With only 90 units sold in Canada, the C5-generation Audi RS6 is a special find indeed. And on the blustery streets of Edmonton, no less.

[Photo credit: Howie Edgecombe]

Ok, that’s not an exact quote, but Episode 3, which aired last night, was the best of Season 14 thus far. If you haven’t seen it yet, go here and enjoy it. Am I the only one who noticed the increasing friction between Jeremy and James? If looks could kill, Jeremy would be deader than John Candy.

The episode feature saw Jezza and the Hamster testing Lancia’s notoriously poor reliability record in an endurance race before thrashing a Stratos and a Delta Integrale along UK’s stunning and picturesque coastal B-roads. The cinematography was its usual high-calibre and the banter was its equal.

This summer, I also had a Lancia experience. It’s below.

Down on the Viennese streets, not far from where we saw the SLR Roadster, an arrow-straight Lancia 2000 HF. Strangely, this seemed to be missing the chrome grille surround that is frequently seen on these. I didn’t think much of it as I walked past, but leave it to the architect I was travelling with to give me pause and hand me a camera.

Just in case you have a newly-developed hankering for some Lancia lovin’, we’ve beat you to it and we’re more than happy to share. Check out this Zagato-bodied Lancia Fulvia on eBay, not unlike the one Stirling saw at the Italia Concours d’Elegance. You just know a car company is special when they can make a car that’s so engrossingly polarizing.

My picks for best automaker were Citroën (pre-1974) because of the Traction Avant, DS, SM, H Van, and 2CV and Datsun/Nissan because of the 510,  Z-cars and the several generations of GT-Rs. But that was before Top Gear reminded me of Lancia.

The streets (or streetz) of Edmonton are rarely littered with anything of interest for car aficionados. But every now and again, something will snap your head and make you take notice. An early July day this past summer was just such a day when I came across the bastard love child of Italian coachwork and American muscle in a neighbourhood garage – the De Tomaso Pantera. Welcome to another episode of Da Streetz. I’ll save you the Googling and Wikipediaing. The Pantera (meaning “Panther”) was imported by Ford and sold at Mercury dealerships starting in 1971. Why Ford? Because Ford 351ci (5.8L) engines were under… uhh… trunk. It was mid-engined, after all.

De Tomaso was founded in 1959 by Argentinian Alejandro de Tomaso, an entrepreneur and Formula 1 driver who also owned Carozzeria Ghia and Maserati, among other Italian marques. It was Giorgetto Giugiaro who penned the Pantera’s predecessor, the Mangusta (Italian for “mongoose”). This is in contrast the the Mangusta’s predecessor, the Vallelunga, which was designed by Carozzeria Fissore but built by Ghia. Design work for the Pantera was left to Ghia. All three had Ford power and all three had Italian designs. All three also suffered from poor reliability and even worse handling. Some of the handling concerns were addressed in the Pantera, but certainly not the safety and reliability ones.

This owner is still alive though. Probably because he only takes the car out a few times a year.

Due to the Pantera’s already bastardized upbringing, owners thought little or nothing of modifying their cars with different engines. While the 1971 cars had a stout 330 hp that propelled the bantamweight car to 60 mph in 5.5 seconds, 1972 cars were castrated with a 248 hp Cleveland engine in order to meet new federal emissions standards.

The Pantera was made all the way until 1991 with only minor changes. This may well be where Ford got the idea to keep their own Panther platform, underpinning the Crown Victoria, for decades too long. Not a great idea to copy, really.

A rather clean engine bay smack in the middle of the Panther.

Elvis Presley even owned a Pantera. So you know owners are a special breed. This owner sold his 911 Turbo for this car.

[Photo credits: author]

Along the bustling Kärntner Ring road, one of the many ring roads in the expansive and sprawling metropolis, lies the luxurious Bristol Hotel. In front of the Starwood-allianced hotspot, one would expect to see a 1012hp hand-built Bristol Fighter T. Sadly, there were none to be found. Instead, all I could find was a convertible SLR McLaren. Disappointing, I know. So disappointing in fact, that I just had to take some pictures with my iPhone. Check them out below.

You’ll recall that we’re pretty fond of the SLR around here. Hell, we’ve featured it in a an episode of How Hard Can It Be?, and we’ve chronicled the tennis match that shaped it. But seeing one in the flesh in an altogether more engaging experience. Too bad the owner didn’t drop the top.

Welcome back to another episode of Da Streetz, where I chronicle the lives of Edmonton’s cars. Today, I’ve found a Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera, the last (but not least) version of the previous-gen Gallardo. The Superleggera had an extra 10 hp, for a total of 530, compared to the Gallardo for normies. It was also 154 lbs lighter (the European version was 220 lbs lighter) thanks to carbon fibre this and carbon fibre that and even titanium wheel nuts. Having been only available in 4 colours, this owner chose the Telesto Gray; certainly a more subdued choice than, say, Borealis Orange.

I’m not entirely sure why anyone would want to bring a $300,000+ track-day special to the gym where I work out at, but that’s just me. With Edmonton’s abysmal roads, I’m sure I could have found the owner inside by looking for the guy (no way it was a girl) gripping his tailbone tenderly.

Take a good look at the great-great-great-grandpappi of my car. The Fairlady, as it was known in Japan, was Datsun’s first sports car. This 2000 model was actually a member the last Fairlady generation before the introduction of the Z-cars with the 240′s debut in 1969. The first thing I noticed about this car is how “Datsun” it really looked – clearly the design language carried over. I immediately recognized the my favourite early Z-car feature on the 2000, the teardrop headlights.

