Went to the Auto Show on Friday. High points: Several cool Mustangs, Dodge retro-muscle machine (if the price is right I'm getting one), Chrysler Rolls, er, Imperial, all the lovely Astons, '07 Escalade. Low points: Almost everything else. You would think that Bentley and Maser could have done better, but no. Ford tried hard, with their own cars and with the Premium group. Daimler-Chrysler did, too (see above). However, GM had nothing new except the Slade {which I am getting to replace my '03 unless I can persuade my wife to go for a Maser QP}. Lotus, Lambo and Rolls? Near the entrance where the Batmobile usually is. Nothing from Fiat or Alfa. Oh, and GM is toast, folks, and this show proves it. Highest point: The Ferrari stand, but not because of the cars. They had a 430 Spider, a Challenge car and a two-tone 612 (silver over blue, much sexier than usual). But the coolest thing was the Jetsons-won-the-lottery living room at the back of the stand. I don't know why they invested in something that almost no one there got to experience, but it was just about the best designed trade show stand I have ever seen. I heard this was a major auto show, but I must have been misinformed. But go anyway, if only to see the Ferrari stand.
Ron, I've been going twenty years in a row now, and each year I've come to the conclusion that it was worse than the year before........ Now, the Frankfurt show, that is something else.
Interesting, but no surprise given the lack of stories around it. May actually skip this year. JT - where are those pic?
I was also very disappointed in the show as well. Standouts(but not worth the trip) M6, gigantic Spyker, Camaro, EVO Concept, Bentley GT Convertible...... and that's about it.
Ferrari was boring. I remember the late 1980s when they had a lot of space and filled it with a few of each available model - 328s, mondials, f40, TR. The Saleen girls were hot. Dodge Challenger was cool and would/will look mean on the street. Camaro concept was pretty bad. Ford GT500 still looks good in production form. Highlight for me was the Aston Vantage. They had a white one and I predict that car will sell very well. The new z06 was cool as well and the clutch on that thing feels lighter than my honda accord's. Porsche cayman felt quite comfortable behind the wheel as well. Overall it wasn't bad. At least these day's carmakers have inspired designs and powerful engines. Remember the 90s?
I'd not blame the show itself. I think NY is one of the best run shows in the US. The problem with the auto show, much like the auto industry, is the manufacturers. Plus, it's late in the selling season so there's not a lot of motivation to be really special. It's really more for "consumers". True, the product from many, many, many manufacturers just plain sucks and we get the dregs of booths from many (lots of that gear is rented and goes back after Detroit) but I've never had a bad time at ANY car show -- and I've been to FunkMaster Flex's Celebrity Car Show. Twice. This year, they New York International Auto Show had more premieres and reveals than it's ever had. And not just packages and badge kits, but actual new product and some interesting concepts: http://www.autoblog.com/category/new-york-auto-show/ I spoke to some friends that hit the show this year. They loved it. They're not hardcore car dorks like many of us. They do not own shiny Italian cars like some of us. They still had a fun time seeing all the hardware in one place at one time. Even though I know everything that'll be on display and have seen pictures galore, I'll still drop by when I'm in town this week.
I went Saturday, was in there for 20 minutes at most. But I'm going to go back Weds afternoon to really take it in. I guess Emil said it best, it's not for hardcore car people and is really for the general consumer. It's a little underwhelming when you've seen, at least, the exotics in person and maybe even driven some of them but at the end of the day it's still a fantastic experience to have all those cars in one place. Take it for what it's worth.......i can think of some stupider ways to blow 15 bucks, one of them seeing the garbage at the movie theaters nowadays
I went twice now and saw every car there - I'm kinda with Ronbo on this one though. My personal favorites were: 1. Ferrari living room on their stand 2. Dodge Challenger (I hope they make this, bc I want one!!!) 3. Mitsubishi EVO (getting one as soon as they come to US) 4. All the Aston Martins 5. Mallet Solstice down by Danny, Technik1 and Ferretti 6. Camaro And for whoever missed it, Ferretti's burnout at the show opening ceremony on Saturday morning was the smokiest burnout I have ever seen!
I will be in town this weekend for the autoshow... a big part of the show for me is seeing what is good and bad. I have seen some terrible concepts (Nissan is one of the worst offenders in my eyes), I take pictures, laugh later, good times. Really I just enjoy seeing the concepts, then seeing what they have become by the time they reach market. Every once and a while you get something awsome (Enzo, McF1) but most of the time you just get some average things that are fun to look at. Craig
