COLLINGWOOD, ONT. — To a lazy golfer there is nothing better than a golf cart with power, one that zooms up and down the fairways at what would have to be called “breakneck speed.” You know, something pushing the limits of, oh say, 15km/h.
In the real world of speed and power though, nothing tops a good ol’ muscle car. And when we say “muscle,” we mean those with sleek stylings, brawn, a muffled but still thrilling roar of exhaust pipes singing the car’s praises and its pure speed.
You know, something like you’d feel, and hear, seated in the driver’s cockpit of say a Lamborghini or a Porsche or a Corvette. Not that you’d ever find those particular rides on a golf course, of course.
But as it turns out, I found those particular rides on a golf trip.
One of the off-course activities I got to engage in on a recent “working” trip to Ontario was the chance to step up from a putt-putt golf cart, and as it turns out even from my own personal ride, a little 2009 Cobalt, to each of those above named beasts — and what a step it was! Thanks to Northern Exotic Tours, I was given the opportunity to sit behind the wheel of each one of those muscle cars, and drive on actual roadways, in the town of Collingwood.
John Bors, the owner of the fledgling business, said for him the idea of renting these beauties out gives ordinary people who simply dream of driving one of these iconic cars the chance to actually do exactly that.
“You know what? We have a bit of elevation here, and some pretty good scenery, so we thought we’d grab a couple of these cars (from a private collection) and put on tours. What better way to give people a chance to drive these cars?” he queried in response to where this idea came from.
While you can actually rent such a vehicle elsewhere, Bors noted that there’s a bit of catch.
“There’s a seven to $10,000 deposit and it’s about $1,500 a day to rent a car like this,” thus putting them out of reach of the Average Joe.
Bors was careful to point out “It’s not about how fast these cars can go,” because trust me, they do go fast. “How fast does your own car go? At the end of the day we can still have fun, feel the acceleration and feel what’s it like to drive the cars we all grew up with on our walls,” was his reply to how they keep excited drivers under some sort of speed control
The thing about driving these go-fast machines is this, he continued: “These are high profile cars. The police are watching us,” Bors said about rental drivers keeping things under control (at least to a certain extent). We do accelerations to feel the power,” but those in the driver’s seat must sign a plethora of waivers about receiving tickets, etc., and the fact they forfeit their deposit should they run afoul of a radar gun.
“Accidents do happen,” Bors agreed, “so we just keep an eye on the drivers,” whether it be from the passenger seat as was our case, or on a trailing motorcycle with larger groups. “A day of fun can change real quick, absolutely.”
“People really enjoy this. It’s very affordable, especially for a group and this is what makes memories.”
From those speedy machines we next headed to the waterways where horsepower was exchanged for arm power in a canoe. We hooked up with Cruising Canoes, a business in Belleville, to do some paddling.
This enterprise, started by Andrew Twigg, is about exploring the back country experience and includes day trips and longer journey, complete with portages, if one so wishes.
We were only on the rive for about 90 minutes — fortunately with no cross-country carrying of the canoes — and that was more than enough for me. As it turned out, I hopped in the front of a canoe thinking I’d have a great view of the passing scenery, wildlife and fish. As it turns out, the front of the boat means the most work as you’re the motor, more or less, so needless to say we chugged along much slower than I did in the Porsche.
The interesting thing is, as hard as you have to work to keep up speed, this kind of transportation is relaxing. You have the time to take in all the wonderful sights and sounds around you as you float/paddle down the Moira River.
This certainly wouldn’t be the way I choose to cover any great distances — after all, you can’t beat a Lamborghini for getting somewhere fast — but it is an ideal way to work off stress, take in some scenery and get a workout all at the same time.
And the chances of getting a speeding ticket on the water, well, they’re pretty well non-existent!
For more on either transportation mode, go to their websites at northernexotictours.ca or cruising canoes.ca.
About the writer: Gord Montgomery is a retired sports editor of two weekly newspapers in the Edmonton area and is a member of the Golf Journalists Association of Canada. He is now in his eighth year of writing for Inside Golf.
He can be reached at noraltagolf@gmail.com. He’s also on Twitter at @gordinsidegolf.
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