A car girl at heart

D10
•
GLOBE DRIVE
G
T H E G LO B E A N D M A I L
•
T H U R S D AY , J U N E 1 3 , 2 0 1 3
MY CAR TERRI CLARK
A car girl at heart
Country singer loves a long drive in her Mercedes SUV
.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Terri Clark
................................................................
Profession: Country singer-songwriter
................................................................
Age: 44
................................................................
Hometown: Born in Montreal;
grew up in Medicine Hat, Alta.
9 Other upcoming tour dates include Bettendorf, Iowa, on June
21; Durant, Okla., on June 22;
George, Wash., Aug. 2-3; and
Camrose, Alta., Aug. 4
9 Ongoing fundraising initiatives
to benefit charities such as
World Vision, Red Cross, The
Water Project
................................................................
................................................................
The vehicle: 2008 Mercedes-Benz
GL450
PETRINA GENTILE
................................................................
S
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS
................................................................
9 First hit the charts in 1995 with
Better Things to Do; other charttopping hits followed such as
Girls Lie Too, Northern Girl, I Just
Wanna Be Mad, You’re Easy on
the Eyes, When Boy Meets Girl, I
Wanna Do It All, and Poor Poor
Pitiful Me
9 Received the fan-voted Canadian Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year
award seven times
9 Her latest album Classic was
released in November, 2012
................................................................
UPCOMING
................................................................
9 Appears June 15 at the 20th
Annual Gravenhurst Car Show
NOTABLE QUOTE
................................................................
he’s the only Canadian female
country artist to be inducted
into the esteemed Grand Ole
Opry.
Terri Clark has received dozens
of awards – including three Junos
and 18 Canadian Country Music
Association (CCMA) trophies.
She’s sold more than five million
albums and has toured extensively.
Her concert schedule is packed;
her next stop is at the 20th
Annual Gravenhurst Car Show.
Clark is a car girl at heart; she
loves the open road. Every year,
Clark trades in her signature Stetson for a baseball cap to drive
from her Nashville home to her
cottage in Ontario. And she does
it in a 2008 Mercedes-Benz GL450
SUV.
What does a Mercedes GL say
about you?
It’s big. It’s heavy. It guzzles
gas. It’s shiny. It’s got a lot of
horsepower when you put the
pedal to the metal. It can really take off. You can pack a lot
into it. Those are my personality traits! I don’t know if
that’s a good or bad thing.
What sparked your interest in
cars?
My dad’s a car guy. I think being
around it from a young age; I
don’t know if that kind of thing
is genetic or not. He used to drag
race in Montreal. He always had a
car up on blocks.
He’s a car guy. I keep my cars
meticulously clean. I don’t like
dirt on them. I don’t like getting
salt on them. I like everything to
be clean and polished. And my
dad is exactly the same way. I
probably got it from him. … I’m
more about watches, cars and
sunglasses. I don’t buy shoes. I
don’t buy handbags. I don’t buy
clothes. Some women are into
handbags and shoes; I like cars.
................................................................
Why did you buy a MercedesBenz GL?
2013 Mercedes-Benz Pre-Owned
President’s Circle
Mercedes-Benz Canada is pleased to
announce the appointment of Darren Moore
of Mercedes-Benz Burlington to the
Pre-Owned President’s Circle for 2013.
I was looking for a big SUV
because I like to travel from
Nashville up to my cottage in Ontario. I like to take stuff with me.
I have dogs I take with me. I have
a trailer.
My favourite car is the GL. I just
feel like I’m driving down the
road in a great, big huge tank. It’s
got a lot of cargo space and I
enjoy the way it drives. It feels
like a luxury car and it’s a very
comfortable ride – great stereo
and all those things we look for
when we’re driving long distances.
................................................................
What don’t you like about it?
Because of the year, it’s not upto-date with the iPod and the
GPS – it doesn’t have the same
features they have in a newer
one.
................................................................
Terri Clark’s first long road trip with her Mercedes-Benz SUV came at a
difficult time in her life.
ond car I owned, which was even
funnier, was a 1979 Cougar. It had
white ripped leather seats, it guzzled gas, it was maroon, and it
had a stripe down the side. It was
blowing smoke, too.
................................................................
After your first big hit, Better
Things to Do, did you treat yourself to a new car?
I did. I bought a red ’95 Mustang
GT. But I got to tell you one of
my favourite cars I ever had was
an ’86 Ford Bronco in grey and
white with a standard stick shift
on the floor. That was when I
signed my record deal in ’93. I
loved that thing. I wish I kept it. I
think it would be a really cool vehicle to still have. I’m sure it’s
still going strong somewhere.
................................................................
What else have you owned?
I have owned so many cars and
houses over the years – I can’t
decide where I want to live.
