The Motor City
It may seem like I spend a lot of time in the Detroit/Windsor area, but I really don't. It just so happens that I had a few trips there this winter and they are two places I had never been to. When I got my schedule and realized I was going to overnight in Windsor for the first time, I checked the web to see what was going on in nearby Detroit. A past resident of Windsor had informed me that it (Windsor) was full of clubs and nudie bars and the town itself was not all that exciting in the winter.
Lucky for me it turned out that the biggest auto show in the world was on in Detroit!! So I paid $2.75 and hopped on the local transit tunnel bus. The bus drops all the people off at a set of doors outside a U.S customs building and picks them up at another one, once you've had a chat with the friendly officials. From there, the bus goes through a tunnel, under the Detroit river. You can then choose where to get off from a number of stops in downtown Detroit. Turns out one of the stops was right in front of the convention centre where the auto show was. Perfect!
Lets start out with this car. Having now owned a Volvo, I am in love with them. They are really fantastic, so I took a bit of time at the auto show to drool over some of the new models. We own an S 60 and this is an S 60...only 6 years newer.
This is one of my favorite cars. The Mercedes SL 500 McLaren. I love the flip up doors and the huge-ass engine. I am not a huge-ass fan of the price though.
I'll have to save a bit longer to get this one. For those of you that are celebrity gurus (Jennilyn and the other Desperate Housewives).....Paris Hilton owns one of these.
This is the frame of a smart car. The display had a few monitors playing videos of the crash tests done on these cars. I was truly amazed how well these little cars held up. It was the most astonishing part of the entire show. If you get into a head on collision in one of these cars, you will no doubt be hurt, but you'll probably be alive. One look at them and you would most likely think otherwise though.
This is a new model of Volkswagen which will be out in the next few years. Another SUV, but more affordable than the Touareg.
Speaking of the Touareg..........this is it's spare tire. To save space, they have installed it without air. There is a canister of compressed air, included with the car, that fills up the tire if you need it. Volkswagen is one of the few car manufacturers today that still provides full-sized spares for their vehicles. None of those stupid space saver pizza cutters, restricted to 60 km/h. Good on ya Volks!
Volkswagen had a cool interactive display. People could play with little race cars and drive a VW Golf in a video game. There was a VW Beetle where you could sit in the seats and select music on the radio that you liked. The words for the song(s) would appear on a monitor outside the front of the car. Car-a-oke! Of course, there was a camera to let you see how much of a fool you were making of yourself while singing.
This Rolls Royce is rather roomy in the back seat don't you think. The hood ornament has the option of being automatically retracted and hidden by simply pushing a button in the glove box. Obviously, the ornaments are stolen often enough to make the manufacturer install this feature. Maybe they put it on because it looks cool when it retracts? I thought it did.
This a Maybach. Apparently it is the ultimate in luxury. I think the leather interior is made from some animal on the endangered species list. If you aren't convinced at just how luxurious this car is, it comes equipped with a driver when you buy it. And if you were wondering if those really are plasma tv's in the back, yes. Yes, they are!
Bollinger anyone?
How about this Jeep product? A fun little camper of sort. A table folds out and the table hinge has a console that you can insert your ipod in, as well as a tarp-like covering that extends over the flip up door.
The Lamborghini display was rather dull, but luckily the cars made up for it. Always a popular display at auto shows, there were people wedged 5 deep in order to get a closer look. These cars were protected by a waist high glass fence. The real reason I took this picture was for the model beside the car. The poor girl had to stand there with one hand on her hip the entire time and keep a continuous smile on, while hundreds of people ogled her and took pictures. I didn't think that would be all that much fun. Maybe she enjoyed it?! I should have asked her. Nah!
This Jaguar display was probably the flashiest at the whole auto show. Apart from having a private bar and a secure area for customers, there were only 3 models on display. I thought I may get chucked out of the show if I sat myself up at the bar. Unfortunately, I forgot my Armani suit back at the hotel. You know the song.......one of these guys is not like the other one...... Ya, I was not like the others.
The big rectangle monitors surrounding the car all rotated around the car and came together in the back to show the full image. The images on the monitors played a continuous Jaguar advertisement.
Notice the curved staircases on each side going up to the "secure" area. I forgot my cheque book, so they wouldn't let me in there.
The future. Come home and plug your car in to a regular power outlet.
The new Chevy Camaro. Designed to follow the days of the muscle car. This one is much better than the late 90's version.
And it has a cool dash too!
Quite a few of the auto makers had these engine displays. They cut away part of the engine and placed blue and red lights throughout it, to show gas air (blue-cold) and exhaust air (red-hot). They moved ever so slowly so you could see how the engine actually works. The manufacturers use every bit of space they can in and around the engine. All the engines that were on display like this were made of chrome and polished to perfection. Very impressive. Very costly I bet.
This was the first car I had a look at. An Audi SUV. Apart from being gorgeous, I was truly amazed at what was under the hood. It hardly looks like a V12 in there. It just looks so.........perfect. You might not want to bring this car to Canadian Tire for an oil change. Maybe an Audi technician with a Ph.D in engines would be your best bet. They sure don't make 'em like they used to.