The original Fairlady started with the 1959 “S211″, which boasted 36 hp from a 1.0L 4-banger, and culminated in the 2.0L 150 hp “SRL311″ with Competition package in 1970. This red example is a 2000, a.k.a. SRL311, but is most likely the 135 hp non-Competition package model. The Fairlady was originally designed to compete against the MGs and Triumphs of the day. Not only was Datsun successful in producing a viable competitor, but it did so at a lower price point than the Brits.

This 2000 that I found was, surprise surprise, at the golf club where I also found the ’68 Jag E-Type and the extra-ugly BMW X6. A gallery is below.

I’m an unabashed fan of the Merc G wagon. Ask me what SUV I would put in my driveway and I will blurt out “G500″ without hesitation. For a car guy, not an SUV guy, the connection I have with the G is not to be underestimated. For me, the X-factor is the heritage of a true off-roader that has scarcely changed in 30 years. You might call it a failure to engineer or just plain laziness. I call it brilliant.

The owner of the vehicle you see today claimed that it was a 1989 model and that the G intimidating me from across 99 st in South Edmonton Common was the only cabrio in Canada, although Craigslist Vancouver might have something to say about that. Maybe his was the only ’89 cabrio with an automatic, Bosch light covers, and a dog in the back?

Regardless of this particular W460′s place in the Unique Merc Hall of Fame, it’s the first G wagon cabrio I’ve ever seen. Powering the Spartanly-appointed vehicle was a 2.8L inline-six making a stout 156 hp. A hundred and fifty-six is enough for off-roading and mud-slinging, but I can see why the modern-day W463 boulevardier is fitted with either a 382 hp or 500 hp thunder-maker. Clearly, more power is needed for the 21 century’s more porcine clientele.

I may have just found the least gay convertible on the planet, although Brett Berk might disagree.

Just to share with you a bit of perspective of the scale of South Edmonton Common, where I spotted this W460 cabrio, here’s a ruler:

Now apply said ruler to this:

And you have about 1.4 square kilometers (or 15,000,000 square feet) of open-air retail space. That would make SEC the largest open-air retail centre in North America. And to think that it was nothing but a farmer’s field 10 years ago. I liked it better as a field.

In the same parking lot where we found the completely tasteless BMW X6 with a bike rack, we find this well-maintained, British Racing Green, 1968 Jaguar E-Type. Also known as the XK-E, the E-Type is considered my many, Enzo Ferrari included, as the most beautiful car in the world. Being a 1968 model, this would have been the first year of the Series 2 prodcution for the E-Type. According to the Wikipedia entry, the Series 2 models featured “open headlights without glass covers, a wrap-around rear bumper, re-positioned and larger front indicators and taillights below the bumpers, better cooling aided by an enlarged “mouth” and twin electric fans, and uprated brakes”, when compared to the earlier Series 1 models. 

There is a gallery of this diamond in the rough after the jump.

This is a new one for me. The Lexus ES250. I suppose this has something to do with my age, something to do with the length of time I’ve been following cars, and something to do with this car only being produced for 3 years, but older Lexuses are a bit foreign to me. No pun intended. 

According to Wikipedia, it looks like this little gem started the Lexus onslaught in North America, along with the famously reliable LS400. The littlest Lexus wasn’t as popular as the big LS, though. This was probably due to the fact that the ES was Camry-based and the LS was on a dedicated (and all-new) platform. Who knew that Toyota’s Camry-platform-whorefest goes back some 20 years? (Note: Today, the Camry platform underpins the Lexus RX350, the Lexus ES350, the Toyota Venza, and maybe even some others)

I learn something new everyday.

And no, that brown stuff on the left part of the trunk isn’t the reflection of an overhead tree, it’s rust. There’s another pic of this cubic zirconia diamond in the rough after the jump.

My apologies for the quality of the photographs. One of these days, the iPhone will get a better camera, or I’ll just buy a dedicated camera. We’ll see who gives first – me or Steve Jobs.

Today is Da Streetz: Collector’s Edition. And instead of finding this vehicle on the streets, it was in a showroom. Close enough, I say.

There are rare cars and then there are seriously rare cars. Paganis fall into the latter category, but there are some surprising cars that fall into the former category. Some are even made by domestic manufacturers. No, I’m not talking about 2010 Camaros, but another Chevy: The HHR SS.

Two hundred and sixty horsepower from a turbocharged, direct injected 2.0L engine sending power to the front wheels through a four-speed auto? Things just keep getting stranger and stranger. Oh, but there’s more. This particular example is painted in Silver Ice Metallic with Black/Red interior. The seats are made of UltraLux, like alcantara, but cheaper, as well as leatherette trim.

To top it off, this particular gem is the Panel version, so there are only 2 seats. The back is devoted to cargo storage. And if you thought that the rear-3/4 visibility was poor in the regular HHR, here, it’s non-existent. The icing on the cake is the optional LCD screen that’s mounted on top of the centre dash. This screen displays 0-60 times, quarter mile times, and lateral G-forces. Seems unnecessary on a souped-up delivery-mobile. 

Seriously, there cannot be that many vehicles like this out there. Fifty with this combination? Not even. I bet there’s not even 1000 HHR SS Panels with an auto, period. That’s what makes this particular vehicle such a collector’s item. Look for it at the 2050 Barrett-Jackson in Scottsdale.