable valve timing technology in an effort to be kinder to the planet and your wallet. The engine literally roars to life on ignition and makes immediate promises of the 381 hp, 401 lb-ft it has on tap — promises it’s happy to deliver on.

However, this old school approach isn’t without its drawbacks. Because even though a god-fearin’, angry V8 is what you want under the hood of your full-size pick-up, it has to be said that this thing is thirsty. Even on a long, easy highway cruise, in 2×4 mode, the very best mileage I could manage was 15.5 L/100km.

I couldn’t help but think about the Ram 1500 Bighorn I tested earlier in the fall. It was one of the e-torque hybrid models and while it was certainly down on power compared to the Tundra, it did do under 11 L/100km and had a range of almost 100 km more to a tank.

That particular Ram also had a much, much nicer interior and infotainment system that the base Tundra’s interior. If you want premium leather interior in your Tundra, you’ll have to shell out an extra $3,000 over our as-tested Trail model for the TRD Off Road Premium trim level.

The front seats are heated as standard, but the controls are away from the driver and tucked under the center infotainment unit — so you’re never quite sure if you’ve just turned them on or off. While premium sound systems are available on higher trim levels, including a 12-speaker JBL system for the top-tier TRD Pro model, the nine-speaker base unit equipped in our as-tested model left a lot to be desired. Amplification was weak and overall fidelity was low.

A 12V accessory power outlet is standard, so is an 8-inch touch screen that is both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatible, and displays your reverse camera. The user interface is simple, straight forward and easy to navigate through.

So the Tundra Trail is what it is. A gutsy, but very low optioned 4×4 with some tough guy black badging on it to let the world know you’re a UFC fan.

But should you buy one?

If you’re buying a daily commuter or a family mover or even a sport truck, you’ve got to go for a higher trim level than the Trail. For my money, I’d at least shell out another $10 (yes, $10 extra) for the TRD Off Road trim level.

Yes, you lose some of the Trail’s nice little exterior touches such as the black badges, dark grey TRD Off Road wheels and “Predator” side steps. Those would be missed. Sincerely. They are admittedly sharp looking.

However, with the TRD Off Road, you gain a moonroof, push button start, Bilstein shock absorbers (those you really want), LED headlamps and fog lamps, a blind spot monitor with rear cross traffic alert and the premium audio system with embedded navigation. And more. So, for most of you reading this, who are thinking of getting a Tundra 4×4, at least spend the extra $10 to own a vehicle with all the modern comforts you’d expect — if not the extra $3,000 for the leather trim.

However, if you’re amongst those planning on using your Tundra 4×4 as a work truck, then get the Trail.

It occurred to me after about a week of driving the Tundra Trail, that the lack of bells and whistles is sort of the point. It can’t have a nice interior as it’s going to get covered in dirt mud, donut crumbs the occasionally spilled coffee.

That’s why it’s painted grey. So that it doesn’t look dirty on a construction site. Or anywhere else, for that matter. The Trail is down to business. No fancy parking assist or other unnecessary gadgets for city slickers like me who struggled to park the Tundra in our condos’ underground parking garage. It’s a big truck, with a big engine and some big capabilities for big jobs. Look no further than the Trail’s tow package for evidence of this. It comes with a heavy-duty tow hitch receiver and a transmission cooler. Those are not needed for daily driving.

In TOW/HAUL mode, lower gears are held for longer and the transmission no longer hunts for gears. An auto LSD uses the rear brakes to imitate the job of a traditional mechanical limited-slip differential. Toyota claims this is because its auto unit is easier to maintain than the mechanical version.

Then there’s the Tundra’s trapezoidal rear frame section (that is a combination of words which I never thought I would write) and toe-out rear leaf springs. These are used to create lateral stability when cornering and towing heavy loads. And that’s something you can actually feel when driving the Tundra, even normally. It’s so much more planted around corners, especially compared to the heavy body roll you experience in domestic pick-ups. As a bonus, the Tundra is a much smoother ride than some of its domestic rivals — including that Ram Big Horn I tested. Go over a set of train tracks, for example. The Tundra is practically a Rolls Royce compared to the Ram in that respect.

So, the Tundra Trail is the truck you want when you need a truck. It’s a piece of equipment that you buy because you have a job to do. The Tundra Trail is like a pair of steel-toed Kodiak boots. They may not be very fashionable. You might not want to wear them out to a date. But if you got a real job to do, then they’re what you want to get it done. And you’ll never have to worry about getting a little dirt on them.

The vehicle was provided to the writer by the automaker. Content and vehicle evaluations were not subject to approval.

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For years, automobile manufacturers have known that one of the best ways to move product is to win a car race. There was an expression in NASACAR that worked for years: “Win on Sunday, sell on Monday.”

