While the electric version of Scalar Performance’s motor racing car was busy competing on the racetracks of California, its gas-equivalent version was turning heads Monday afternoon.
Hosted at Georgian College and presented by the City of Barrie and the County of Simcoe, the 2023 Manufacturing Innovation Summit was a logical place to showcase Scalar’s fully caged, highly innovative professional race car.
Scalar’s gas-powered and EV-powered race cars will become a regular attraction at the Oro Station Motor Circuit on Line 7 North, halfway between Barrie and Orillia, when the company relocates in a couple of years.
It’s the twin of what Scalar calls the SCR1 — the EV version that is currently racing out west.
“Scalar built the first FIA-approved competition EV car that is permitted to race against traditional gas cars,” said Orillia's Geoff Campbell, managing partner of Oro-Station Motor Circuit, as he introduced the speedster. “This is its twin and it’s a traditional gas car built with an internal combustion engine.”
Scalar, which will have 10 new cars on race tracks this year, built two cars identical in every way except the motor so they could test them head-to-head to compare results and find improvements, Campbell said.
It’s an expensive comparison, but it reflects what Campbell thinks is an example of how innovative companies are focused on results, creative thinking and dexterity.
His thoughts were echoed by David Yeaman, founder and president of Molded Precision Components, an Oro-Medonte-based company that has been working with the auto industry since 2006.
Yeaman talked about the power of being nimble during a panel discussion that included Campbell, Jason Dale, executive director of the Automotive Business School of Canada at Georgian College, and Stewart Cramer, chief manufacturing officer of Ngen Canada.
Yeaman told a story about how, during the pandemic, business had slowed to an almost standstill. He wasn’t thrilled with the thought of having to send his people home, so he reviewed the list of urgently needed items the government had created when the pandemic took hold.
On it, he found full face shields for front-line health-care workers.
In a matter of seven days, from identifying a need to providing a patented solution, Yeaman’s team delivered.
“We have some very creative people and they always look for solutions,” he said. “But being able to pivot, and pivot again if needed, is what really made a difference.”
The 2023 Manufacturing Innovation Summit (MIS), continues on Tuesday, Oct. 17 at Horseshoe Resort with a keynote address by Max Valiquette, chief strategy officer at Diamond Integrated Marketing at 9 a.m.
