Americans sometimes joke that Canada is the fifty-first state. In some ways, it's true; our landscape is the northern part of the US blown up like Bullwinkle at Macy's parade. The journey from one end of Ontario to the other is roughly equivalent to crossing five US states. If Canadians followed the American rationale– drivers need wafting monster machines to keep their sanity on long treks– there'd be an Escalade in every driveway. Yet Canadian SUV and truck ownership ratios are miniscule compared to that of their southern neighbors. In the main, we opt for more frugal and environmentally-sound transportation. Hang on. There's a lesson in there somewhere…

Canadian car culture– or lack thereof– is one reason our nation doesn't favor inefficient and inappropriate vehicles. We love our cars, but we're not "in love." A Canadian would never write a song like "Route 66;' a paean to the Trans-Canada Highway during a January blizzard would only scare its listeners. Roadside diners are the dens of long-haul truckers, not shrines to the open road celebrated in movies like Thelma and Louise. Don't get me wrong: there are plenty of pistonistas north of the 49th parallel; custom Civics and classic Mustangs abound. But a healthy (if stubborn) kind of pragmatism dominates Canadian car buying. Even sports cars are bought with city potholes and snow in mind.

It's no surprise that the Ford GT garnered a huge amount of publicity for its parent company. It was fast, sexy and charismatic. It showed the world that Ford can build a world-class car at a budget price. It pioneered new building techniques. It refocused attention on Ford's racing heritage. It drew crowds at autoshows. It made dealers feel like serious playas. It sold out. It earned a buyer's premium. It will be worth serious money at auction some day. But Ford was right to kill it.

Like the Bugatti Veyron, the GT was never going to be a mainstay of its parent company's lineup. For one thing, the GT was simply too expensive; the "budget supercar" cost almost five times as much as the starting price of the company's next-most expensive vehicle, the Excursion. For another, Ford's current model range is about as sporty as a pair of woolen socks. Sticking a Lamborghini Gallardo next to a Golf GTI in a VW showroom would be far less incongruous than positioning the GT next to just about anything wearing the Blue Oval badge. Since Ford dropped the Focus SVT, it has only one sports car affordable by mere mortals: the ubiquitous Mustang. Placing a Ford GT next to a Mustang simply makes the Mustang look bad.