I’m not much of a supercar guy. Trevor, Naveed and Paddy are all much more capable of walking the walk when it comes to exotic vehicles, but I am a child of media, if nothing else, and thus I’m one heck of a poster car guy.

As an ’80s baby and ’90s child, I existed well within the confines of the ‘rad’ era. Sunday morning cartoons, bright neon, film cameras, original Nintendo – I was there for all of it.

Realistically, I’m still here for all of it, so when my schedule was free for Oblivion II, Ontario’s own RADwood-style event, I tossed on era-appropriate clothing and rolled out.

I plan to go a little deeper into the Canadian show in an upcoming post, but this lead-off is all about the poster cars that were in attendance. Or more specifically, three poster cars.

First up, the Lamborghini Countach. This is perhaps the car I obsessed over most as a young child.

Posters, diecast cars, Hot Wheels, Micromachines, slot and remote control cars – I had pretty much every small sized Countach you could have outside of the pink Barbie Power Wheels. Heck, to this day I still have Autobot Sideswipe sitting within a G1 Transformers showcase in my office.

This particular Countach is not real – it’s a kit car. But it’s no Pontiac Fiero. Underneath the replica skin is a tube chassis, with a Chevrolet 350ci small block V8 sitting behind the driver.

Many people rag on kit cars, but having helped build one I respect the amount of dedication and follow through it takes to bring one to life. Especially one that’s as convincing as this.

Despite not being painted red, the Ferrari F40 above isn’t a kit car. It isn’t the Gas Monkey Garage F40 either.

This blacked-out F40 has gone from Europe to Japan – where it received its black paint – before coming over to Canada.

In addition to the body work, the suspension has been modified with Koni upgrades, larger Brembo brakes have been added, and obviously NEEZ wheels replace the factory Speedlines.

The owner of this car also has a red F40 that is less often seen, which leads me to believe he enjoys driving this one that much more. Personally, after years of lusting after red F40s, I think I prefer them in black.

The final car I want to end this ’80/’90s legend romp with is a rather special Jaguar XJ220.

The XJ is a car I actually didn’t have on my wall, but I knew about it from the SEGA Mega-CD game, aptly titled Jaguar XJ220. There are actually two XJ220s in Ontario, so I knew this car was pretty special being significantly different that the standard trim model pictured below.

But not being a Jaguar enthusiast, I didn’t want to make a mistake listing out exactly what this car is.

Working under the assumption that there are no stupid questions, I reached out to the Ontario Jaguar Owners Association who explained that the car is a Don Law-converted, previously standard trim XJ220.

The ‘S’ conversion includes components that were developed for the XJ220-C Le Mans race cars, including the rear wing, nose section, and under-tray for better aerodynamics. Fueling system upgrades came with the conversion too, along with larger turbos and tuning to bring the engine up to 680hp and 526ft-lb of torque.

When Jaguar abandoned the XJ220, Don Law became the caretaker of the cars and their legacy. Don Law Racing owns all the engineering drawings, tooling, and new old stock components for the legendary cat. Thus, a Don Law ‘S’ conversion is identical to the original 6 done by TWR.

The owner of this car brought it into Canada a few months ago, and he’s been honestly driving the heck out of it. It’s been spotted all over Ontario and when I asked him about it he simply said: “I don’t keep any cars around I can’t drive.”

Well put, sir. Well put.

I’ll be back shortly with more gems from Oblivion II, but you’ll have to pardon my excitement for getting these three cars out on their own.

Dave Thomas
Instagram: stanceiseverythingcom