Sharing the Wealth: What Good is a Fancy Car if You Can’t Share It With Others?

There’s no doubt about it: reviewing cars is a pretty cool gig. Sure, we can complain about jet lag (and get no sympathy), or whine about nutty schedules and brutal deadlines (no sympathy again), or try to convey the sad truth that when flying to cool exotic locales to drive expensive cars, we generally have barely enough time to drive the vehicle, take the pictures, and shoot video (no sympathy v3). And don’t get me started on motion sickness when riding shotgun through the mountains of Calabria in a Porsche. Yeah, I know. Boo-hoo. Get out the violins.

Still, we here at AutoTrader take our responsibilities seriously, and for this writer, perhaps the best part of the job is sharing the wealth. I appreciate how fortunate we are to drive these vehicles, and I’ll never take that for granted. Hence, when a cool press car visits chez-Bleakney, my friends and neighbours can count on rides. And if someone approaches me in a parking lot and shows a modicum of interest, they’d better be ready for a full-length review.

“Buddy, I just wanted to know if it was fast.”

The Lamborghini Aventador I had in my possession a few years ago certainly qualified as fast. I took it out to Grand Bend, where I was playing bass in a musical theatre production. Talk about stealing the limelight. I spent more on premium gas than I earned that weekend, taking the cast and crew for V12-fuelled thrill rides through the local farm country. It was money well spent. It even got cast in a “pre-wedding” photoshoot for one of the actors.

The Corvette Stingray Z51 convertible I was test driving the following week also made it out to The West Coast of Ontario. Due to a series of circumstances too convoluted to get into, I piloted this Velocity Yellow wedge in the Town of Zurich’s 150th anniversary parade, and perched on the tonneau was the lovely Aimee Rau, who was crowned Fair Queen back in 1991. It was all going swimmingly well until I let the clutch out a little too early after blipping the throttle. This just about sent poor Aimee flying off the back of the car. She let out a squeal, steadied herself, wedged her legs behind the passenger seat and continued waving and smiling. As she explained later, “Any queen worth the weight of her tiara is able to gracefully back flip off the back of a car and land delicately on her feet. I wasn't worried... much.” What a pro.

Rolls-Royce vehicles are also a sure-fire hit. I took my neighbour and his two little girls for a spin in a Rolls-Royce Ghost. Abigale and Eliza thought the backwards hinged doors were weird and loved the Starlight Headliner, especially when a shooting star streaked across. Dad Josh was just gobsmacked by the whole $600,000 experience. Maybe I didn’t need to go on about the herd of bulls Rolls keeps in the Bavarian Alps for hides, or the one and only dude who hand paints Rolls-Royce’s coach lines (pin stripes to you and me) with squirrel and fox hair brushes. But I did.

When taking pictures of a 2024 Porsche Cayman GT4 RS near St. Jacobs, Ont., a passing minivan braked, spun around, and turned into the dirt parking lot. Out comes a dad and three kids, and this guy (obviously a Porsche enthusiast) knew exactly what this most extreme of Caymans was all about. Not even on sale yet, this German-spec press car was the only Cayman GT4 RS in North America — the odds of him spying a Sasquatch in a tu-tu were considerably more favourable. Many photos with the car and his kids ensued.

Another memorable vehicle for sharing the wealth was the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. Pop those gullwing doors, rev its epic 6.2L naturally-aspirated V8, and the world beats a path to your driveway. This is another car where the pecuniary outlay for premium fuel may have exceeded my financial compensation for writing the article.

My latest chance to “give back” came with a 2025 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet press car dipped in Cartagena Yellow. I put it on show at a big spring Porsche Club of America Upper Canada Region show’n shine/swap meet/concours event held at 427 Auto Collision in Etobicoke, Ont. The Porsche was also earning its keep, being part of a Make-A-Wish fundraising display (along with my 2001 Volkswagen GTI) hosted by paint manufacturer AkzoNobel (Sikkens).

The Make-A-Wish Foundation is near and dear to my heart. As a teenager, our son was diagnosed with brain tumours, and when in the hospital, a representative dropped by and, well, asked him to make a wish. Evan had always wanted to go to Paris. When his radiation treatments were done, this wonderful foundation flew our whole family to Paris for a week. Evan was one of the lucky ones – he’s been cancer-free now for over 10 years. Some of the kids he went through treatment with didn’t make it, but Make-A-Wish/Children’s Wish was there for all of them.

This Cartagena Yellow Porsche Carrera’s duties were not over quite yet. It went with me to the Cambridge Jazz Festival, where I played a concert with the Pretzel Logic band. Did the musicians want rides? Oh yes. Did they mind posing for photographs? Not at all.

Oh, I hear the doorbell. That’s my friend Mark (a Mini owner) looking for a spin in the 2025 Mini John Cooper Works currently occupying space in my driveway. Gotta run!