I thought these 2 pedals were a bit wierd looking. At first I thought it was only one pedal, but after pushing through the massive crowd I got a better look at it and it made a bit more sense having two. You never know with some of these new cars and their futuristic concepts.
This is a Cadillac concept car. After solving the pedal issue, I had to wait for the car to turn around on its platform for a quick snapshot of the engine. I think it is like a V16 or something ridiculous. They make them look like a piece of art.
One day I hope to have this view. The drivers seat in this Porsche Cayman was not very comfortable. That's OK though, because when it's my turn to own one, it will be in a 911 Turbo and I'll be going so fast it won't even matter. ROAR!
Ahhhhhhhh! The Porsche 911 Turbo engine. This is what a guy really needs. This one is for you B!
A bit of a different design for a futuristic car. I think it is a van or something, but anyways, it's either made by Airstream (the same company that makes the big silver travel trailers), or the name of it is Airstream. It has a Ford logo on the front so whatever you figure it out, that's what it is.
The swiveling chairs are a fun feature! I am not sure what the neon tube inside is though. Maybe an advertisement sign of sort or maybe the flux capacitor...could be the warp coil...this IS a futuristic concept, you know.
I have been to 5 or so auto shows over the years and this one was by far the best. Some car companies spare no expense displaying their product(s). The Mercedes display was all on a sheet of ice. They had spread some type of crystaline something or other all over the ice for traction. After thousands of people had walked on it, the crystals were embedded in the ice and it wasn't slippery after all. Most of the higher end companies had private lounges for their customers to relax, have a drink and drop 3 or 4 hundred thousand on a car.
I was impressed with the safety features being developed. People must be demanding more safety features for their cars because the manufacturers are using it to sell their product. I was hoping to see some more futuristic concept cars and was a bit disappointed about that. I was surprised at how few Hybrid cars were there. I thought the manufacturers would be designing them full speed ahead but there were less than 10 at the whole show! Most companies were showing off their big V8 and V12 gas guzzling models. I guess they build what the population demands. It seems that DVD and GPS are going to become almost standard features in most vehicles soon. I'll be able to put Annie on repeat and have the kids quiet for hours!
When it was time to head back to Windsor I had a bit of a time finding a tunnel bus stop. Apparently, the spot where I was dropped off was not a proper drop-off spot. The driver only stopped there because everyone on board was going to the auto show. It only took me an hour or so to figure this all out. Not a problem in the sub-zero temps, hanging in downtown Detroit...at night. Needless to say, I was glad to get back on the bus. Another $2.75 and we went back through the tunnel and were dropped off outside customs to get back into Canada. Easy, Peasy! Nice and easy!
Lucky for me it turned out that the biggest auto show in the world was on in Detroit!! So I paid $2.75 and hopped on the local transit tunnel bus. The bus drops all the people off at a set of doors outside a U.S customs building and picks them up at another one, once you've had a chat with the friendly officials. From there, the bus goes through a tunnel, under the Detroit river. You can then choose where to get off from a number of stops in downtown Detroit. Turns out one of the stops was right in front of the convention centre where the auto show was. Perfect!
Lets start out with this car. Having now owned a Volvo, I am in love with them. They are really fantastic, so I took a bit of time at the auto show to drool over some of the new models. We own an S 60 and this is an S 60...only 6 years newer.
This is one of my favorite cars. The Mercedes SL 500 McLaren. I love the flip up doors and the huge-ass engine. I am not a huge-ass fan of the price though.
I'll have to save a bit longer to get this one. For those of you that are celebrity gurus (Jennilyn and the other Desperate Housewives).....Paris Hilton owns one of these.
This is the frame of a smart car. The display had a few monitors playing videos of the crash tests done on these cars. I was truly amazed how well these little cars held up. It was the most astonishing part of the entire show. If you get into a head on collision in one of these cars, you will no doubt be hurt, but you'll probably be alive. One look at them and you would most likely think otherwise though.
This is a new model of Volkswagen which will be out in the next few years. Another SUV, but more affordable than the Touareg.
Speaking of the Touareg..........this is it's spare tire. To save space, they have installed it without air. There is a canister of compressed air, included with the car, that fills up the tire if you need it. Volkswagen is one of the few car manufacturers today that still provides full-sized spares for their vehicles. None of those stupid space saver pizza cutters, restricted to 60 km/h. Good on ya Volks!
Volkswagen had a cool interactive display. People could play with little race cars and drive a VW Golf in a video game. There was a VW Beetle where you could sit in the seats and select music on the radio that you liked. The words for the song(s) would appear on a monitor outside the front of the car. Car-a-oke! Of course, there was a camera to let you see how much of a fool you were making of yourself while singing.
This Rolls Royce is rather roomy in the back seat don't you think. The hood ornament has the option of being automatically retracted and hidden by simply pushing a button in the glove box. Obviously, the ornaments are stolen often enough to make the manufacturer install this feature. Maybe they put it on because it looks cool when it retracts? I thought it did.