I’ve owned a lot of cars; I like to
changes things up a lot. I had a
Lexus GS, a Mercedes C-Series
sedan, a Lexus SC sport convertible in navy blue with a tan interior. I had that car about four
years ago, but it was so impractical. So, I traded it for a Lexus
sedan. But then I wanted something bigger so I traded it for the
Mercedes GL and I haven’t
looked back.
If I’m going to drive one car, it
has to be a SUV. I’ve embraced
the fact that I’m a SUV person.
................................................................
What was your first car?
What’s your best and worst driving story ever?
It was a 1983 red Ford Escort. The
carburetor was shot – it blew
smoke all over the place. The sec-
This is my best and worst story: I
had just come out of a really brutal relationship and my mother
had just passed away. I was going
to my cottage in Ontario, which
was my healing place, my happy
place. I had packed the U-Haul
trailer in Nashville. I was going
on a voyage of independence on
my own with my dog and I was
going to drive to my cottage.
I stopped for the night because
I ended up leaving later in the
day. I remember getting up the
next morning and I had five
hours to go. It was Mother’s Day
and my mother had just passed
away April 4 and this was midMay. This rainstorm started and
this song came on the radio and I
was balling my eyes out, driving
in a monsoon with my little dog
and my car with my U-Haul trailer hooked to it. It was raining
and I was crying and thinking
about my mom.
Something about that trip
changed me. It brought on a certain feeling of independence. I
felt like I was doing the right
thing – I did some crying and letting go. That road trip was very
memorable for me in so many
ways. ... It was like a new chapter
coming about. It was the closing
of a door and the opening of another, which was nice. My trip
represented that movement of
moving on and stepping out.
................................................................
What’s your dream car?
I always had this dream of getting a classic convertible – a ’67
or ’68 Camaro – some day I’m
going to get one. Maybe for a
landmark birthday I’ll treat
myself to one.
................................................................
This interview has been edited and
condensed.
................................................................
pgentile@globeandmail.com
2003 Porsche 911 Carrera 4S Coupe
This coveted award recognizes the top Pre-Owned
Sales Consultants and Sales Managers across Canada
for their outstanding sales results and exemplary
customer satisfaction throughout the past year.
Lipas Blue Metallic on Black Leather
Manual Transmission with only 48850K.
Call for other details! Stk# 281132
$39,990
+HST
266 Lake Street, St. Catharines
1-877-737-3269 | performancebmw.ca
Mercedes-Benz Burlington 441 North Service Road (905) 632-4222
© 2013 Mercedes-Benz Canada Inc.
COLLECTOR’S EVENT
1 4 2 7 C O N V E RT I B L E S I N C E 6 9 ’
. . . L A S T Y E A R E V E R T O B E B U I LT
ST
FINAL 4...DON’T MISS OUT!
CANADA’S PREMIERE CORVETTE STORE
NCRS
FINANCING
OVER
84 MONTHS
OAC.
National Corvette
Restorer’s Society
Ontario Chapter
AVAILABLE FOR
CLASSIC JUDGING MEET
Sat. June 15th
THE 1ST TIME
June 12-22/13
9-3pm
p
WILSON NIBLETT PERFORMANCE COLLECTION
2013
20
013
CORVETTE
CORV
VET
ETTE
TEE G
GS
S
CONVERTIBLE
2013
20
013
SC652
SC65
SC
652 600th
652
Anniversary 427
CONVERTIBLE
Pre-owned
6500 KM
Automatic US Vehicle
652 hp in this one of a
kind Collector’s Car!
$72,995
84
0% / mos.
0
%
Wilson Niblett presents
2013
20
133
CAMARO
CAM
CA
CAM
MA
ARO
R 2SS
2SS
S
HOT WHEELS
SPECIAL EDITION
22-2013
22 13
20
13
2013
GM
GMC
MC DE
D
DENALI
ENA
ALI
CAMARO 2SS
CALLAWAY SC 540S ILE PERFORMANCE
White Diamond, Tri Coat
Coupe in Kinetic Blue, or Onyx Black “Powerful”
Nav., & Perf. Exhaust
84
84
0% / mos.
0% /mos.
FINANCING
2013
TAHOE Z71
CALLAWAY 450
2013
CAMARO ZL1
CONVERTIBLE
2012
BRAND NEW
CORVETTE SC652
“1 of only 65
in Canada”
White
Executive Driven incl.
upgraded wheels.
Only One in Canada!
Stunning!
5.2L V8 Power
white with black roof
Callaway Supercharged
G5 ‘Track Ready’
& Reduced Price
84
0% / mos.
84
0% / mos.
84
0% / mos.
FABULOUS SAVINGS
2013
CORVETTE ZR1
Midnight
Race Blue
Classic
for final year!
84
0% / mos.
WILSON NIBLETT MOTORS
10675 Yonge St. (south of Elgin Mills), Richmond Hill
905-884-0991 wilsonniblett.com corvettecanada.ca 1-888-379-8888
Exclusive Eastern Canadian Dealer