A young Montrealer took part in a rather strange event recently: His car was pushed off a cliff in Alberta.EXPLAINER LOOKS AT THE "CLIFF YOUR RIDE" CONTEST.
1 This is Felix Revelin-Couture, a resident of the Plateau. He’s also the proud owner of a very used 1992 Volvo. Last summer, Revelin-Couture and four friends piled into the car and drove to Vancouver. Then three of the friends headed home and he and one friend continued on into the U.S. By the end of the road trip, they had travelled down the west coast of the U.S., over to the east coast, and back up into Canada. "The car was my home," he says. "We were sleeping and eating in the car. It was a part of our lives." So why was he so excited about seeing that same car launched off a cliff outside of Calgary two weeks ago? Because he won a contest that’s going to set him up with a new $30,000 vehicle, courtesy of Auto Trader. The company invited people to submit videos that show why their car should be sent off a cliff, and why they deserve to win $30,000 towards a new car at AutoTrader.ca.
2Here’s the Volvo that helped make it happen for Revelin-Couture. For his video, he enlisted the help of friends to shoot and edit it. They did all of the filming and editing in a single day. As part of the film, which can be viewed at CliffYourRide.ca, he painted the company’s name on his car. He also used Facebook to get his friends to pass the video around and vote for it. "I didn’t think I had any chance of winning – it was fun to do," he says. Revelin-Couture is heading to school in September to study to become a teacher, though he says he loves movies. (His dad is a screenwriter.) He also notes that he just turned 20, making his contest win "the best birthday gift ever." But doesn’t he feel bad about sending his faithful Volvo off a cliff? "I think it’s the best way to lose a car – by an explosion," he says. "I call her a she – she’s like human – and I didn’t want to her to die on the side of the road. To die in an explosion is a very good way to die."
2 comments
AutoTrader.ca’s Cliff Your Ride Contest Winner, Felix Revelin-Couture watches as his beloved 1992 Volvo 240 gets launched off a massive cliff and explodes in a fiery mess of sheer of exhilaration!
Have a look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48MHLVFdoKE
It was an amazing experience both for the autoHEBDO’s team and Felix.
Felix should have junked his Volvo a long time ago. Over such a long use gas consumption would start to rise significantly and increased maintenance costs would no longer make it economical to drive. From the video you could see it was about to fall apart and would be a safety hazard on the highway if the fender or radiator dropped onto the road. Cars like this Volvo built around 1992 spew out into the atmosphere at least 20 times more contaminants than vehicles produced today. This is the very same air that we all breathe. No mention was made of the cash vouchers available to older car owners to help clean up the environment. The biggest concern is that lots of car owners hold on to their sentimental antiques for the longest possible time with at least half of 15 year old models still on the road. Felix was doing us all a big favour by getting a new Volvo. The fiery crash that occurred after his old car was tossed of a cliff added more air pollution. Altogether a gimmick that was poorly conceived. Taking it apart piece by piece to have it recycled would be the responsible thing to do!