Car dealership purchases southern Alberta airport to maximize high-performance vehicle speeds

Local car dealership hopes to build race car haven A local car dealership bought a rural airport in southern Alberta – to race high-performance vehicles and let drivers step on it.

Mercedes-Benz in downtown Calgary has purchased a 160-acre property near Cayley, Alta., to race their luxury vehicles and give customers the full experience.

"After using it several times for a few productions, we realized that it would be worthwhile for us to actually own this property," said general manager Mazen Aboulhosn.

"A simple test drive isn't going to show you what these high-performance luxury vehicles are going to do. But having a runway that's almost 5,000 feet long lets you see exactly what they can do."

The property features a home, airplane hangar and 1,500-metre paved runway.

The Cayley Flying Ranch Airport could soon become the next best event centre for fast cars and racers seeking to put their foot down.

"We will be developing this further beyond what it is," said Aboulhosn.

"There's a lot of opportunity and potential to make this something more than what it is. We've discussed having a full-blown track. We've also discussed having a drifting circuit and having an off-road circuit here as well.

"We deal with a lot of different companies that also want to rent the facility for those very specific purposes."

The dealership wanted a place where potential buyers could feel the power of its high-performance vehicles.

The runway has already seen speeds of 267 kilometres per hour, with racers hoping to eclipse that.

"We've been all over the world where we've gotten to drive these vehicles on tracks and whatnot," said one of the drivers, Chris Mrnik.

"So, it's great to be able to bring that home."

Since buying the property, the dealership has worked with video production company Squared Marketing to capture drag races and drifting, posting them to YouTube.

In less than a year, it has more than 100,000 subscribers.

Vladimir Keserovic, co-founder of Squared Marketing, says his passion is high-speed cars, video production and this opportunity to partner with Mercedes was a no-brainer.

"I grew up watching Top Gear and Fifth Gear and admired Jeremy Clarkson and everyone else that was part of the productions," he said.

"But now being able to be behind the scenes and create all of that stuff in Alberta, it's pretty much a dream come true."