A tractor fan discovers one honkin' big gem

TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO

The $350,000, 530-horsepower John Deere 9630 wowed Jil McIntosh.

Jil McIntosh

SPECIAL TO THE STAR

BEST moment

I had some time to myself during a trip to Regina to see the new Ford Super Duty pickup. One of my colleagues who lives out there knows I'm a tractor fan, and so he talked to his friend at John Deere and arranged for me to drive a new Model 9630.

The specs are eight wheels, 530 horsepower, 18 forward gears and a 1,325-litre fuel tank – in a nutshell, honkin' big. My tractor, a 1950 Farmall Cub, wouldn't come up to the top of its wheels.

I got a quick lesson, and then the chance to take it around the dealer's yard. I didn't go very far, but it put the biggest possible smile on my face. And in just one spin, I knocked off two milestones: both the biggest and, at a starting price of about $350,000, the most expensive thing I've ever driven.

Worst momentS

For sheer "huh?" factor, I might have said the bicyclist I saw during a trip to assess the Volkswagen Touareg. He was defecating on the shoulder of Highway 60 in Huntsville, business end facing traffic, and seemingly oblivious to the fact that even bears know enough to do it in the woods.

Instead, I'll mention a Chrysler-themed car show that I attended last summer. The Designated Passenger wanted to display his two vehicles, and so he asked me to drive his 1966 Dodge Dart. Its gas gauge quit working earlier this year, and so there was a spare can of fuel in the trunk, but of course he assured me that he'd filled up the car. When? Well, he thought it wasn't that long ago.

At the end of the show, I started up the Dart, and got halfway out of my parking spot when it quit. My dearly beloved had already left and, using some choice words, I set up the fuel can, took off the gas cap and slowly poured in the gas. And sure enough, right on schedule, a rocket scientist came up, assessed the situation and said, "Ran out of gas, did ya?"

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