But that meant having to beat other OEMs, which didn’t always happen. One day, years ago, some genius at Volkswagen had a brilliant idea. “Let’s create a formula racing series with a Volkswagen engine in the back,” he said. “It won’t matter who wins because he will always be driving a Volkswagen.”

And that’s how Formula Vee came to be born.

Good marketing begets good marketing. The Ford Motor Co. followed with Formula Ford. Porsche had the Turbo Cup. Honda had the Honda-Michelin and the Player’s-GM featured Camaros and Firebirds. Then there was Formula Renault. And so-on. The manufacturer behind the series always won.

For the last six years, this philosophy has worked wonders for Nissan Canada. The Nissan Micra Cup featured the low-cost Micra street car that for a few thousands of dollars could be made safe for racing. The result? Large fields – 30-plus cars and drivers – raced at all the major racetracks in the country.

Nissan announced Wednesday that it had taken this philosophy a step further. The Nissan Sentra Cup racing series will launch at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in May – spectators or no spectators – and is being promoted as Canada’s newest affordable motorsport series.

The Sentra compact sedan, which was introduced as an all-new model for 2020, is the sleekest and most aerodynamic Sentra to date, making it a vehicle well suited to advance the series.

“Nissan has a rich pedigree in small, fun-to-drive cars dating back to the 1930s,” said Steve Milette, president of Nissan Canada. “What better way to demonstrate a vehicle’s capability than to push these cars – in stock form – to their limits on the race track?”

The brainchild of Quebec automotive journalist Jacques Deshaies and is being promoted by Nissan Canada director of marketing Adam Paterson and Didier Marsaud, director, corporate communications. The series will run for three years and, initially, include the Micra Cup cars that will be phased out over time as the number of Sentras grows.

In a Zoom chat earlier this week, Deshaies said he expects upwards of a dozen cars to start the first Sentra Cup race and more drivers will sign on over the summer and winter heading into 2022. The Micra Cup cars (henceforth to be called Class Micra) will share the grid, starting races behind the Sentra Cup cars. For each race, there will be the usual Top Three podium finishes for each class as well as for top rookie and top senior. At the end of the season, there will be one champion for the Sentra Cup, and one for the Class Micra.

Marsaud said the new Sentra Cup is geared as a stepping stone between karting and car racing for young drivers with potential, and also as a fun and affordable series for older drivers.

The Sentra Cup race car will be available in early 2021 at the price of $39, 990, plus tax. This will be a race-ready car (it won’t be street legal) with the stock 2.0-litre 4-cylinder engine and transmission sealed.  Safety modifications include: a racing steering wheel with quick-release hub, an FIA Spec 6 point Roll Cage; FIA Homologated Racing Seat; restraint harness; window net; FIA- approved Electric 4L Fire Suppression System; solid state electronic battery isolator and front and rear tow hooks. A driver-actuated pit speed limiter will allow drivers to respect pit lane speed limits.

Deshaies said racers could expect to spend between $4,000 and $5,000 a weekend on entry fees but that would include a new set of tires and brake pads.  Marsaud said there is no prize money (“This is a fun racing series”) but that Nissan had put up $50,000 in vouchers as incentive.

“If you win the feature race, you can win $1,500 in vouchers that can be used for a new grille, or somebody hits your door and you need a new one and the voucher can go toward that,” he said.

He added that dealers, through incentives, are encouraged to get involved in the new series through sponsorships of drivers.

All of the Sentra Cup cars are being built at Motorsports In Action of St. Eustache, Quebec, which handled the development and modification of all the Micra Cup vehicles. NASCAR driver Jean-François Dumoulin of Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, was instrumental in the development and testing of the Micra Cup race cars in 2015 and got behind the wheel of the Sentra Cup race car to test its track performance.

“The new Sentra with its longer wheelbase, wider track and lower center of gravity looks and feels amazing. The handling characteristics are excellent due to all the work that went into designing the suspension package,” said Dumoulin.

“Sentra is very agile, very stable, and the turn-in is crisp and precise. The braking capability is truly awesome; this will really help drivers develop their braking technique. We’ll be able to enjoy hard-fought battles on track with this added performance, and we are really excited about all the work that has been done. It’s definitely a leap forward for one-make racing.”

For more information about the Nissan Sentra Cup, please visit the official web site of the series at www.sentracup.com.

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Manual transmissions have pretty much gone the way of the dodo bird.

They used to account for over half of all new car sales. That number has dropped to low single digits, as automatics not only offer more ease of driving, but with more ratios – up to 10 speeds – they now often deliver better fuel economy and performance too.

But dedicated SIY’ers – Shift It Yourself-ers – still exist, and for them, Toyota offers a manual gearbox on their popular Corolla sedan and hatchback. It’s not just on their cheapest models either, or only in the sedan body style, like the Corolla Hybrid I tested a while back. This time I was in a Corolla sedan in base “L” trim, which is as low as you can go in a Corolla. Pricing starts, and my tester pretty much ended, at $19,150.

