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Past stories Living off-the-grid New Brunswick's Saint John River Ontario's Bruce Trail Canadian Ski Marathon Elk Island National Park Rallying for rallysport Montreal - Circus city Beluga Bytes Dawson - a musical adventure Bald Eagle Confederation Trail Boning up on the badlands Ukkusiksalik National Park Geocaching Discover Cypress Hills Saint Joseph's Oratory A walk through Stanley Park Sudbury's science centre Acadia continues Toronto's underground world

In the late 1800s, Vincenzo Florio bought a de Dion motor tricycle. He wanted to test his new vehicle's power, but there were no other cars in Sicily at the time, so he organized a race against a cyclist and a man on horseback. The cyclist withdrew, Florio's car overheated, and the horse raced to victory.

But Florio persevered, launching the Targa Florio auto rally in 1906. It was an open-road event and safety issues, including spectator injuries, ground the rally to a halt in the mid-1970s.

Car enthusiasts in Australia and New Zealand resurrected the rally in the 1980s. While competing in Targa Tasmania in 2001, Canadians Doug Mepham and Jim Kenzie began to wonder where in North America they could hold a similar event.

They found an ideal island location in Newfoundland, a welcoming community and an economy that could use an annual boost. The first Targa Newfoundland took place in September 2002. Mepham and Kenzie raced Mepham's rally-prepped 1971 Volvo 142S and finished fourth overall in the Classic division. "Proud?" Kenzie says. "You bet."

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