Car dealership purchases southern Alberta airport to maximize high-performance vehicle speeds
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."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Trump picks former congressman Pete Hoekstra to be ambassador to Canada
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has nominated former diplomat and U.S. congressman Pete Hoekstra to be the American ambassador to Canada.
Genetic evidence backs up COVID-19 origin theory that pandemic started in seafood market
A group of researchers say they have more evidence to suggest the COVID-19 pandemic started in a Chinese seafood market where it spread from infected animals to humans. The evidence is laid out in a recent study published in Cell, a scientific journal, nearly five years after the first known COVID-19 outbreak.
This is how much money you need to make to buy a house in Canada's largest cities
The average salary needed to buy a home keeps inching down in cities across Canada, according to the latest data.
'My two daughters were sleeping': London Ont. family in shock after their home riddled with gunfire
A London father and son they’re shocked and confused after their home was riddled with bullets while young children were sleeping inside.
Smuggler arrested with 300 tarantulas strapped to his body
Police in Peru have arrested a man caught trying to leave the country with 320 tarantulas, 110 centipedes and nine bullet ants strapped to his body.
Boissonnault out of cabinet to 'focus on clearing the allegations,' Trudeau announces
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced embattled minister Randy Boissonnault is out of cabinet.
Baby dies after being reported missing in midtown Toronto: police
A four-month-old baby is dead after what Toronto police are calling a “suspicious incident” at a Toronto Community Housing building in the city’s midtown area on Wednesday afternoon.
Sask. woman who refused to provide breath sample did not break the law, court finds
A Saskatchewan woman who refused to provide a breath sample after being stopped by police in Regina did not break the law – as the officer's request was deemed not lawful given the circumstances.
Parole board reverses decision and will allow families of Paul Bernardo's victims to attend upcoming parole hearing in person
The families of the victims of Paul Bernardo will be allowed to attend the serial killer’s upcoming parole hearing in person, the Parole Board of Canada (PBC) says.