This a Maybach. Apparently it is the ultimate in luxury. I think the leather interior is made from some animal on the endangered species list. If you aren't convinced at just how luxurious this car is, it comes equipped with a driver when you buy it. And if you were wondering if those really are plasma tv's in the back, yes. Yes, they are!
Bollinger anyone?
How about this Jeep product? A fun little camper of sort. A table folds out and the table hinge has a console that you can insert your ipod in, as well as a tarp-like covering that extends over the flip up door.
The Lamborghini display was rather dull, but luckily the cars made up for it. Always a popular display at auto shows, there were people wedged 5 deep in order to get a closer look. These cars were protected by a waist high glass fence. The real reason I took this picture was for the model beside the car. The poor girl had to stand there with one hand on her hip the entire time and keep a continuous smile on, while hundreds of people ogled her and took pictures. I didn't think that would be all that much fun. Maybe she enjoyed it?! I should have asked her. Nah!
This Jaguar display was probably the flashiest at the whole auto show. Apart from having a private bar and a secure area for customers, there were only 3 models on display. I thought I may get chucked out of the show if I sat myself up at the bar. Unfortunately, I forgot my Armani suit back at the hotel. You know the song.......one of these guys is not like the other one...... Ya, I was not like the others.
The big rectangle monitors surrounding the car all rotated around the car and came together in the back to show the full image. The images on the monitors played a continuous Jaguar advertisement.
Notice the curved staircases on each side going up to the "secure" area. I forgot my cheque book, so they wouldn't let me in there.
The future. Come home and plug your car in to a regular power outlet.
The new Chevy Camaro. Designed to follow the days of the muscle car. This one is much better than the late 90's version.
And it has a cool dash too!
Quite a few of the auto makers had these engine displays. They cut away part of the engine and placed blue and red lights throughout it, to show gas air (blue-cold) and exhaust air (red-hot). They moved ever so slowly so you could see how the engine actually works. The manufacturers use every bit of space they can in and around the engine. All the engines that were on display like this were made of chrome and polished to perfection. Very impressive. Very costly I bet.
This was the first car I had a look at. An Audi SUV. Apart from being gorgeous, I was truly amazed at what was under the hood. It hardly looks like a V12 in there. It just looks so.........perfect. You might not want to bring this car to Canadian Tire for an oil change. Maybe an Audi technician with a Ph.D in engines would be your best bet. They sure don't make 'em like they used to.
I thought these 2 pedals were a bit wierd looking. At first I thought it was only one pedal, but after pushing through the massive crowd I got a better look at it and it made a bit more sense having two. You never know with some of these new cars and their futuristic concepts.
This is a Cadillac concept car. After solving the pedal issue, I had to wait for the car to turn around on its platform for a quick snapshot of the engine. I think it is like a V16 or something ridiculous. They make them look like a piece of art.
One day I hope to have this view. The drivers seat in this Porsche Cayman was not very comfortable. That's OK though, because when it's my turn to own one, it will be in a 911 Turbo and I'll be going so fast it won't even matter. ROAR!
Ahhhhhhhh! The Porsche 911 Turbo engine. This is what a guy really needs. This one is for you B!
A bit of a different design for a futuristic car. I think it is a van or something, but anyways, it's either made by Airstream (the same company that makes the big silver travel trailers), or the name of it is Airstream. It has a Ford logo on the front so whatever you figure it out, that's what it is.
The swiveling chairs are a fun feature! I am not sure what the neon tube inside is though. Maybe an advertisement sign of sort or maybe the flux capacitor...could be the warp coil...this IS a futuristic concept, you know.
I have been to 5 or so auto shows over the years and this one was by far the best. Some car companies spare no expense displaying their product(s). The Mercedes display was all on a sheet of ice. They had spread some type of crystaline something or other all over the ice for traction. After thousands of people had walked on it, the crystals were embedded in the ice and it wasn't slippery after all. Most of the higher end companies had private lounges for their customers to relax, have a drink and drop 3 or 4 hundred thousand on a car.
I was impressed with the safety features being developed. People must be demanding more safety features for their cars because the manufacturers are using it to sell their product. I was hoping to see some more futuristic concept cars and was a bit disappointed about that. I was surprised at how few Hybrid cars were there. I thought the manufacturers would be designing them full speed ahead but there were less than 10 at the whole show! Most companies were showing off their big V8 and V12 gas guzzling models. I guess they build what the population demands. It seems that DVD and GPS are going to become almost standard features in most vehicles soon. I'll be able to put Annie on repeat and have the kids quiet for hours!
When it was time to head back to Windsor I had a bit of a time finding a tunnel bus stop. Apparently, the spot where I was dropped off was not a proper drop-off spot. The driver only stopped there because everyone on board was going to the auto show. It only took me an hour or so to figure this all out. Not a problem in the sub-zero temps, hanging in downtown Detroit...at night. Needless to say, I was glad to get back on the bus. Another $2.75 and we went back through the tunnel and were dropped off outside customs to get back into Canada. Easy, Peasy! Nice and easy!