This brings a 1.8-litre twin-cam four-cylinder engine generating 139 horsepower at 6,100 r.p.m. and 126 lb-ft of torque at 3,900 r.p.m. Want even more? Upgrade to the higher trim levels with the 2.0-litre four and you get 30 more ponies pulling you along.

Despite this being the entry-level model, Toyota doesn’t scrimp on safety gear. Toyota Safety Sense 2.0 is standard, bringing such things as collision avoidance and/or mitigation, vehicle and pedestrian detection in daylight and low-light situations, and cyclist detection in daytime.

It offers compatibility with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and automatically dimming high beam headlights. It even has a back-up camera.

It also has a bunch of driving assistance systems, like lane keeping and blind-spot monitoring. If you wish, you can shut these off. Speaking of shutting off, I first feared this car had the dreaded beeper that warns you to shut the headlights off when you shut the car off. The car should just shut the headlights off automatically. I discovered that if you ignore this warning on the Corolla and just walk away, the car does it for you after 30 seconds.

Something we are seeing less often now, but was here in the Corolla, is a proper ignition key. That mean fewer worries about dropping today’s modern ignition keys down between the seats, or having your partner drive off with the key still in your pocket and they can’t restart the car when they get home. Sadly, the Corolla L offers neither heated seats nor heated steering wheel, although they do come in pricier models. I sometimes wonder why Transport Canada does make heated seats mandatory in Canada. Winter gets mighty cold in some parts of this vast country.

The 1.8-litre engine has more power than the Hybrid, and offers surprisingly good performance.

It’s also commendably quiet, even as revs rise above five grand. At first I found clutch engagement pulling away from rest a bit tricky and the throttle return spring very light. So its best go easy. I can say that this became better with a bit of practice.

The gearbox itself is excellent – light, direct and precise. This car would be a good one in which to learn how to drive a stick, in my opinion.

Because this model doesn’t have the heavy battery and electric motor of the Hybrid, the car’s suspension doesn’t have to be beefed up to handle the extra load, which amounts to about 80 kg. My recollection is that the Hybrid rode more harshly than the base car, which was also carrying the handicap of having winter tires. There was more road and wind noise than I recall from the Hybrid. Again, the tires might have been at least partially responsible for the former, and the quiet engine may have allowed more of the latter to sneak through.

The seats are a bit short in cushion length, but the fabric upholstery looked and felt good.

There’s decent room in the rear for two riders, three in a pinch, and the trunk is spacious.

I folded down the rear seats as I also do in my own VW, to improve rearward visibility. The thus-expanded cargo hold does not offer a flat floor, but hey – it’s not a pickup truck.

While this may not be the most thrilling ride you can buy, it will give you solid and reliable service for a long, long time.

Not a lot wrong with that.

The vehicle was provided to the writer by the automaker. Content and vehicle evaluations were not subject to approval.

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Mitsubishi Canada will be entering 2021 with an updated and refreshed Eclipse Cross that will bring to Canadian drivers a refined and more elegant design and retuned to provide greater handling and control.

The new 2022 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross is part of Mitsubishi Motors larger transformation plans that will see a major transformation of the automaker’s entire vehicle line over the New Year.

The 2022 Eclipse Cross will sport a restyled exterior with extended front and rear overhangs, along with a new front facia design. This new Eclipse Cross will come with twin-oval headlamps that will sit where the previous Eclipse Cross had its fog lamps. The rear has also been redesigned to bring a larger rear window and contoured taillights.

The interior will be roomier, as the 2022 Eclipse Cross will get a bit of a size increase, and one gets a choice of leather, synthetic leather and fabric seats. The leather option also brings a heated steering wheel, as well as driver, front and rear passenger seat heaters.

The horizontally arranged instrument panel allows for a driver to easily find what they need without distractions. A larger infotainment screen is now part of the package as well – 8-inches, up from the previous 7-inches – and comes with improved touchscreen operability as well as convenient tuning and volume knobs. A first for Mitsubishi, TomTom navigation now comes included, as well as support for the popular Apple CarPlay and Android Auto applications.

A 1.5-litre turbocharged, direct injection 4-clinder engine will sit under the hood and come with MIVEC (Mitsubishi Innovative Valve timing Electronic Control) to improve fuel economy. The engine produces 152 HP @ 5,500 r.p.m. with 184 lb-ft of torque locked onto an 8-speed CVT with Sport Mode. Handling is improved with the electronically-controlled four-wheel-drive system that is combined with Mitsubishi’s S-AWS system.

The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross base ES S-AWC trim will start at $28,598; The SE S-AWC will come in at $31,218 and the SEL S-AWC level, will start at $34,218.  The GT S-AWC level will come in at $36,998.

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