Toronto St. Patrick's Day Parade 2013

Tomorrow Toronto will hold their 26th annual St. Patrick's Day parade - and they'll be short one DeLorean. I won't be able to attend thanks to the number 114,000 and, ironically, to the colour green.

In the DeLorean world, surpassing 100,000 miles is uncommon. These are collector cars, and have been since the company went bankrupt. Sometime around 1983 people started squirrelling away their DMC-12s, some thinking it would skyrocket in value, others because parts were sometimes difficult to acquire. Mileage, generally, remained very low as the cars were rarely driven.

My DeLorean has 114,000 miles on the clock, which is relatively high. With that much use, things wear out. The novelty of the car is, for me at least, its achilles heel: My gullwing doors aren't working. The problem lies in the worn-out door latches. In the cold they do not catch and the doors pop back open.

As glorious as it would be, I can't drive down the highway in full gullwing mode, Huey Lewis blasting on the tape deck, my ascot blowing in the wind, giving all a rockin' thumbs up.

The Swingles, at DMC Midwest, will be giving me some worn out latch action in April, and while there, I will ask them about the all-aluminum rad from the DeLorean Motor Company and the Toby Peterson Wings-B-Cool cooling fans.

What does this mean? Short of a snow storm, I will be there again next year to help Toronto celebrate St. Patrick's Day!
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See Toronto St. Patrick's Day Parade 2012

Toronto St. Patrick's Day Parade 2012

Toronto held its 25th annual St. Patrick's Day Parade on Sunday in the record heat, under clear blue skies, drawing approximately 300,000 cheering spectators.

I'm not sure how the decision came to be, but sitting in the staging area with seven other DeLoreans, my buddy Ken told me I was lead car. "We're saving the gold one until the end," he said. "It'll be the pot o' gold!"

And so, sometime after noon, I rolled forward out of the St. George Street staging area and onto Bloor with a pack of DeLoreans behind me. "DeLoreans! Attack formation!" I yelled. The sun glinted off our stainless panels and the crowds stared in awe. They took photos, video, and cheered. As we cruised by, doors up like a flock of metal seagulls, they asked questions, ran along side us, and even jumped inside for a quick photo.

We were happy to oblige. We were mini celebrities without the drawbacks! No expensive security, no bulletproof glass, just the friendliest bunch of proud Irish folk and wannabees smiling & waving.

Yonge is downhill, and we enjoyed the chance to coast in neutral. Rounding the corner onto Queen my clutch leg was aching. As I approached the review stand and saluting officers, I realized the end of the BEST day was at hand. That's when a City TV news crew saw me.

Peter Kim did a take as I rolled alongside him. He didn't like it and attempted another. He then asked if he could sit in the car. He hopped in, we talked for a quick second and they did another couple of takes. He interviewed me very briefly, thanked me and exited the car. The interview was cut (hopefully not because of my supreme retardation), but the rest of the clip made the 6 p.m. newscast! You can view it here.

What a way to make my parade debut!

Made In Ireland

When someone says Ireland to you, what comes to mind? Triple Distilled Irish whiskey? Sure. Four-leaf clovers? Sure. Bare-knuckle boxing? Maybe. But what about cars?

One of the most loved, well-known cars on the planet was lovingly built in Ireland. Think about that for a second. The United States is famous for open roads and the Mustang. Germany's got the Autobahn and BMW. Italy's busting at the seams with all manner of supercar like Ferrari and Lamborghini.

And Ireland has the DeLorean.

2012 will see Toronto's 25th St. Patrick's Day parade and if the weather holds there will be 10 gorgeous stainless steel cars smack in the middle. We'll be cruising, doors up, in front of the 300,000 spectators.

In preparation for the parade, I have begun construction of the banner that will adorn my windshield. I purchased green and white Bristol board (sorry! English, I know) at the Dollar store for 50 cents. The lettering I'm cutting will spell out: MADE IN IRELAND. And if that doesn't attract enough attention, I've also acquired a jaunty little green top hat to add some flair to my dull personality.

So if I've disrespected you with my rotten rants and half-witted insults and you'd like to fight it out like an Irishman, I'll be cruising down Yonge St. Sunday, March 11. In fact, here's the parade route, so you can thoroughly plan your attack. After you beat the snot out of me, just do me a favour and buy me a Redbreast 12 and I'm sure we'll be fast friends.