Micronorth

Up on Friday in Caterham, Surrey with the usual woe before a transatlantic flight. My brothers drop me at Gatwick and I catch my Thomas Cook flight for Toronto. I snooze after the meal and before I know it we are making landfall over Labrador. We track the St Lawrence river and fly over Montreal at 38,000 feet. We land on schedule and I'm home within an hour at shortly after 19:00.
Saturday morning I'm cutting the hedges when the Mrs gets wind of a microcar rally up north that afternoon. We decide to go for it and crank up the smart car and head for Orillia and the "Micronorth" rally. We make the mistake of joining the 400 Highway south of Barrie and get snarled in the traffic - folk are leaning out of car windows to enquire about the smart.
The microcars are gathered on the dock at Lake Couchiching in a heatwave. A small but select gathering including our pal John with his Isetta, originally made in Brighton. There are Isettas, Messerschmitts, Fiats, DKWs, 2CVs and other rare vehicles along with a smattering of smarts.
A number of Amphicars are present and one actually takes to the water - it hoots as a large ferry approaches.



The front door opens on an Isetta to reveal the swing-away steering wheel.

Cinqecento corner:



An Autobianchi pursues a flock of Fiat 500s on the Micronorth rally.

We head back to the Classic Car Cruise in Etobicoke where an army of enthusiasts want to know all about the smart - handling enquiries is becoming a full-time job.