THREE-WHEELER WILL TURN HEADS AS AUTO SHOW RETURNS TO CITY
Car enthusiasts across British Columbia are rejoicing that the Vancouver International Auto Show is back after a four-year absence, with the 2024 edition opening Wednesday and running through Sunday.
There will the usual display of new models from global automakers, a smattering of classics and concepts, and some bona fide head-turners. In the case of the Vanderhall Carmel, make that neck-snappers.
The three-wheel, performance-oriented open-seater is built by Utah-based Vanderhall, and as of six months ago, thanks to a Langley company, is available in British Columbia. The 2024 Vancouver show will be a coming-out party of sorts for the wild-looking vehicle, as Canadian distributor Plett Imports has a booth on the show floor, and better yet, will have three Carmels in the public test drive fleet operating on downtown streets outside the Vancouver Convention Centre. Show tip: Get in line early. For Trevor and Troy Plett, it's the culmination of a few years of work.
“Troy and I saw the Vanderhall Carmel in Washington two years ago, and we thought it was such a cool and unique vehicle, and looked like a lot of fun, and we wanted to buy one,” relates Trevor, who is COO of Plett Imports/Vanderhall Canada.
The brothers were told there was no Canadian presence for Vanderhall vehicles, “so we thought we should be the ones to bring this product to Canada,” explains Trevor. The brothers, and Plett Imports CEO Tony Bhinder, were put in touch with Vanderhall International, which oversees distributors in Europe, Australia and the Middle East, and the work on homologation of the Carmel began with Transport Canada to make it street legal here. That process took about two years, and last fall, after some modifications — such as alterations to the exhaust system — the Carmel was approved for our roadways.
The front-wheel drive Carmel features an aluminum monocoque chassis, boasts an ABS system with traction control and is powered by a 194-horsepower, GM-sourced aluminum block 1.5-litre turbocharged Ecotec four-cylinder engine. That might not sound like a lot of power, but when you consider the Carmel weighs just 640 kilograms, the Carmel has a high-performance power-toweight ratio. Vanderhall reports a zero-to-96-km/h time of 4.5 seconds, which no doubt must seem way quicker considering the open-air cockpit.
There are three Carmel trims being sold in Canada, from the base Blackjack to the GT to the top-of-the-line GTS, with prices starting at around $65,000 and going up to approximately $79,000 (before tax). The Blackjack has a shorter windshield, while the loaded-up GTS adds features like Brembo brakes, diamond-stitched seats, oak steering wheel, a wider rear wheel, heated seats and paddle shifters.
You can operate a Carmel with a Class 5 driver's licence in B.C., but Alberta and Ontario may require a motorcycle licence to pilot the vehicle.
Now that the vehicle is in Canada, the B.C.-based distributor has 70 Carmels in stock as of this writing. The Plett brothers — COO Trevor, CFO Troy and CEO Tony — are now busy setting up a dealer network across the country.
They've got an Alberta outlet signed up, with International Motor Cars handling Carmel distribution and servicing in Wild Rose country, and there is the expectation that there will be dealers open for business in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal in the coming months. And the finishing touches are being put on a Vanderhall dealership in Langley, with plans to bring in other Vanderhall vehicles that are planned for production in 2025. These include an all-electric four-wheeler, called the Brawley, that will be available in on- and off-road versions, and a threewheeled all-electric called the Santa Rosa.
“We've driven it up and down the highway into Vancouver and out to Chilliwack and it certainly gets lots of looks,” says Bhinder, adding that one of their demos looks almost like a Batmobile.
And who doesn't want to be Batman?