Detroit Auto Show (Warning...TONS of pictures)

Before I forget, I figured I would post some pictures from the Detroit auto show that I attended last week. It was my first time to Detroit, and I was afraid of getting lost in the wrong part of town. I've obviously heard a lot of things to be afraid of, and I'm sure it is all somewhat true, I just didn't want to experience it first hand. My trip to Detroit is probably for a whole new post, so here are some pictures from the 2008 auto show. If you want to go to next years auto show, check out www.naias.com for the dates.


This is the front of a new Mitsubishi Eclipse. If I remember correctly, they are going to make the lambo doors a factory option on this car. What I thought was really interesting though, was the hood. For basic maintenance, you never have to lift the hood. You can check or add oil, wiper fluid, transmission fluid, etc all through the little circles on the hood.

This was just a prototype, but will likely roll out in 2010 from Hyundai. This looks a lot like the Tiburon (I think the name for this was called the Genesis), but it will come with a V8 engine. I would love it if you could buy a car with as cool a paint job as this one had. Typically it's something you have to pay a lot for after you buy it. My problem is that I'm too practical, I don't replace things unless they need replacing, so I would want a car to come exactly as I want it.
This is the Shelby GT500KR. They are only going to make 1,000 of them. At the auto show, you get get inside most all the cars besides the prototypes. This was one of the few that you couldn't sit in :(
This guy in the green shirt is in the way of seeing the full truck, but I thought this was really cool (in a wasteful sort of way). The truck in the picture is the 2009 Ford F-150. What they did to display all sorts of new features and power was to take some sort of saw (Carmen would know what type of saw they needed) and cut a slice of the truck off. They cut everything in half so you can see how it was put together. It's really cool to see what goes into it, but at the same time, they destroyed a perfectly good, brand new truck.
Remember the Honda CR-X that they quit making a while back? This is the new CR-Z that will be rolling out sometime in the next few years. What's funny is that the old CR-X got better gas mileage than any car on the road today, including hybrids! (57 MPG highway vs. 45ish for a Prius)
This is a Suzuki that is ugly as sin, but I figured I would take a picture since it is something new. I didn't stick around long enough to find out if this is actually coming out or not, but the way they were talking about it, it probably won't be long before we see these eyesores on the road.
Even though a lot of my pictures may not show it, this picture sums up a lot of what I saw at the auto show (not so much the car, but the sign under it, it says "Zero Emission, Hydrogen-Powered Fuel Cell Vehicle). It seemed like every car manufacturer had 'green' versions of every car. I overheard a lot of the people in the crowd talking about it, and the general consensus here is that it's a fad and won't last. I'm probably the last guy you'll see buying hybrid vehicle, but that doesn't mean I agree with the people in the crowd. I think that they want to think it's a fad because they know they have a lot of catching up to do on that front.
This is a picture of a Ferrari that boasts using 'bio-fuel'. I don't know about you, but when I think about a Ferrari, I think about a Gas-guzzling, super powerful, speed machine. At least they aren't going electric, but it still seems odd for a Ferrari. I guess they can do whatever they want, so long as it can still pin you to your seat and take a corner at >60mph.
While I'm showing pictures of 'green' cars, here is the new Smart fortwo. This is a pretty cute little car, and is less than 7 feet from front to back. I'm sure it would be a breeze to parallel park, but it would scare me to death to drive this on a highway surrounded by huge trucks and SUV's. I think a comment I heard regarding this car and others was that "somewhere, Ralph Nader just fell off his chair".
I can't remember who makes this one, but it's a big company that's been around for a while. The starting price is about $9,500. To me, it looks like a glorified golf-cart.
Last of my 'green' section is the new Chevy Volt. From what I've read, this car doesn't use any gas at all, it is entirely electric. It will be interesting to see how many people actually subscribe to the idea.
Next, I was off the Saturn display. There weren't many new, exciting things there (like the Sky...love that car), but this was a prototype that made me laugh. The funny part about it are the wheels on the back. The picture is a little fuzzy, but what that is is one of those things you can ride while standing in between the wheels. When the handle is extended, it looks like this. I get a kick out of things like this than enable us to be even lazier than we already are as a society.
Here is the new Viper...drool...enough said.
I really liked this new Chrysler 300. The difference with this one is that this is more like a limo, or a Maybach. The backseat is HUGE, and there is a panel separating the front seat and backseat. I'm guessing you are allowed to have alcohol in the back if the driver is a chauffeur and there is something separating the front from the back, I don't really keep up with those rules since they don't apply to me (I'm not above the law, I just don't drink).

Love the suicide doors...

New Corvette ZR1...drool...this thing has 620 horsepower straight out of the factory...

Jeep had a rock-climbing wall with a jeep climbing the wall. What's funny was that this a real Jeep, and not a fake one (at least it looked like it when I looked closely). It was hanging from the ceiling.
I thought this was a great idea. In the new Dodge Rams, the side of the truck bed opens for weather proof storage. The opening is large enough for a golf bag.
Bumblebee Camaro from the Transformers movie. Drool...
I LOVED this new Lexus concept car. I've not been a hug fan of Lexus convertibles before, but this one has converted me.

This Hummer concept looks like something from Halo...looks better than the Suzuki, but not much better.
Not a huge fan of Scion, but they had a cool display with all their cars up on the rack.

This is one of the cars I drooled over the most. Probably because it's something that I would realistically purchase in the near future. The performance is similar to a Corvette, but the price is only half. This is the new Nissan GT-R


I am a huge fan of Nissan products (I spent a lot of time checking out the new Infiniti G37, but didn't post any pictures), and very possibly will look at getting one of these down the road.

Here is the Audi R8 and S8...pretty car, very fast.

This is the new BMW 1 series. It looks just like the 3 series, but a little bit smaller and cheaper. Not a huge fan, nothing too special about it. I was drooling over the M6 though...Lastly, I took this picture of the fire station across the street from the COBO center where the auto show was. Detroit is an interesting place. When I got there, I stopped to get gas. There weren't a lot of cars out, so I asked the lady at the gas station (from behind bulletproof glass) where the auto show was. I was informed that it was in the building across the street. What blew me away was the difference that one block made. At the gas station, I was afraid to leave my car unattended, even locked. There were even bullet holes in the glass at the parking garage. Only one block away, I was at a world class event with million dollar cars and displays. Crazy.

That's about all the excitement here. I'm excited for next week, when Carmen will be here, then for the following week when we are in Florida!