Category News

For most of the past half century, there has been a custom car / hot rod show at Toronto’s International Centre at the start of March Break. And each year, car clubs from around the province have been part of it, showcasing their members’ vehicles in creative displays.

Looking at the 2023 edition of the eBay Motors Motorama Custom Car & Motorsports Expo, Show Car Coordinator Gary Challice is pleased with the wide variety of clubs that will be at the show, and the outstanding vehicles they’ll have in their booths. The show takes place March 10, 11 & 12 at Toronto’s International Centre, across from Pearson Airport.

“We’re really excited,” said Challice. “The level of interest in this year’s show is overwhelming. We could actually fill another building if we had the space...

For the fourth consecutive show, Zehr Insurance is returning as the presenting sponsor of the Mayhem… in the Backroom vintage car and lifestyle room at the Motorama Custom Car & Motorsports Expo presented by Ebay Motors. As well, the southwestern Ontario based company will once again be an exhibitor in Motorama, with a pair of booths. Looks for them in Halls 1 and 3.

Zehr Insurance is a full-service broker, but the company also services the specialty automotive market through its customized C.A.R.S. program, catering to Classic, Antique, Rods & Replicas and Specialty hobbyists. This makes for a natural connection between Zehr and the Mayhem room at Motorama. The show takes place March 10, 11 & 12 at Toronto’s International Centre.

In the years that the Zehr Insurance Mayhem room has be...

Hot Nights Hot Rods will be this year’s Featured Builder at the Motorama Custom Car & Motorsports Expo presented by eBay Motors. Owned by veteran builder Doug O’Brien, Hot Nights is no stranger to Motorama. They’ve entered countless vehicles in the show throughout the decades and have won the Grand Champion Award multiple times during the show’s various incarnations.

Their most recent win came at last year’s Motorama show when their incredible 1949 Chevrolet pick-up truck, nicknamed ‘Suzie,’ took home the prestigious Grand Champion Award.

“It’s a (’49) Chevy pick-up, on our own chassis, with all Corvette suspension,” O’Brien told Motorama during a Motorama Shop Tours video segment, prior to last year’s show...

Nick Panaritis, the host of YouTube series Nick’s Garage, will appear with a collection of cars for the second straight year at the Motorama Custom Car & Motorsports Expo presented by eBay Motors. The show will take place March 10, 11 & 12 at The International Centre, across from Toronto’s Pearson Airport.

Panaritis grew up around muscle cars, sparking a life-long love of these vehicles. He started off by working on his own cars, before a few of his friends prompted him to take that passion to the next level, when they purchased old cars that needed repair.

“When they saw me driving my cars that looked practically new and very clean, they wanted to do the same,” said Panaritis. “When you have one after another, non-stop, from one friend to another, then you turn it into a business...

Spring Fever will be a hub for the tuner, import and modern modified car hobby for the seventh time at the Motorama Custom Car & Motorsports Expo presented by eBay Motors. And new for this year, DriveWise will join as a first-time sponsor of the popular feature. Spring Fever will showcase a diverse group of approximately 50 of these vehicles, at the top of Hall 2. Many will be from southern Ontario, but some will be from as far away as Nova Scotia and the United States.

Andrew McDonald, who is one of three people managing this year’s Spring Fever (SF) feature – alongside Sean Cusack and Brandon Hamid – describes the cars showgoers will see in SF as “a factory vehicle that’s been personalized by its owner.”

“They’re personal expressions of the owners’ personalities, that comes o...

Canada Heads Up will be back at the Motorama Custom Car & Motorsports Expo presented by eBay Motors in a big way. The popular Ontario-based drag racing series is returning, once again, with a large footprint featuring a wide range of vehicles, in the Inside Track Racing Zone presented by Stoneridge Specialty Insurance.

Located in the northeast corner of Hall 1B, representatives from the series will be on-hand to talk about the 2023 Canada Heads Up season, which will feature five race weekends, beginning June 2, 3 and 4. All of the series’ events will take place at Toronto Motorsports Park in Cayuga, ON. There will be 14 classes of street-type cars and bikes in action, with qualifying on Saturdays and racing on Sundays.

“It’s pretty much a ‘one-size-fits-all’ for street-looking cars, eve...

Sanctioning body for the APC Pro Late Models, Qwick Wick Super Stocks and the OSCAAR Modifieds and Hot Rod tours will have a large presence at the show

The United Racing Series (URS) will return to the Motorama Custom Car & Motorsports Expo presented by eBay Motors, with a large presence in the Inside Track Racing Zone presented by Stoneridge Specialty Insurance, in Hall 1B.

The URS is the promoter and sanctioning body of four Ontario touring series, having merged with OSCAAR during the off-season. The APC Late Model Series, Qwick Wick Super Stock Series, OSCAAR Modifieds and OSCAAR Hot Rods will all race under the URS umbrella in 2023.

The URS started in 2015, with the first APC Series season, and quickly grew in popularity as a place for Ontario’s top teams and drivers to compete under ...

Karbelt Speed & Custom will be returning in a big way to the Motorama Custom Car & Motorsports Expo presented by eBay Motors, as the performance parts and automotive accessories supplier will greet people as they enter the show, with a large display just inside of the main, Hall 1 entrance.

The booth will feature an assortment of products from many of the 700 product lines they carry, with some inventory also being sold at the show, such as RaceQuip helmets and belts, and ATM Innovation carburetors.

Staff from Karbelt’s Pickering (Ontario) location, at 1652A Bayly Street, will be on hand to talk about the merchandise and the company’s rich history. There will also be featured brands with manufacturer representation at the booth.

Product experts from King Engine Bearings, LEED Brakes, L...

Yesterday’s Speedways will return to the Motorama Custom Car & Motorsports Expo presented by eBay Motors, as the regular feature will showcase historical photos and memorabilia from Ontario’s short track racing scene.

With a 40-foot booth in the Inside Track Racing Zone presented by Stoneridge Specialty Insurance, in Hall 1B, Yesterday’s Speedways will have a couple of race cars on display, including a 1972 AMC Javelin OSCAAR Hot Rod and a 1955 Plymouth Savoy Dirt Modified Nostalgia Tour car.

Nearly 400 photos will also be showcased, across 32 picture boards, with images from the 1930s and 1940s all the way up to the 2000s. The selection will cover a variety of tracks and types of cars, so that there’s something for everyone.

“If you go to the booth every year, it pretty much looks...

Ever wonder what a Caterpillar engine would look like in a Ford pickup truck? How about an old Chevy pickup converted into a tow truck? There’s no need to wonder, anymore, as the unique creations of Deboss Garage will return to the Motorama Custom Car & Motorsports Expo presented by eBay Motors. The show takes place March 10, 11 & 12 at Toronto’s International Centre.

The Deboss Garage YouTube series launched in 2015 when Aaron Porteous, a video editor by trade, was helping with odd jobs in ‘Filthy Rich’ Bosch’s shop and noticed Bosch doing a Cummins conversion on a 1985 Dodge crew cab. He’d never heard of someone doing an engine swap and asked if he could film it and post the project to YouTube.

In the time since, Deboss Garage has grown to over 645,000 subscribers and their w...