Thursday, July 9, 2009

'It's so dramatic'

t would be something of an understatement to describe Frankie Attard, who spends his days selling Aston Martins at Grand Touring Automobiles in Toronto, owns a six pack of Ducati motorcycles - one of which resides in his living room - and eight automobiles, including a classic Mk2 Jaguar saloon, as merely an enthusiast.

In some, mainly non-automotive, circles he might be considered certifiable, which likely wouldn't bother him a bit, but car guys will "get" where he's coming from.

"I do have a hard time getting rid of stuff," he says, which is a lament I've heard before and accounts for the fact he currently has to find garage space for three Porsches: a 1995 911 Twin Turbo, a 2003 Boxster S and a 2004 911 Twin Turbo, plus a 2007 Lamborghini Murcielago, a 1994 Corvette ZR1, the Mk2 Jag and a pair of late model Nissan Pathfinders that are rather out of place in this kind of company.

He says the '95 Porsche and the ZR1 might be considered collector cars, but as for the rest, "I buy them because I like them - and just seem to hang on to them."

Unfortunately, with so many, he doesn't get to actually drive them much. "It's a bit of a waste, I guess, but I just like owning them."

The Ducatis are another story. "I ride them a lot," he says of a very tasty assortment of the Italian factory's recent output. It includes a 2008 1098S; a 2008 848; a very collectible and very cool-looking, zero-mileage, 2004 Xerox edition 999R Fila (the bike in the living room), a 2004 749 Dark, a 2006 749R Dark and a 2006 999R "that I put a lot of miles on."

Attard, now 32, and of Maltese decent but raised in Toronto and Brampton, received his first exposure to British cars as a young teen on visits to that historic Mediterranean island, which kindled a passion he soon turned into a profession.

He began his career with part-time jobs at dealerships in his mid-teens and before turning 20 was a salesman at an area Infiniti dealership, where he remained until joining Grand Touring Automobiles in Toronto about four years ago to sell Bentleys and Aston Martins.

He currently specializes in the latter, for which he claims a particular passion after owning one, which somehow, unlike most of his cars, managed to get away. "I had a DB9 that I sold, but I'll be buying another one in the near future."

In his younger years, despite an affinity for old Brit machinery and American muscle cars, he says, "They were out of my league in money terms."

He nevertheless found the funding to purchase the 1994 Corvette ZR1 new when he was about 19. "It was a struggle," he recalls.

Attard saw his first Jaguar Mk2 on one of his visits to Malta, although at the time he didn't know what it was, just that it was "the most beautiful car I'd ever seen" - an opinion held by many, including myself.

"It's such an odd-looking car. Its styling is all over the place. Skinny here, arches there. But it really grows on you. It's so dramatic, it's like art. "

He acquired his four years ago, from a customer who wanted to sell the Mk2, which had been generally ignored and hidden away in a warehouse, before doing a deal on a new Aston Martin.

The dealership wasn't interested in taking it in trade, so Attard went to have a look himself, although not being an old Jag fan at the time, he was unaware of what the Mk2 designation really meant.

"As soon as I saw it, I realized it was the car I'd seen as a kid," he says, and promptly bought it - incidentally closing the deal on the new Aston Martin. "When we got all the dust off, it just gleamed," he says of the mint-white classic Jag. "I just fell in love with it."

And, as a bonus, it turned out the car, while not running, had actually been recently restored, and needed only minor attention to get it on the road. Like most of Attard's collection, it doesn't get a lot of use, but has proven both enjoyable to drive as well as being reliable.

Jaguar's Mk2 was introduced for 1959 and produced through 1967, during which time 100,000 were built and it became the second-best-selling Jaguar ever, behind the XJ6.

Its roots, however, go back to 1955 and the very similar-looking Jaguar 2.4, with which the company entered the modern monocoque construction era and the mid-size sporting luxury sedan market.

It had its problems, however - many related to the new technology involved - but these were generally sorted out with the introduction of the 3.4 in 1957. This model's 3.4-litre version of Jaguar's famous overhead-cam, inline-six produced 210 hp, giving the car phenomenal performance for a saloon of the time, which was used to good effect in racing and rallying as well as on the road.

The Mk2, with revised styling, came with 2.4-litre and 3.4-litre engines, but the 3.8-litre was the choice for those who wanted maximum performance. This iteration of the classic six spun out 220 hp and 240 lb-ft of torque, which could propel this comfortable leather- and wood-trimmed saloon to more than 200 km/h and get it to 96 km/h in 8.8 seconds, at the expense of average fuel consumption of a rather startling 18.0 L/100 km.

It came standard with four-wheel, servo-assisted disc brakes and a four-speed manual gearbox. Attard's car has the optional three-speed automatic transmission.

Attard says the Jag is a keeper, but with so many neat cars out there and only so many parking spots, I can envision those Pathfinders finding a new home in the near future.

globeauto@globeandmail.com



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